Color and Light - Part II [1]Art ResourceMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
This is the fifty-nineth post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed below all the posts in this new series:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
Blue Pigments - Part III
Green Pigments - Part I
Green Pigments - Part II
Red Pigments - Part I
Red Pigments - Part II
Yellow Pigments - Part I
Yellow Pigments - Part II
Brown and Violet Pigments
Black Pigments
White Pigments - Part I
White Pigments - Part II
White Pigments - Part III
Inert Pigments
Permanence of Pigments: New Pigments - Part I
Permanence of Pigments: New Pigments - Part II
Limited or Restricted Palettes
Testing of Pigments - Part I
Testing of Pigments - Part II
Further Refinement of Pigments
Color and Light - Part I
Color and Light - Part II

There have been another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics;
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio;
(iii) Color theories and color schemes;
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials;
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V;
(vi) Protein fibers;
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers;
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers;
(ix) Fabric construction;
(x) Techniques and woven fibers;
(xi) Basic and figured weaves;
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics;
(xiii) Durable press and wash-and-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.

To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.

If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g., click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.

The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!

Introduction
This is the 800th published post on my blogspot. The first post that I published was "ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions. An International Exhibition." To view this post, click on the following link - ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions.

In 2010, I would not have envisaged that some sixteen years later I would still be publishing a weekly post. It has been a long journey, and I hope, a fruitful one for you as it has been for me. Many of these posts were sourced from numerous books, magazines as well based on my own artistic journey. I have always referenced my sources and so I want thank all those authors as well as the many invited editors and artists who have contributed to this journey of mine. Without them, my blog posts would not have been so varied, nor so interesting. Thanks to all the contributors!

Note: Milestones are meant to be surpassed. This is a powerful reminder that achievements are stepping stones rather than finishing lines. In both personal and professional growth, acknowledging a goal is crucial for motivation, but setting your sights on the next level of development prevents stagnation and drives continuous improvement. Thank you for being a witness to my journey of discovery in the subjects that are of interest to me, and which I have featured on this blogspot.

Color and Light - Part II [1]
Pigments vary in transparency in the direct ratio to their refractive indices, but all of them are transparent to some extent. If the proper medium is selected, laboratory tests can be made which will show that the most opaque colors, even flake white, appear transparent under certain conditions. The liquids used in such laboratory experiments are not suitable for paint medium purposes, but the effects produced clearly demonstrate that the hiding power or opacity in paint film can be lost through a change in conditions, which surround the pigment that has been used.

In an actual oil painting, this does not occur at once; but in galleries one may frequently find a picture in which, by reason of changes wrought by time, oxidation, etc., the refractive index of the oil film has changed, and a thin coat of paint originally sufficed to form an opaque film has become sufficiently transparent to allow an underpainting or drawing to show through. The effect is called pentimento.

Rembrandt | Flora, 1634.
Note: In this painting, pentimento appears since there is a notable presence or emergence of earlier images, forms, or strokes that have been changed and were painted over.

Though all opaque pigments have this property, the whites possess it to a greater degree than do the others; pentimento in old pictures usually appears where white or colors reduced with much white have been used. The fact that all dried films of oil paint tend to become more transparent with age is well established.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when light impinges upon an object it is either transmitted, reflected, or absorbed, depending on the nature of the object; in the case of most paints it performs all three of these actions, in varying degrees.

The practical lesson that oil and tempura painters of the present day have learned from this is that the ground and underpainting always have some effect on the final painting, even when not apparent, and that pictures must be built up carefully with this point in mind.

Correct procedure calls for keeping the ground and underpinning as white or pale as possible, superimposing darks over lights (so far as the nature of work allows), and, whenever possible, scraping down or removing any substantial thick or dark areas when these are to be overpainted or obliterated for the purposes of making corrections. If two pictures were identical except for the fact that one was painted upon a brilliant white background and one of a black background, the difference between them would be immediately apparent; any departure from a pure white ground or from strickly necessary underpainting will produce an effect which tends towards that of a black ground. It is especially important to use the whitest sort of ground and the pale underpinnings when glazes and veils are employed.

There are few activities other than the use of artists' paints where opaque and transparent color effects are manipulated and where their differences are significant.

There are many aspects of color and light, each of which is a study or field in itself, such as color harmony, color classification or notation, and color considered from aesthetic, psychological, or scientific viewpoints. These are important studies in their own right. The present account is simply an outline of phsical and optical considerations which are relevant to the technology of painting materials and methods.

The schematic below summarizes many the effects on how light interacts with materials that artists often employ.

Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).

Traditional Indian Textiles - Part IV [1]ArtClothMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below, the other posts in this series:
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part I
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part II
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part III
Traditional Indian Textiles - Part IV

Introduction [1]
The earliest textile finds were made at Mohenjo-daro, an archaeological site of the third millennium BC on the Indus River.

The Indus River is located in Asia, originating in the Himalayas and flowing through north-western India and along the length of Pakistan to empty into the Arabian Sea. The river basin spans Pakistan, India, China, and Afghanistan.

Archaeological ruins at Moenjo-daro, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

At that site, woven and madder-dyed cotton fragments wrapped round a silver pot had been preserved by the metallic salts that impregnated the cloth. The use of madder dye made fast with a mordant and the presence of dye vats at the sight, testify to an advanced understanding of the process of color mixing on cloth, and relief-carved stone sculpture from the dig clearly depicts figures draped with patterned cloth. Spindles were found at Mohenjo-daro and used, most probably to wind weft threads when working at a wooden loom; the presence of bronze needles at the site suggests that this Bronze-Age civilization embellished its woven cloth with embroidery or supplementary threadwork on the loom. From this evidence we may surmise that some peoples of the sub-continent were at least two, perhaps three millenia in advance of the European world in the preparation and use of cotton and mordanted dyestuff.

Traditional Indian Textiles - Part IV [1]

A young girl of the Meghwal caste tassel-making in Hodka village in Banni Kutch.

Goat-hair belt made using the split-ply method - from west Rajasthan.

Ishwar Singh, of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, preparing a split-ply camel girth of goat hair.

'Dharaniyo' (cover for a pile of quilts), with floral designs and an embroidered border, made by the Ahir herders in Kutch. The central field is of 'roghan' work (the design is printed on with a mixture of thickened oil and pigment).

The three images below are 'Chaklas' (i.e., square hangings).

Made by the Rabari of Kutch.

Made by the Bharwad, or the Charan, Saurashtra.

A Ganesh chakla made by the Ahir herders, Saurashtra.

Double and single-ikat cotton 'sakapar' sari, with detailed border.

From Sambalpur District, Orissa.

Reference:
[1] Traditional Indian Textiles, John Gillow and Nicholas Barnard, Thams and Hudson, London (1993) ISBN 0-500-27709-5.

The Art of Aubrey Beardsley - Part I [1]Artist's ProfileMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts featuring Aubrey Beardsley:
Art Nouveau - Part I
Art Nouveau and Symbolism of the 1890s
The Art of Aubrey Beardsley - Part I

Introduction [1]
The art of Aubrey Beardsley is hors concours. Indeed, has not Max Beerbohm, born the same month and year, said he belongs to 'The Beardsley period'? He said that ironically, after Bearsdley had been dead for a half a century.
Note: Sir Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) was an English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist. Known for his sharp wit and refined style, he captured the absurdities of the late Victorian and Edwardian literary scenes. Walter Sickert (1860–1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who helped bridge the gap between Impressionism and Modernism.

Aubrey Beardsley.

It is this paradox that makes it hard to classify Beardsley. He is modern, yet he died before Walter Sickert or Augustus John had been heard of by the general public.

His work belongs, perhaps, to that rare kind of limbo of the aesthetic atmosphere to which might be assigned the Preludes to Wagner's Operas, the pencil heads of John, the paintings of Wilem Maris or of Leonardo, some piano music of Chopin, the poetry of Keats and the Fête Champêtre of Watteau. The cold purity of their perfection seems to ban the emotion they arouse.

Portrait of Wilem Maris by Floris Arntzenius.

Like Aeschylus and Mr. Williams (renowned scholar) he has indeed "created the taste by which he is enjoyed." His art was new at the time of its making, it is still new today, although more familiar to us: he created that taste for his work that we, the onlookers, admire. His followers, or rather his imitators, have never really grasped his essential quality, namely, the cold, clear, biting line, the perfection of balance in his design, his amazing economy of beautiful detail, his daring use of black and white mass, and his unerring instinct for correct values.

That such rare and important qualities should be found altogether in one draftsman is most unusual. But they should be allied to great intelligence, a ready wit, a sardonic humour and an erotic temperament is probably unique.

It is this alliance of craftsmanship and character that makes Beardsley at once so easy and so difficult to criticize. Every drawing of his maturity gives evidence of his individual way of looking at a subject, whether it be a Victorian interior, a Greek play, an eighteenth century poem, at woman looking at some books, an early seventeenth-century satire, or an airy nothing - an armour being interred in a powder box by a pierrot and a satyr.

Besides his extreme youth and maturity, another paradox is noticeable. He was most sensitive to the zeitgeist (i.e., spirit of time) of later British Victorians. Not a foible, fashion or custom was missed by that acute mind: the Burne-Jones craze, the yellow-backed French novel, the Japanese print, the whistler nocturne and the Whistler leacock room. He saw the uproarious posters of Chéret, the poster-like lithographs of Toulouse-Lautrec, the woodcuts of Charles Rickettes, the garish gaslit London streets that Jack the Ripper roamed. He heard the mot (i.e., young girl) of Oscar and the gibe of Jimmy at the critics.

Gaslit London streets that Jack the Ripper roamed.

All these, and a dozen other tricks and fancies, he observed and transmuted into his own design and made something as distinct as a Chinese bronze of the Warring States, or a modern ballet in his time by Massine.

In "Les Presages" Massine visualizes the music in his dynamic use of sculptural groupings and fluid, lyrical adagios.

The Art of Aubrey Beardsley - Part I [1]

Title: The Kiss of Judas.
Comment [1]: From the Pall Mall Magazine, July 1893. One of two drawings he made for this periodical.

Title: The Woman in the Moon, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. The drawing has little connection with the play. A caricature of Wilde in the moon.

Title: The Peacock Skirt, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. The drawing strongly influenced by the Japanese print through Whistler's Peacock Room.

Title: The Black Cape, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. The drawing has no connection with the play and is a caricature of the fashion of the period.

Title: A Platonic Lament, 1893.
Comment [1]: From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. A caricature of Oscar Wilde appears in the sky.

Title: John and Salome, 1893.
Comment [1]: Intended for Salome but suppressed. It was published in later editions.

Title: Enter Herodias, 1893.
Comment [1]: For Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894. First state hitherto unpublished. A caricature of Wilde in the foreground. In the original drawing the right-hand figure was nude, as here, and the artist afterwards drew a fig-leaf for the published drawing. On some proofs of the First State he wrote:

'Because "on" figure was undressed
This little drawing was supressed,
It was unkind, but never mind,
Perhaps it was all for the best.

Title: The Eyes of Herod, 1893. From Salome by Oscar Wilde. John Lane, 1894.
Comment [1]: Another drawing influenced by Whistler's Peacocok Room, and with a butterfly in the top left corner. Wilde is again caricatured.

Reference:
[1] The Best of Beardsley, R.A. Wlker, Spring Books, Great Britain (1948).

Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part III [1]Wearable ArtMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series on Chinese textiles:
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Brocade Collection - Part I
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Tapestry Collection - Part I
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Tapestry Collection - Part II
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Embroidery Collection - Part I
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Brocade Collection - Part II
Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part I
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part I
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part II
Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part II
Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part III

Chinese Clothing: A Historical Overview - Part III [1]
After 1840, China entered the modern era. Coastal cities, especially metropolises such as Shangai, with their mixed population of foreign and native residents, led the change towards western style under the influence of European and American fashion trends. Industrialization in textile weaving and dyeing in the West brought about the import of low cost materials, gradually replacing domestic materials made in traditional ways. Fashionable and intricately-made ready-to-wear garments in 'western' styles found their way onto the Chinese market, and large-scale, machine operated dress-making, became more popular than the time-consuming traditional techniques of hand rolling, bordering, inlay and embroidery.

At the end of the 19th Century, sewing machines imported from western countries had already been used in the traditional clothing industry.

Looking back at the twentieth-century Chinese clothing, we see a wide array of styles of qipao, cheongsam, the Sun Yet-sen uniform, student uniforms, western suits, hats, silk stockings, high heels, lenin jackets, military uniforms, bell-bottoms, flairs, jeans, mini-skirts, bikinis, punk styles, "Guochao" or "National Tide," which fuses traditional Chinese elements with contemporary designs of everyday wear. Key trends included the revival of traditional garments like hanfu and cheongsam, integrated with modern details such as unique tailoring, embroidery, and new materials. This movement reflected a growing national pride and a desire to blend cultural heritage with modern aesthetics.

The qipao now regarded as the typical Chinese dress style, only became popular in the 1920s. Originating as Manchurian woman's dress, incorporating Han clothing techniques and styles of twentieth century western dresses, it has now evolved into a major fashion item within the international fashion industry.

Floral pattern, jacquard silk satin long Qipao.

China is a country made up of fifty-six ethnic groups that have continually interacted, and have undergone continuous transformation in dress style and customs.

The traditional image of a Chinese worker wearing a front closure Chinese jacket.

Students of Beijing University, wearing Scottish-checked skirts in the 1950s.

Fashionable young people on the streets in Beijing.

Style distinctions are not only evident between different dynasties, but are also quite pronunced, even in different periods within the same dynasty. The defining characteristics of Chinese clothing are bright colors, skilled craftsmanship, and ornate detail.

Modern Cheongsam Jacket.

Diversity in style can be seen between different ethnic groups, living environments, local customs, lifestyles as well as aesthetic tastes. Chinese folk clothing is deeply rooted in the daily life and activities of the people, with many traditional folk styles and accessories. They embrace embroidered keepsakes, coil hats and raincoats made of natural fiber, not to mention the handmade children's tiger-head hats and shoes as well as pig-head shoes and cat-head shoes.

Tiger Head Hat - handcrafted embroidery design.

The progress of modernization is having an effect on the ethnic character of dress style. However, in rural areas, a wide array of beautiful garments and ornaments are still very much part of the local lifestyle and landscape, which is in direct opposition to city life, where designers and fashion shows shape what city residents are wearing.

Shanghai Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026, takes place from October 9th to 16th. Over 80,000 industry insiders — including thousands of global guests — will gather across the city for a spectacular lineup of first shows, first exhibitions, as well as first unveilings of fashion. More than 1,000 brands will showcase their latest collections across 10 plus iconic fashion landmarks, redefining what’s next in fashion, through bold formats as well as visionary creativity. As a globally influential platform, SS26 will deepen collaborations with international powerhouses, while activating the city’s rich creative energy, thereby driving “FIRST in Shanghai,” as well as creating momentum across new products, and technologies in various business ventures.

Reference:
[1] Chinese Clothing, H. Mei, Cambridge University Press (2011).

Color and Light - Part I [1]Art ResourceMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
This is the fifty-eighth post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed below all the posts in this new series:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
Blue Pigments - Part III
Green Pigments - Part I
Green Pigments - Part II
Red Pigments - Part I
Red Pigments - Part II
Yellow Pigments - Part I
Yellow Pigments - Part II
Brown and Violet Pigments
Black Pigments
White Pigments - Part I
White Pigments - Part II
White Pigments - Part III
Inert Pigments
Permanence of Pigments: New Pigments - Part I
Permanence of Pigments: New Pigments - Part II
Limited or Restricted Palettes
Testing of Pigments - Part I
Testing of Pigments - Part II
Further Refinement of Pigments
Color and Light - Part I
Color and Light - Part II

There have been another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics;
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio;
(iii) Color theories and color schemes;
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials;
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V;
(vi) Protein fibers;
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers;
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers;
(ix) Fabric construction;
(x) Techniques and woven fibers;
(xi) Basic and figured weaves;
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics;
(xiii) Durable press and wash-and-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.

To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.

If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g., click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.

The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!

Color and Light - Part I [1]
The color of a pigment is not one of its definite, inherent properties, rather it is the effect on the eye produced by that particular substance under certain circumstances. For example, color blindness is an often misunderstood condition. Many assume because of its name that “color blind” means a person can only see in black and white. In actuality, the vast majority of people with color blindness do see color, but they see a much narrower range of color. It is estimated that a person with normal color vision can see up to 1 million distinct shades of color, but a person who is color blind may see as few as just 10 thousand colors (i.e., 1% of the normal range).

Images that simulate color blindness, like the ones in this blog it can give an impression to people with normal color vision of what color blind people see, or answer the question - "What does the world look like to a color blind person?" However, these simulations actually fail to give a realistic understanding of a color blind person's experience.

So, what are the actual effects of color blindness on vision? The primary symptom that color blind people experience is color confusion. Put simply, color confusion is when someone mistakenly identifies a color, for example, calling something orange when it is actually green.

When a dry pigment is mixed with a liquid, its color is changed to a darker or deeper tone. This is an optical effect, which may be explained in the following manner. Materials used as pigments differ widely in certain properties from liquids used as mediums. One of these properties is the amount of light a substance reflects and absorbs. All liquids and solids vary from each other in this respect, and each one has been measured and tagged with a number called its refractive index. Scientifically, the refractive index is a measure of how much light bends (i.e., refracts), when it passes from one medium into another, and it is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to its speed in that medium. It is a dimensionless number, with a higher value indicating that light travels more slowly and is bent more sharply. The refractive index is determined by the material's optical density and depends on the wavelength and temperature of the light. For example, it must be taken into account when spearing a fish. The fish's apparent position in the water is not its actual position as explained in the diagram below.

The difference of the refractive index of air and water is such that the position of a fish in the water from a fisherman's point of view is the different from its actual position within the water, as per diagram below, because the difference between the refractive index of air and water which therefore bends the light.

A sheet of glass is a transparent substance; when a ray of light strikes it at an angle, there is a varying amount of surface, or mirror-like reflection, depending on conditions; however, the greater part of light passes through its continuous, uniform structure and emerges refracted or bent, at an angle different from which it entered. The refractive index is computed from this change of angle, which depends in each case on the substance's power to impede light rays.

Glass slab is a substance, or sheet made of a glass material having three dimensions: that is length, breadth, and height. It is cuboidal shaped. It does not deviate, nor does it disperse the light rays passing through it. This means that the incident and the emergent ray emerging from the glass slab are parallel. The glass slab only produces a lateral or (sideways) shift or displacement to the direction of light.

When two substances of varying refractive indices meet (see the above two examples), the greater the difference in their refractive indices, the greater will be the proportion of reflected light at the point where they meet. When a pigment with a refractive index of 2.00 is dry, each particle surrounded by air (the index of which is 1.00) causing a certain amount of white light to be reflected. When the pigment is moistened with linseed oil, which has a refractive index of 1.48, much less light is reflected, since more is absorbed, and so the pigment appears darker or more intense in hue.

As the light enters a film, we want to prevent it from reaching the substrate and exiting; the pigments do this by interacting with the light. When light interacts with a particle, there are five possible outcomes, namely: refraction, diffraction, absorption, reflection, or no change. All of these are considered scattering, except for the ‘no change’ situation. Refraction is when the light path is changed as it passes through the boundary of the particle and surrounding media. Diffraction is when the light is bent by interacting with the edge of the particle. Absorption is when the energy of the incident light is attenuated by the particle, but not necessarily by all frequencies equally. Reflection is when the light that hits the film returns to the source. We want to maximize scattering and minimize ‘no change’ to optimize hiding and color.

When transparent glass is pulverized, the powder appears white. Water in the form of ice is transparent; in the form of snow it is white and opaque. The reason for this is that while light rays are easily transmitted through uniform, continuous mediums of ice and the sheet of glass when they strike powdered glass and snow, they are reflected in all directions from the myriads of tiny facets of the particles surrounded by air, and are bent from one tiny particle to another until they become entirely diffused. When such broken planes and irregular facets exist ony on the surface, as when when a sheet of glass has been rubbed with an abrasive material to produce a ground-glass or non-transparent effect, the light is broken up and reflected on the surface, creating a whitish or frosted appearance. However, since the light-dispersing particles lie on the surface of a thin layer, the rays are not entirely impeded and continue on through the glass, which is now translucent instead of transparent.

Light reflected from shattered glass.

A flat or mat effect on a paint or varnish is always due to the fact that the surface consists of a thin layer of such irregular construction. When such a surface is moistened its opacity is temporarily diminished. In the same way, alumina hydrate, a white, opaque powder when dry will become colorless and transparent when wet with benzol, because particles are then surrounded by a medium which has a refractive index very close to its own. The effect of liquids upon the color and opacity of pigments varies greatly in each case, depending on the difference between the two refractive indices concerned.

Dry Alumina Hydrate.

If a pigment which appears transparent, or translucent, in a thinly applied layer is piled up or applied to a surface in a thick layer, it appears more opaque because the light then travels through a greater number of separate particles, each one of which impedes its progress by refracting it and also because there is more reflection of light from the points where the pigment particles and their surrounding medium meet, and because more particles absorb more light. Intensity of color also decreases the transparency or increases the hiding power of a pigment.

A thick application of paint appears more opaque because it can block more light, while a thinly applied layer is either translucent or transparent. While impasto is a technique that uses thick, textured paint for a dimensional effect, glazing is a technique that uses thin, transparent layers over an opaque base to create depth and luminosity.

The above section is a thin application of paint, whereas the section below is a thick application of the same paint. Note the difference in opaqueness.

Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).

Paisley Patterns - Part V [1]Art EssayMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience, I have listed below other posts in this series:
Paisley Patterns - Part I
Paisley Patterns - Part II
Paisley Patterns - Part III
Paisley Patterns - Part IV
Paisley Patterns - Part V

Paisley Patterns - Part V [1]
How did Paisley become involved in the shawl trade, and even more interestingly, became a world leader in shawl manufacture? Perhaps the blame can be laid at the door of revolutionary France and Napoleon Bonaparte. The wars with France had drained British resources, and attempts to beat the French navy's blockade were confined to more essential imports rather than raw silk. As a result many of the highly skilled weavers in Paisley found themselves without work in the early years of the nineteenth century. Manufacturers in the town were desperate to find a new product, which could revive the weaving industry. Around 1805, or so the story goes, an Endinburgh shawl manufacturer by the name of Paterson had taken on too many orders for shawls. His own weavers were unable to match the demand; so, remembering the pool of skilled weavers in Paisley, he sent them some work. The Paisley workers soon realized that good profits could be made from shawl weaving, and before long, several had set themselves up as shawl manufacturers.

Though first introduced some thirty years previously, the British shawls were still fashionable. In fact they were to remain part of the fashion-conscious females wardrobe for the best part of a century. This was due in no small measure to their versatility. Not only could the colors and designs be changed to suit the tastes of the age, but also the actual size and shape of the shawl could be adapted to suit the garment worn beneath.

The costumes of the early nineteenth century were based on classical Greco-Roman lines. Sleeves were tight-fitting, the dresses fell from beneath the bust, and the skirts were straight. The lines of the costumes were extremely severe, and so the softness of the draped shawl, combined with the touch of the exotic pattern, provided the perfect complement. By the 1820s, a change had occurred in dress design. The 'waistline' had dropped to something like its actual anatomical level, skirts had begun to flare out slightly, and the shoulder line was greatly emphasized. The leg-o'-mutton sleeves had arrived. In response to this trend, the shawl changed in shape from a rectangle to a square. Folded across the diagonal, and worn around the shoulders to accentuate their width, with the point of the triangle highlighting the narrow waist, the shawl once again proved to be an ideal accessory.

A gauze print design, ca. 1850s, with beautiful sprays of tiny flowers separating the Paisley motifs.

The gauze print design, ca. 1850s, was stamped 'J. Huntingdon, Dessinateur, Paris.'

A delightful small-scale border design from pattern book of 'Print Designs 1853-1860,' which was donated to the Paisley Museum (Scotland) in 1941 by one of the last of the Paisley textile manufacturers.

This individual motif is taken from a book put together by a unknown manufacturer of 'Gauze Print Designs, French and English' (dated 1850-1860). It is certain that this is not a scrap book, but did belong to one manufacturer, because throughout, in the same hand, are instructions for which machine was used for each design. This pattern was destined for the 'No.1 machine.'

Design for a printed shawl, painted on tissue paper. It may have been intended for roller printing.

Design ca. 1855 for a printed shawl, probably a silk gauze.

A border design in an untypical subdued color scheme. It probably dates to the 1830s.

Design for the border of a gauze print shawl, it was drawn by J. Huntington, perhaps in Paris, but has been overstamped with his London address of Queen's Road Works, Holloway. It is a curved edge block for a 'Glasgow Shawl.'

This small pattern is from the volume entitled, 'Designs for Gauze Prints, French and English, 1850-1860.'

Reference:
[1] V. Reilly, Paisley Patterns, Portland House, New York (1989).