A Color Notation Part 3

_Value-difference._

Light, middle, and dark values (without change of hue).

Light, middle, and dark values (traced with 5 princ.i.p.al hues).

10 values traced with each hue. SCALE of VALUE. _The Color Sphere_.

_Chroma-difference._

Strong, middle, and weak chroma (without change of hue).

Strong, middle and weak chroma (traced with three values without change of hue).

Strong, middle, and weak chroma (traced with three values and ten hues).

Maxima of color and their gradation to white, black, and gray.

_The Color Tree._

+EXPRESSION of color.+

(49) _Matching and imitation_ of hues (using stuffs, crayons, and paints).

_Matching and imitation_ of values and hues (using stuffs, crayons, and paints).

_Matching and imitation_ of chromas, values, and hues (using stuffs, crayons, and paints).

_Notation of color._

Value V Hue ------ , H - , Chroma C

Initial for hue, numeral above for value, numeral below for chroma.

_Sequences of color._

Two scales united, as hue and value, or chroma and value.

Three scales united,--each step a change of hue, value, and chroma.

_Balance of color._

Opposites of equal value and chroma (R 5/5 and BG 5/5).

Opposites of equal value and unequal chroma (R 5/9 and BG 5/3).

Opposites unequal both in value and chroma (R 7/3 and BG 3/7).

AREA as an element of balance.

+HARMONY of color.+

(50) _Selection of colors_ that give pleasure.

Study of b.u.t.terfly wings and flowers, recorded by the NOTATION.

Study of painted ornament, rugs, and mosaics, recorded by the NOTATION.

Personal choice of color PAIRS, balanced by H, V, C, and area.

Personal choice of color TRIADS, balanced by H, V, C, and area.

_Grouping of colors_ to suit some practical use: wall papers, rugs, book covers, etc.

Their a.n.a.lysis by the written notation.

Search for principles of harmony, expressed in measured terms.

+A definite plan of color study, with freedom as to details of presentation.[16]+

[Footnote 16: See Color Study a.s.signed to each grade, in Part II.]

(51) Having memorized these broad divisions of the study, a clever teacher will introduce many a detail, to meet the mood of the cla.s.s, or correlate this subject with other studies, without for a moment losing the thread of thought or befogging the presentation. But to range at random in the immense field of color sensations, without plan or definite aim in view, only courts fatigue of the retina and a chaotic state of mind.

(52) The same broad principles which govern the presentation of other ideas apply with equal force in this study. A little, well apprehended, is better than a ma.s.s of undigested facts. If the child is led to discover, or at least to think he is discovering, new things about color, the mind will be kept alert and seek out novel ill.u.s.trations at every step. Now and then a pupil will be found who leads both teacher and cla.s.s by _intuitive_ appreciation of color, and it is a subtle question how far such a nature can be helped or hurt by formal exercises. But such an exception is rare, and goes to prove that systematic discipline of the color sense is necessary for most children.

(53) Outdoor nature and indoor surroundings offer endless color ill.u.s.trations. Birds, flowers, minerals, and the objects in daily use take on a new interest when their varied colors are brought into a conscious relation, and clearly named. A tri-dimensional perception, like this sense of color, requires skilful training, and each lesson must be simplified to the last point practicable. It must not be too long, and should lead to some definite result which a child can grasp and express with tolerable accuracy, while its difficulties should be approached by easy stages, so as to avoid failure or discouragement. The success of the present effort is the best incentive to further achievement.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II.

PLATE I.

THE COLOR SPHERE, WITH MEASURED SCALES OF HUE, VALUE, AND CHROMA.

The teacher of elementary grades introduces these scales of tempered color as fast as the child's interest is awakened to their need by the exercises shown in Plates II. and III. Thus the Hue scale is learned before the end of the second year, the Value scale during the next two years, and the Chroma scale in the fifth year. By the time a child is ten years old these definite color scales have become part of his mental furnishing, so that he can name, write, and memorize any color group.

1. _The Color Sphere in Skeleton._ This diagram shows the middle colors on the equator, with strong red, yellow, green, blue, and purple, each at its proper level in the value scale, and projecting in accordance with its scale of chroma. See the complete description of these scales in Chapter II.

2. _The Color Score._ Fifteen typical steps taken from the color sphere are here spread out in a flat field. The FIVE MIDDLE COLORS form the centre level, with the same hues in a lighter value above and in a darker value below. Chapter VI. describes the making of this Score, and its use in a.n.a.lyzing colors and preserving a written record of their groups.

3. _The Value Scale and Chroma Scale._ Each of the five color maxima is thus shown at its proper level in the scale of light, and graded by uniform steps from its strongest chroma inward to neutrality at the axis of the sphere. Pigment inequalities here become very apparent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE I.

Copyright 1907 by A. H. Munsell.]

FOR PLATES II. & III.,

SEE APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV., CHILDREN'S COLOR STUDIES.