Harmonies naturally seem to fall into a few general classes which are convenient for comparison and discussion as well as for elementary instruction, but no one person can set himself or herself up to decide which are the best harmonies. The practices and recommendations of noted artists who have appeared to be gifted with intuitive perceptions regarding color combinations have frequently included those for which there seemed to be no recognized authority, and yet their beauty could not be questioned. As the rules of grammar are but the correlation of the practices of the best scholars, so the rules governing color combinations must be the summary of the practices and recommendations of the best artists, if they are to be generally accepted as final, and hence we must patiently await the growth of similarly established laws by the comparison of the opinions of critics of acknowledged ability in various departments of the world of art. This has not been possible in the past and can never occur until there is a language of color through which color facts can be somewhat accurately expressed in verbal and written language, and this language cannot exist until there is an accepted alphabet of color on which it can be based. This alphabet is now in part furnished by the spectrum standards and completed by the pigmentary standards and the rotating disks made like them. Together they form the basis for a nomenclature by the use of which the questions involved in harmonies can be discussed and the results expressed in written language.
In the investigation of any subject with a view to elementary instruction, classification is an important factor, but one which heretofore has been almost ignored as regards color education. Consequently at present the more definite division of harmonies into classes is very much a matter of personal opinion, but Mr. Henry T. Bailey, State Supervisor of Drawing in Massachusetts, has suggested a very useful classification in which he arranges all harmonies under these five heads: Contrasted, Dominant, Complementary, Analogous and Perfected.
Contrasted.—The contrasted harmonies are those in which color is contrasted with non-color, or more accurately in which an active color, that is a tone from the spectrum circuit, is contrasted with a passive color, white, black, gray or silver and gold; for example, a blue green tint with white, or green blue with warm gray No. 1.
Dominant.—By dominant harmonies we mean those in which are combined different tones from one color scale. For example, red tint No. 1, and red shade No. 1, or a green blue tint, green blue, and a green blue shade. A dominant harmony composed of grays, or white, gray and black, is sometimes called a neutral harmony.
Complementary.—This term refers to those harmonies in which are combined opposite or complementary colors in the spectrum circuit. The best of them show not only opposition in color but also opposition in tone. Thus, tints of one color with shades of its complementary produce a more pleasing effect than do complementaries of equal value. The best complementary harmonies contain one or more passive colors.
Analogous.—This name is applied to those harmonies in which are combined tones from scales of neighboring colors in the spectrum circuit.
For example, in a composition of colors from that part of the spectrum containing yellow, green yellow and yellow green the following simple combination may be made: Yellow tint No. 1, green yellow and yellow green shade No. 2.
Perfected.—By perfected harmonies we mean those in which the general effect of one analogous harmony is complementary to that of another.
The above classification of harmonies is very valuable for fixing in the mind the various effects of color combinations, and yet they may seem to somewhat merge into each other in their application, until the underlying principles which govern them are understood. It is unwise to suppose that because the above classification of harmonies is based on the science of color we can infer that it furnishes definite rules for producing best effects.