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54 Light of the Painting Room

From the impossibility, with the best, though imperfect materials of art, of rendering the effects of extreme brightness of natural objects under a full light, - the Artist is compelled to adapt his subjects to such means as he can command. Some of the most beautiful which are within his reach are the soft, shadowy effects resulting from a window of moderate dimensions, and the ordinary reflections from the cieling & walls. But in the Case of copying from a picture already painted, he should enjoy the advantage of a greater body of light (as for instance near a side window), in order accurately to look into the substance of the picture he is copying; and even to place it occasionally in the sunshine, where he will sometimes perceive tones & colours different from what he had imagined them to be, when seen in an inferior degree of light. But he must not omit to study both the original and copy, for their general effects, by placing them at a distance in a subdued or moderate light, in which they are finally to be seen, and for which he must endeavour to adapt them.

55  Experiment.

Choose a clear day, when the sky is blue, without a cloud, with a window opening to the North, in an upper story, as being near the eve of the roof - at noon. Have prepared a frame covered with white muslin, or paper, pendant at the end of a long stick. Thrust this out of the upper part of your window, until the white muslin or paper receives the rays of the sun from the South, when an extraordinary & startling effect [[strikethrough]] is [[/strikethrough]] will be perceived. Instead of producing on the face of your sitter an effect similar to that from a white cloud, (which is large + distant, and whose edges are blended), this bright light strongly illuminates the face; but wherever its direct rays do not reach a part of the face, that part, receiving its light from the blue sky, appears as if dyed [[strikethrough]] with Indigo [[/strikethrough]] in splotches with Indigo. The face which previously appeared of a Natural flesh colour, under the light of the sky, was really all over as blue as the parts which were not illuminated by