The retina consists of two types of light-sensitive cells - rods and cones. During the day, in bright light, we perceive the visual picture and distinguish colors with the help of cones. In low light, rods come into play, which are more sensitive to light, but do not perceive colors. That is why at dusk we see everything in gray, and there is even a proverb "At night all cats are gray

Because there are two types of light-sensitive elements in the eye: cones and rods. Cones see colors, while rods see only the intensity of light, that is, they see everything in black and white. Cones are less light-sensitive than rods, so they can't see anything at all in low light. Rods are very sensitive and react even to very weak light. That is why in the semi-darkness we do not distinguish colors, although we see contours. By the way, the cones are mainly concentrated in the center of the field of view, and the rods are at the edges. This explains why our peripheral vision is also not very colorful, even in daylight. In addition, for the same reason, astronomers of past centuries tried to use peripheral vision when observing: in the dark it is sharper than direct.

35. Is there 100% white and 100% black? What is the unit for whiteness??

In scientific color science, the term “whiteness” is also used to assess the light qualities of a surface, which is of particular importance for the practice and theory of painting. The term "whiteness" in its content is close to the concepts of "brightness" and "lightness", however, unlike the latter, it contains a shade of qualitative characteristics and even to some extent aesthetic.

What is whiteness? Whitecharacterizes the perception of reflectivity. The more the surface reflects the light falling on it, the whiter it will be, and theoretically a perfectly white surface should be considered a surface that reflects all the rays falling on it, but in practice such surfaces do not exist, just as there are no surfaces that would completely absorb the incident on it. them light.

Let's start with the question, what color is the paper in school notebooks, albums, books?

You might be thinking, what an empty question? Of course white. That's right - white! Well, and the frame, window sill, painted with what paint? Also white. Everything is correct! And now take a notebook sheet, a newspaper, several sheets from different albums for drawing and drawing, put them on the windowsill and carefully consider what color they are. It turns out that being white, they are all different colors (it would be more correct to say - different shades). One is white and gray, the other is white and pink, the third is white and blue, etc. So which one is "pure white"?

In practice, we call white surfaces that reflect a different proportion of light. For example, we evaluate chalk soil as white soil. But as soon as a square is painted on it with zinc white, it will lose its whiteness, but if inside the square is then painted over with white having even greater reflectivity, for example, barite, then the first square will also partially lose its whiteness, although we will practically consider all three surfaces to be white .

It turns out that the concept of “whiteness is relative, but at the same time there is some kind of boundary from which we will begin to consider the perceived surface no longer white.

The concept of whiteness can be expressed mathematically.

The ratio of the light flux reflected by the surface to the flux incident on it (in percent) is called "ALBEDO" (from Latin albus - white)

ALBEDO(from late Latin albedo - whiteness), a value that characterizes the ability of a surface to reflect the flow of electromagnetic radiation or particles incident on it. The albedo is equal to the ratio of the reflected flux to the incident one.

This ratio for a given surface is generally maintained under varying light conditions, and therefore whiteness is a more consistent surface quality than lightness.

For white surfaces, the albedo will be 80 - 95%. The whiteness of various white substances can thus be expressed in terms of reflectivity.

W. Ostwald gives the following table of whiteness of various white materials.

barium sulfate (barite white)	99%
Zinc white	94%
White lead	93%
Gypsum	90%
fresh snow	90%
Paper	86%
chalk	84%

A body that does not reflect light at all is called in physicsabsolutely black. But the blackest surface we see will not be completely black from a physical point of view. Since it is visible, it reflects at least some of the light and thus contains at least a tiny percentage of whiteness - just as a surface approaching perfect white can be said to contain at least a tiny percentage of blackness.

The science of color - color science studies many issues that are of interest to artists. For example: the correct mixing of paints, how color changes under different lighting conditions, at different distances, the effect on the color of a neighboring color, and many other similar issues. Color issues have been studied for a long time. Back in 1810, Goethe wrote The Teaching about Flowers. Color science reveals the patterns of color phenomena in nature, thereby helping artists painters. This article is about the most important aspects in color science.

BASIC COLOR PROPERTIES.

If you put any three equally white objects: one in a well-lit place, the second in a less lit place, and the third in a poorly lit place, you can see that the less lit the place, the grayer this object will appear. If, however, the same thing is done with a blue, green or red object, then it will still be perceived as blue, green or red. The thing is that all black, gray and white colors differ from each other only in lightness. Although in the outside world there are no pure white, gray and black colors. They always have some shade. White, gray and black colors also come in different shades. Even ordinary white paint may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, so if you need to paint on something that has already been started with one white paint, it is better to look for paint from the same manufacturer whose paint was used at the beginning. Because the difference between two white colors can be too obvious and completely out of place. The same is true with gray and black colors.

Colors that differ from each other only in lightness are called achromatic (colorless). It is pure black, pure white and pure grey.

achromatic colors. The position on the scale from black to white is called - lightness.

These colors cease to be achromatic if there is at least some slight color tint present. All other colors are called chromatic (translated from Greek - colored). They differ not only in lightness, but also in color (red and blue), as well as in color tone (red, orange, yellow).

Chromatic colors. Made up of chromatic colors color spectrum.

When mixing paint, the lightness and darkness of the color can be adjusted by adding black or white paint to it. For example, if you add white to red, you get pink, and if you add black to the same red, you get brown. In order to make the color less saturated, it is necessary to add gray paint to it of the same lightness as the color itself, while the color will become less saturated, cloudy, but will not become either lighter or darker than it was originally. Saturation is determined by the degree of difference between achromatic and chromatic colors of the same lightness.

Color saturation is the distance between a chromatic color and an achromatic color of the same lightness.

Although very often saturation and lightness or darkness are adjusted by mixing paints of chromatic colors. At the same time, when more than two different colors are mixed, the color becomes more achromatic and in order to make it less saturated, it is not necessary to add gray paint.

Chromatic colors are different in saturation, lightness, and hue, these criteria are called the basic properties of colors, because they absolutely accurately characterize the color. Even a slight change in any of these characteristics will result in a change in color.

NON-SELECTIVE AND SELECTIVE ABSORPTION OF LIGHT.

When white light passes through a prism, it is divided into colored rays, if a white screen is placed in front of them, then a spectrum will be reflected on it - a strip with all the colors of the rainbow. If you put a gray or black screen in front of these rays, then the same spectrum will be reflected on it, only all its colors will be darker, and the darker the screen is, the darker the colors of the spectrum will be. And if you put a screen of any other “color” color in the path of the rays, the spectrum will change. It may change the distribution of brightness, appear colorless zones, or become shorter, without red-orange or blue-violet colors. Surfaces of achromatic colors reflect color rays in the same way, and chromatic colors - in different ways: some less, some more. Under colored lighting, black, white and gray objects seem to be slightly tinted with the color of the lighting. The surfaces of other colors visually change differently. For example: blue will become more saturated if the lighting is bluish, if the lighting is any other color, then it will darken, maybe even to blue-black and will seem less saturated. Also will be with red and green colors. This is because objects that don't glow reflect some of the light that illuminates them and absorb some. Objects of all colors absorb part of the light, converting the energy of light into other energies, mainly heat. That is why white objects heat up in the sun much less than black ones. Moreover, the reflection and absorption of colored light is the same for all surfaces of achromatic colors. It is this absorption of light that is called non-selective. Chromatic objects absorb the rays of some colors to a greater extent, and others to a lesser extent. Red objects absorb green rays more than red ones, and green objects, on the contrary, absorb red rays more than green ones. This is how the selective absorption of light manifests itself.

If you take green glass and direct green light at it, then the light will pass through it, if, for example, blue light is directed at it, it will be partially absorbed by the glass and it will appear darker and colorless. If red and green glasses are put together, they will let in little light and appear very dark. And yellow and blue glass, stacked together, will freely transmit green light. Rays of different colors are transmitted (absorbed) differently by glasses of different colors.

COLOR CIRCLE.

The color spectrum starts with deep reds and ends with blues and purples. If you mix red and purple, you get magenta. The very beginning of the spectrum is slightly similar in color to its end. If you add magenta to the spectrum, placing it between red and violet, you can close the ring of colors. Purple will become, as it were, intermediate, what is commonly called the color wheel will turn out. Such circles vary in the number of colors, but the human eye can distinguish no more than 150 of them.

The color wheel can be divided into two parts: warm colors such as red, orange, yellow and yellow-green; and cold colors: green-blue, cyan, indigo and violet. They are divided this way because warm colors are similar in color to fire and the sun, and cold colors are similar to water and ice. Although, it's all relative. In the color wheel, colors opposite in tone are opposite each other: red is opposite to green, orange to blue, yellow to blue, green to purple.

CHANGE OF COLORS FROM LIGHTING.

Artificial light (from a lamp or candle) seems yellowish compared to daylight. All objects under such lighting acquire a yellowish or even slightly orange tint. If an inexperienced, novice artist paints a landscape under such lighting, then in daylight it will appear yellowish, because in the evening the yellowness is not noticed. If a person looks at a certain surface, he will capture the features of the lighting and restore the color characteristic of this surface, discarding the hue imposed by the lighting. Being in a darkroom, it will be very difficult to find a piece of paper in red, with the red photographic lamp turned on. All pieces of paper in this lab will appear white.

Change colors depending on lighting. In daylight (top) and artificial (bottom).

Identical objects, if placed in the light or in the shade, will visually change color slightly. At sunset, tree leaves appear reddish because chlorophyll reflects some of the red or reddish rays of the sun. In bright light, the colors will seem to fade. When it starts to get dark, the tones cease to differ. The first to become poorly visible are red, then orange, then yellow, and then all the rest in order of arrangement in the spectrum. Blue colors remain visible the longest. In the morning, all colors become visible in the opposite order: the first we begin to distinguish between blue and cyan. Yellow colors appear lighter than all others during the day, and blue seems to be the lightest in the evening. All these color changes under different lighting must be taken into account when drawing a painting.

CHIAROUS.

Chiaroscuro is the main means of conveying the volume of form in the visual arts. By means of chiaroscuro, lighting can also be conveyed. With an average degree of illumination, on medium-light objects, you can see the richest transitions from light to shadow. Reflections are sometimes visible in the shadows (shades that are given by light reflecting from different objects nearby).

Reflections are still observed in glare. Glare on non-metal surfaces always has the color of illumination, and on metallic surfaces - colored highlights. For silver or silver items, they are bluish, while for copper and gold items, they are orange and yellow. Even to convey volume, you can apply the effect of receding and protruding colors. Warm colors are prominent because, to most people, objects in warm colors seem to be closer than they really are. And objects of cold colors, receding, on the contrary, seem more distant than they are. The lighter and more saturated the color, the more it seems to stand out and vice versa - the less saturated and darker, the more it recedes.

CHANGE OF COLORS AT A DISTANCE.

The atmosphere of the earth contains the smallest particles, such as moisture, air molecules, dust. By creating a cloudy environment, they prevent the passage of light. Red, orange, and yellow rays pass through the atmosphere better than blue, indigo, and violet rays, which scatter in different directions, giving the sky its blue color. The more dust and moisture in the air, the more the color of the light scattered in the air approaches white, as in fog.

Light that is reflected from a bright, well-lit object located far away, passing through the atmosphere, acquires a warm tint and darkens, losing some of the blue and blue rays. Light reflected from a dark, dimly lit object that is far away, passing through the atmosphere, picks up the blue and blue rays scattered in it, while becoming lighter and acquiring a bluish tint.

Color, over long distances, changes not only under the influence of haze. The orange color becomes reddish at a distance of 500 meters, and almost red at a distance of 800 meters. Yellow objects, from afar, also appear reddish, provided that they are well lit. Green - become more like blue, and blue, on the contrary, turn green. Almost all colors lighten at a distance, with the exception of blues, violets, and magenta, which darken when removed.

MIXING PAINTS.

In order to easily mix paints, knowledge of the theory of mixing paints is useful.

Red, yellow, and blue are called basic colors because they produce the most variety of colors. These three colors, when drawing, are often not enough, black and white are also needed.

The formation of an ink mixture of a certain color is largely due to the characteristics of the absorption of different spectral rays by the ink particles, when passing through their mixture. Each particle absorbs, as it were subtracts, some part of the light energy that penetrates into it. This process is called subtractive, color subtraction. For example: when light falls on a mixture of yellow and blue paints, it is partially reflected, but most of it penetrates inside and passes through the particles of one or the other paint. All the rays of the yellow and green parts of the spectrum will pass through the yellow particles, and all the rays of the blue and green parts of the spectrum will pass through the blue ones. At the same time, blue particles will absorb to some extent: red, orange and yellow rays, and yellow particles will absorb blue, blue and violet. It turns out that the green rays remained unabsorbed, which determined that from a mixture of yellow and blue paints, we got green paint.

Mechanical color mixing.

If you apply translucent layers of paints of different colors on top of each other, then the color that was applied most recently will prevail in the color of the resulting mixture.

When dried, all water-based paints lighten and lose saturation to varying degrees. If a picture painted with such paints is placed under glass or varnished, the colors on it will look more saturated and dark. This is due to the fact that the surface of the picture without any coating reflects diffused white light.

OPTICAL COLOR MIXING.

For painting, in addition to mechanical color mixing, you can also use optical mixing.

If to any chromatic color, pick up and add, in a certain amount, another chromatic one, we get a new achromatic color. These two chromatic colors that have been matched will be called complementary colors. Such colors are clearly defined: for crimson red, the additional is blue-green for fiery red - green-blue orange - blue yellow-green - purple-violet lemon yellow - ultramarine blue. Pairs of such colors are not difficult to find, because they lie opposite each other in the color wheel.

With optical mixing of non-complementary colors, we get colors of intermediate tones (blue + red = purple).

If we mix orange and blue, we get the same achromatic color as if we first mixed red with yellow to get orange, which we would later mix with blue. The result will not depend on which rays of the spectrum make up the colors that we mix. This is what distinguishes optical color mixing (subjunctive) from mechanical color mixing (based on the subtraction of light rays).

If you draw a sheet of different colors, small spots or small strokes and strokes, then according to the laws of optical mixing, at a distance they will merge into one common, uniform color. This is what optical mixing looks like, which is called spatial. It is used in painting when it is necessary to give a certain area transparency and lightness, compared to other areas.

COLOR CONTRAST.

Despite the fact that paints are now on sale in the widest range, for painting luminous objects and the darkest mountain crevices, there are no colors that are ideally suited in terms of brightness. Artists cope with the transmission of these objects and natural phenomena, through the correct use of the interaction of colors.

The same color, against the background of different colors, looks different. Any object against a background that is darker in color than itself will appear lighter and, conversely, against a background that is lighter, it will look darker than it really is. And the greater the difference between the lightness or darkness of the background and the object located on it, the darker or lighter it will be seen, regardless of whether it is chromatic or achromatic. A change in color in the environment of other colors, or in contact with another color, is called simultaneous color contrast.

The contrast in which the lightness of a color changes due to the influence of neighboring colors or the colors that surround it is called lightness contrast.

Achromatic colors on different chromatic backgrounds become colored. For example: if a gray object is placed on a red background, it will become greenish, on a green background - pinkish, on a yellow background - bluish. The contrast, in which not the lightness changes, but the saturation or color tone, is called chromatic. And the colors that appear on the subject are called colors of simultaneous contrast. To negate the effect of chromatic contrast (so as not to distort the gray color of an object on a red background), you need to give the object a background tint. If you give a gray object a pinkish tint, then against a red background, its color will no longer be distorted and it will look pure gray.

If you draw a gray object on a red background, and circle it along the contour, then this contour will reduce the effect of contrast or completely nullify it. If you separate several adjacent colors with lines, you can also reduce their influence on each other, partially or completely remove the effect of chromatic contrast.

The most pronounced contrast can be seen at the borders where color spots touch, at the edges of these color spots. If you look at a white cube where one side is dark and the other side is more lit, you can see that the dark side, near the lit side, looks darker, and the lit side, near the darkened side, looks lighter. Such a contrast, which we see exactly at the edges of color spots, is called edge contrast.

All these features of contrast must be taken into account, because if you do not pay due attention to them when drawing, you will not be able to convey the relief of the surfaces in the image, or the objects on it will look distorted, it will not be visible that some of their parts protrude, and which - go deeper.

SOIL COLOR AND ITS ROLE IN THE DRAWING PROCESS.

If paints are applied to the primer in translucent layers (glaze writing), then the influence of the color of the primer on the colors of all applied paints and on the general appearance of the picture will be obvious. But even with body writing (when paints are applied in a dense, not translucent layer), the color of the ground will matter, since some amount of light will penetrate through the upper, colored layer of paints and reach the ground, and then, reflected from it, change the general tone of the picture, but it will be almost invisible.

The color of the ground acquires the greatest importance when the ground is not completely painted over, when its color is involved in the composition of the picture, in order, for example, to increase the brightness of other colors in the picture. Based on the laws of contrast, choosing a dark ground, such methods were often resorted to by old master artists, Italians and Spaniards.

The same sketch, written on the ground of two different colors, will look different. Against the white ground, all colors will appear darker, so you will need to use lighter colors than you would need to write against the gray ground. Since on a gray ground, on the contrary, all colors will appear lighter and darker colors will need to be used.

White primer is universal and it is not recommended for beginners to use primer of other colors for work until they have studied all the influences of colors on each other and have learned how to perfectly apply them in practice.

EVALUATION OF COLOR IN THE PICTURE.

All the colors that we see in the picture and in nature, we see already changed by their action on each other and the effect of lighting on them. We cannot see each color separately, without any changes. If you select any one element in the picture, and cover all the rest with something, its color will differ from the color that it acquires, if you look at the whole picture, but it will still undergo changes due to lighting features. In order to choose the right colors for the picture, you need to take into account how, as a result of which, these colors change on the motif you have chosen, as well as correctly and evenly distribute the intensity of the colors. The most intense colors should be used in the foreground, and the colors with the least intensity should be used in the background.

COLORS RELATIONS.

The task of the artist is to convey each color in such a way that it is correctly perceived in the lighting conditions that are captured in the picture, correctly correlated with the painted object, and its intensity corresponded to the spatial plan of the object. To do this, you need to be able to correctly select the ratio between colors.

In addition to saturation, lightness and hue, colors also have textural properties. Colors that convey the color of a surface that has a clear location in space are different from the same colors, which, for example, serve simply to give color to the background. They are called surface colors. Thanks to such differences, we can always approximately determine at what distance any colored surface is. Colors that do not serve to display relief, which are used to draw something that does not have a clear location (for example: a rainbow or sky, we cannot determine the distance to them by eye), are called non-textured colors. The colors used to draw transparent media that are perceived not in a plane, but in volume (air, water) are called volumetric colors.

There is also the concept of color density, which is determined by the density of the paint layer. Paint applied to the surface with a layer of different density, in different places, makes the picture more alive.

Color relationships are determined by textural characteristics, by density and by basic properties. In order not to stray from the correct color relationships, while drawing, you need to periodically rest your eyes (close your eyes at least for a while), as they get tired of color. For example: if you look at a green spot for a long time, and then quickly look at a sheet of white paper, you will see the same spot on this sheet, only lilac-pink. The appearance of such, not real, effects comes from eye fatigue from color. They are called - negative sequential images. Still, visual fatigue is manifested if the observed colors begin to ripple. If you look at a sheet of colored paper for a long time, its color will become less saturated. This is also a sign of eye fatigue. If any of the above happens, you need to interrupt the painting for a while.

COLOR IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE PICTURE.

With the help of color, you can balance the composition of a painting. Colors that resemble the color of earth or stones appear heavy, while colors that resemble the color of air or sky are perceived as lighter. But, keep in mind that even if you draw one of the "light" colors, an object that is actually heavy (for example: mountains) - the color will still seem heavy. To balance the composition, you need to pay attention not only to the weight of colored objects, but also to their visibility. Blue is the least eye-catching color, while red and orange are the most eye-catching.

With the help of lightness contrast, as well as the brightness and catchiness of color, you can highlight objects in the picture that you need to draw more attention to.

If you check in practice, everything said in this article, practice painting, carefully observe nature, get acquainted with color science in more detail, it will be easier for you to become a real landscape painter.

Probably, such a curiosity happened to many: they chose beautiful wallpaper in the room, pasted it, enjoy the beautiful blue color. Evening came, you turned on the light ... and the delicate blue hue suddenly became almost green. What's the matter? It is known that lighting, both natural and artificial, has a significant impact on the perception of the color of the wall and objects. This is what we will talk about in our article.

We get the most correct impression of color in sunlight at noon. Accordingly, before painting the wall in the chosen color, first make a test painting 1x1 cm: you will definitely see how the color changes depending on the time of day and electric lighting.
In order to choose the right lamps for a particular color scheme of the interior, you can be guided by the general color rendering index Ra. The color rendering characteristic of a lamp describes how natural (close to natural daylight) the objects around us look in its light. The maximum Ra value is 100. The lower the Ra values, the worse the colors of the illuminated object are reproduced.
Consider the color rendering properties of the most common types of lamps.
Incandescent lamps

In the light of traditional incandescent lamps, the blue and violet (in other words, cold) part of the spectrum is almost absent, as a result of which they give a warm "yellow" light. For this reason, warm colors - red, orange, yellow and their shades are perceived in the light of incandescent lamps with minimal deviation, blue and purple surfaces become significantly darker and redder, green ones become dull. If you have not yet abandoned incandescent lamps in favor of energy-saving ones, then it is better to use them in warm-colored interiors.
Color rendering index of incandescent lamps - R 60-90
Halogen lamps
The halogen lamp is an improved incandescent lamp. Its spectral composition is substantially close to the spectrum of sunlight. Thanks to this, the colors of furniture and interiors in warm and neutral colors, as well as the complexion of a person, are perfectly transmitted.
Color rendering index of halogen lamps - R > 90
Fluorescent lamps
The light of fluorescent white fluorescent lamps is close in spectral composition to natural daylight. When illuminated by these lamps, color perception will be relatively correct. However, you need to pay attention to the labeling of the lamp. Marking usually consists of 2-3 letters. The first letter L means luminescent. The following letters indicate the color of radiation: D - daylight; HB - cold white; B - white; TB - warm white; E - natural white. Accordingly, if your interior is designed in a cold range, you need to choose any marking, except for LTB. If the interior is “warm”, the LHB type must be excluded.
Color rendering index of fluorescent lamps - R 80-100
Now we can answer the question why the delicate blue wallpaper suddenly turned green. The thing is that they were illuminated by an ordinary incandescent lamp. Her yellow light "mixed" with the blue tone of the wallpaper, making it green. Treat the selection of lamps with due attention, and your interior will not surprise you with an unexpected change in color.

The influence of lighting on the colors of objects.

The colors of objects change in nature from morning to evening, depending on the position of the sun. Its rays either penetrate transparent and translucent objects, or are reflected from their surface; in each case, they undergo different changes. In addition, the height of the sun, greater or lesser cloudiness, and the state of the atmosphere in general, have a tremendous influence on the colors of bodies. Morning and evening dawns, twilight, moonlight still add to the variety of color changes. There is a legitimacy in all these phenomena, which we must find out here.

The color of any object is made up of the same parts that make up the light of the sun, only some parts of the light are almost completely absorbed or extinguished by the body. For example, cinnabar cancels out the violet, blue, green parts almost completely; when illuminated, cinnabar emits only red rays and those close to them. Grass and tree foliage chooses green, yellow and blue rays from the sun, partly retains them and emits, absorbing more or less red and orange rays. If cinnabar is illuminated with blue or green light, then it will seem completely dark, almost black, because cinnabar does not receive the red rays it needs for visibility under such illumination.

In general, every body, as it were, chooses some of the colors that make up the sun's rays and reflects or emits only them, extinguishing the rest; from this selective power of bodies come their colors in all their variety and heterogeneity. Only white objects do not seem to have such a selective ability, in any case, and these objects do not reflect from themselves all the light that falls on them. Black objects also represent something special: black velvet, black cloth, black granite do not appear completely black in the sunlight, but gray, emitting a little of every color, and thus differ from whites, which reflect a lot of every color. However, various white, as well as various black surfaces are somewhat different from each other. Such and such a white paint is colder or warmer than another; this means that in one there is a slight bluishness, and in the other a slight yellowishness. Sugar is white and chalk is also white, but their colors are not quite the same. Similarly, the black color of coal is not identical with the black color of various colors used in painting; there are black bluish, greenish, brownish, which is best detected when mixed with white. From this it follows that various black colors have a certain dominant, albeit very weak, color tone.

Gray color is intermediate between white and black. White and gray objects are most capable of taking on the color of the light in which they are viewed; white and gray tree trunks turn red or orange as the sun goes down, while black ones get only a faint color tint. The birch bark turns green from brightly lit nearby grass, takes on a blue color from the side illuminated by the blue sky, and in general changes a lot and is extremely tangible. A gray dusty road, gray stones, gray fences made of wood that has darkened with age - all these objects take on very different shades depending on the lighting. The foliage of a grayish color, such as our willows or southern olives, is also capable of changing very noticeably, especially in comparison with bright green plants, which become quite dark in evening light, almost black with a brownish or reddish tint.

But colors become most vivid when illuminated with light whose hue is close to their own, i.e. warm colors win with warm lighting, cold colors - with cold. White and gray paper is much less red and bright under red or blue light than red or blue paper under the same circumstances. On the contrary, warm colors darken, approaching black in some cases, when illuminated by rays of cold colors, for example, orange from blue, and cold ones from warm ones, for example, purple from yellow-green.

We are talking about cases of lighting matte, not smooth surfaces; a smooth green leaf, for example, can reflect a wide variety of rays.

A very smooth surface in some cases almost does not retain its color. For example, polished red copper can perfectly reflect all colors, even green complementary to its color, similarly, the surface of leaves can reflect with great purity the red light of the setting sun. I imagine burdock leaves; they are so tortuous that one part of them reflects the blue color of the sky, which, however, becomes grayish-green-blue, other parts of the leaf that are in the shade are dark green, and some are translucent in a bright yellow-green tone.

From all that has been said, it follows that in the eyes of the artist, no object has a certain permanent color. The normal color of the foliage is green, but if it is strongly lit or in deep shade, it can take on tones that are extremely far from green.

The tones of air and water are of particular variability in nature. The transparent and light colors of the sky and clouds, and the darker clouds, which, in contrast to the brightly lit objects of the earth, may appear completely black, represent vast gamuts in all tones from white through gray to black, from light blue and faint red to dark blue or dark purple, etc. All this variety is produced either by the reflection of light from the air and water of which the clouds are composed, or by the passage of the sun's rays through them. The color of water, lakes, rivers and seas is determined by transparency: the top of the wave can be gray-yellow, yellow-green, emerald green. Turbid water may appear brown, almost red, under through illumination. By reflection, any water may be blue, but the degree of blue depends not only on the purity and strength of the blue of the sky, but to some extent on the color of the water itself.

Calm water does not take on the blue that rippled or turbulent water does. In every wave, the top is more or less translucent, and the surface of the depression more or less reflects the color of the sky and clouds. Some parts of the valleys between the waves receive so little light that they appear very dark. In a remote strip of the sea, it is impossible to see individual parts of even a decent size of waves, and in a ripple consisting of very small waves, these parts are indistinguishable even from a small distance; all parts merge into one color, which is darker than the color of calm water, thanks to the dark parts of the waves.

In smooth calm water, with a blue sky, darkness, but not purity, blue intensifies as the surface of the water gets closer to the viewer. Standing on an elevated seashore, one can see that the water in close bays is much darker than at some distance from the coast. This happens, among other things, from the fact that the blue color of the sky, formed by reflection from the air, being reflected again from the water, under certain circumstances will be very poor in light, i.e. very dark. Another reason for the darkening of the water, which is below and almost underfoot, is that when the rays fall almost vertically, they mostly penetrate it and, therefore, are little reflected.

The color of the water in which trees or other objects are reflected depends on their color, but this reflection is not always only a lowered image of the object. The illuminated wall will come out like this in the reflected image, but it would be a mistake to depict the illuminated tree only overturned in the water with a repetition of its light and dark parts. In the water it is reflected mostly from the underside of the leaves. The underside of horizontal leaves cannot receive direct sunlight even at the moment of sunset, just as the ceilings of rooms, even on the highest tower, cannot be illuminated by sunset. If the sun is close to the horizon, then nevertheless its rays fall on earthly objects from a certain height; if it sank to the horizon and even partly disappeared under it, then the visible part of the solar disk sends rays only horizontally, but not from below upwards.

We see, however, that the sun, being between the clouds, illuminates the upper edges of some and the lower ones of others; and in this case we are deceived by the perspective. The upper clouds are turned with bright edges, as if downwards, but in reality they are only more distant from us and, being turned towards the sun, are illuminated by it through and through. Clouds that are on the side opposite the sun are always illuminated, as if from the upper edge, but in reality from the front; the parts of these clouds that are more distant from the viewer and from the sun appear perspectively lower.

We judge the transparency of bodies by the through light that enters our eye. The top of the wave appears transparent if a changed color of the sky passes through it; the transparency of the water near the shore is obvious if we see stones, sand or algae through it. Even when the outlines of underwater objects are not visible, one change in the color of the water is a sign of its transparency. Light passes from the outside into the water and illuminates the bottom, but part of the light is reflected from the surface of the water. When the light reflected from the water is stronger than the light from the sandy bottom, the bottom will not be visible and the water is not transparent.

It happens that the color of the reflected object is combined with the color of the bottom visible through the water and then the water receives a new tone, indicating its transparency. These tones come from a mixture of rays, not colors; a yellow bottom seen through water that reflects the blue color of the sky will not turn green from this, but will receive a tone that is easier to observe than to predict. Similarly, a red underwater rock will not appear purple when blue sky reflects off the surface of the water.

When the sun disappears behind clouds or emerges from behind them, the change in the colors of objects is striking, the more so as it comes suddenly; in addition, the illuminated parts of the objects are next to the unlit ones, which further enhances their difference. In order to notice the gradual change in tones during the day, it takes a lot of attention, which is given only to the artist and the accustomed observer, but by sunset the changes become very sharp for everyone.

Evening artificial lighting of dwellings with gas or kerosene is a great concern for the artist and lover of paintings, since the tones of the paintings change and, in general, the relationship between tones is disturbed. The picture is painted in daylight, and each paint applied by the artist or a mixture of them has the proper tone; under orange gas light, the tones of the colors are completely different, because the colors cannot select all their colors in sufficient quantities from kerosene or gas light, which has a composition very different from daylight. Cinnabar, cadmium, some greens will find in this light in abundance all the constituents they need, and they get such or even a brighter appearance than they had in the daytime, but blue and violet colors will lack a lot and therefore these tones are separate, or mixed with others, will not be blue and purple. Cobalt blue paint seems violet in fire, ultramarine - grayish, indigo - completely gray. In most pictures, optical dissonances will appear that will completely spoil the impression of them. Artificial lighting seems to act even more falsely on watercolor, because a thin layer of water-based paint passes through itself the orange light of the flame to the paper, from which it is reflected and joins the color changed by this light from the paint.

Color perception is in a special state in the evening. Everyone does not hesitate to call the color of white paper lit by fire white, although the color is necessarily yellow-orange and seems to be really such if one were to look at paper lit by fire in the daytime in a deaf lantern. But if this orange color of the paper is recognized as white, then other colors in the fire would be recognized as real only if their relation to orange were the same as to white during the day. In fact, this is true only for some colors, while others remain difficult to recognize when fired. In any case, the color sensations of the eye under artificial evening illumination are not so false in the gradation of colors as might be expected, judging by the extraordinary changes actually taking place in the colors.

This conclusion can be confirmed by such experience. Imagine that, being in a room in daylight, we can look through a small hole made in the door into a dark adjacent room in which a picture is placed, lit only by lamp light. The coloring of this picture may seem terrible to us, but if we go into a dark room and give the eye time to get used to the light of the lamps, we will find that the impression from the picture is not so bad as it seemed to us a few minutes ago. While we were in a room with daylight, white was the norm for us, with which we compared all other colors, and then we found that the change in colors by fire lighting is amazingly large, but when in a dark room the basis of comparative impressions is not white, but orange color, mentally recognized as white, then the ratio of other colors to this conditional white will seem to us less disturbed. In a special state of the eye under artificial lighting, one must look for an explanation why some artists can paint pictures with fire, preserving the relationship of tones so much that during the day the coloring sometimes requires them only minor improvements, which must finally be made, of course, during the day.

№	In daylight.	On fire.
1.	White.	White.
2.	Neapolitan yellow greenish.	Neapolitan yellow.
3.	Light cadmium (not lemon)	Light cadmium.
4.	Green Veronese.	Dark cadmium.
5.	Dark cadmium.	Indian yellow.
6.	Indian yellow.	Ocher is light.
7.	Ocher is light.	Cinnabar.
8.	Chinese cinnabar.	Green Veronese.
9.	Cobalt light green.	Burnt ocher.
10.	Green chromium oxide.	Venetian red.
11.	Burnt light ocher.	Green chromium oxide.
12.	Venetian red.	Cobalt light green.
13.	Sienva natural.	Sienna natural.
14.	Cobalt dark green.	Cobalt dark green.
15.	Green land.	Green land.
16.		Burnt umber.
17.	Cobalt.	Green emerald (chromium oxide hydrate).
18.	Burnt umber.	Cobalt.
19.	Crapplack is medium.	Crapplack is medium.
20.	Ultramarine.	Ultramarine.
21.	Prussian blue.	Prussian blue.
22.	Ivory black.	Ivory black.

In order to see how the order of colors shifts, in relation to their lightness, when moving from daylight to evening lighting with kerosene, the following list has been compiled on the basis of my experiments, in which the colors are arranged in order, starting with the lightest.

From this list it can be seen that the order of lightness of colors has changed significantly when illuminated by fire; for example, green Veronese (vert Paul V?ron?se, Deckgr?n) moved from 4th place to 8th. , i.e. darkened relative to yellow, red and brown. But at the same time, any green remained in the second, evening, row between the same greens, as in the first, daytime, row; for example, chromium oxide green in both rows is darker than cobalt light green and lighter than cobalt dark green.

The same is seen in yellows, reds, and generally warm tones; they almost all rose when moving from the first row to the second, but the place of each of them, between the other two, remained the same. It should also be noted that the three lightest colors, named at the beginning of the first row and the four darkest ones, at the end of this row, passed without changing their place to the second row.

As for the change in the order of colors due to the yellow-orange evening lighting, then, having difficulty in arranging the colors in rows according to tones, we confine ourselves to some remarks. Yellow paints are hardly noticeable during fire, since paper, taken as the norm for white, has a yellow-orange tint. Green Veronese has a beautiful little changed tone, chromium oxide green becomes gray-green, chromium oxide hydrate becomes warmer, but slightly deviates from the nature of the daytime tone, cobalt takes on a purple hue, which is even more noticeable in cobalt mixed with white, artificial ultramarine becomes cloudy, and in whitening it is close to gray, Prussian blue becomes greener, dark cadmium - completely orange, light ocher gets a slight greenishness. All these color sensations appear as such to the eye, which is under the influence of evening artificial lighting.

When choosing wallpaper, furniture, curtains or any other thing for the interior of our apartment, we first of all pay attention to the color of the object. Coloring is one of the main criteria that influences the decision to buy this or that thing for the home. And what a disappointment there is when, seeing a purchase at home, we find that in our apartment the color of it suddenly became completely different and does not look as charming as in the store. And to blame for this fairly common problem, metamerism, the term for color change depending on the observation conditions (lighting, etc.).

There are 4 main types of metamerism:

Radiation metamerism - color change depending on the light source;

Observer metamerism is a natural phenomenon and a long-known fact that all people perceive color individually, so for different people the same color will look different;

Metamerism of the size of the measured field - a change in the perception of color depending on its area, many colors become more "aggressive" with a larger occupied area;

Metamerism of geometry or viewing angle - color change depending on the viewing angle of the observer. This effect is especially noticeable on metallized or coated with special paints surfaces.

How does light change color?

The color in your home always depends on the lighting. If you are observant, then you have probably already noticed this yourself. In daylight, the color of the walls is one, and in the evening, when the light sources are turned on, the color of the walls changes and becomes different. And of course this applies to all surfaces in the room.

That is why it is recommended to check all finishing materials under different light sources and always at home so that there are no unexpected surprises. After all, it often happens that you like wallpaper in a store, but you bring it home - and the color is not the same.

There are certain patterns in the change in color under the influence of light. They can be summarized something like this: in warm light, warm colors become softer and more tender, and cold colors fade and gray. In cold light, on the contrary, cold colors become brighter and more radiant, and warm colors become grayish.

This must be taken into account when buying lamps for your fixtures. Incandescent lamps, which today are already a thing of the past, have a warm light. Energy-saving lamps can have both warm and cold light. Their packaging always indicates what kind of light the lamp gives. Pay attention to this and buy exactly those lamps that will advantageously emphasize the colors in your room.

The smallest color change of finishing materials is given by simple halogen lamps, which emit a white light that is closest to natural midday lighting.

With natural light, you need to take into account the climate and the location of the windows. In the southern latitudes, the light is brighter, and in the northern latitudes it is more diffused. In bright southern light, the colors appear paler, so to compensate for this effect, it is recommended to choose a color 1-2 shades darker. To soften too sunny rooms choose cold dark pastel (desaturated) colors.

To prevent northern rooms from looking too gloomy and cold, warm colors are used. If there is not enough light in the room, then light and intense tones can compensate for this deficiency. In general, when exposed to indirect northern light, colors appear darker and less intense.

The table shows examples of how colors change under the influence of warm and cold light. Since the colors of your monitor may distort the actual colors, please refer to them as an example. And remember, in order not to make a mistake in choosing, test finishing materials at home with home lighting.

Additionally, the perception of color is influenced by the colors surrounding it, for example, the illusion of contrast and Hering's gratings give an idea of ​​this phenomenon. Also, colors in color combinations can mutually reinforce or weaken each other. Going to the store to choose finishing materials and furniture for the home, these phenomena should be taken into account.

In order to get exactly the color in the interior that you wanted, you need to approach the choice in advance. First, determine what types of lighting will be present in your apartment, and how a particular object or finishing material will be illuminated. How much natural light will there be, which side of the world the windows face.

In southern light, most colors appear more intense, but at the same time become slightly paler. Whitened, desaturated colors in a southern room will be almost white. In the northern indirect light, the colors lose their intensity, but at the same time look darker. To compensate for this effect, more saturated color tones should be chosen for northern rooms.

What artificial light sources will illuminate the subject - incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps or others. The greatest change in the color of finishing materials is observed when illuminated with incandescent lamps, high pressure sodium lamps and low pressure sodium lamps. The smallest change in the color of the object occurs when illuminated by high-pressure mercury lamps and high-pressure metal halide lamps. Other types of lamps have an average ability to influence color change. In addition, it must be borne in mind that, other things being equal, saturated colors are subject to the greatest changes.

The ideal solution to this problem is to bring the chosen sample into the house and see how it will look before buying. But this, unfortunately, is not always possible. Firstly, during the repair, lighting sources are installed at the last stage, and therefore it is not possible to see in advance how the selected finishing material will look in the end. And secondly, stores very rarely provide such a service.

Therefore, you will have to solve the problem of metamerism on your own. To do this, stock up on different types of flashlights and feel free to shine all of them from different angles on the material you choose. Be sure to bring the selected sample to the window and see how it looks in natural light, while not forgetting about the cardinal points. Rotate the sample and look at it from different angles, notice what happens to its color. Make a purchase decision only if you like the color under different types of lighting.
If the material you choose will occupy a large area in the room, then try to "turn on" the volumetric imagination and imagine how this color will look on a large area. Sometimes colors and colors look expressive in a small area, but lose their charm in a large area.

If the material is selected for a room where several people will spend their time, be sure to bring family members with you. Everyone should like the chosen color, otherwise quarrels, disputes and other undesirable consequences are possible in the future. Agree, few people like to often be in an unpleasant color environment.

The next point that you need to pay attention to when choosing the colors of the finishing material, furniture and fabrics for the interior is color combinations. What other colors will be present in the room? How much area will each color occupy? If you already have samples of other materials that will be in the room, take them with you and attach them to the chosen material. See how the colors affect each other and make a purchase only if you are satisfied with everything.

If you still bought a material, fabric or furniture that has changed its color in your home in an unpleasant way for you, and it is impossible to return the goods, try softening the bad color with an analog one by placing it nearby. For example, a bright green sofa can be muted by throwing soft turquoise pillows on it. Or, for example, if the red and blue colors that looked spectacular in the store have merged into a single purple color in your apartment, then choose the color that you like best from the color and use it as a dominant in additional accessories.

Knowing all the pitfalls that await you on the way to choosing a color scheme for the interior of your apartment, you can easily avoid them. Well, if you still didn’t take into account something and got a not entirely satisfactory result, there is always the opportunity to fix everything by using other colors from the color palette. To do this, you just need to study the influence of colors on each other or turn to the help of professionals.

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