The Painter in oil

will apply here as well, for the light and color effect is naturally a part of the subject. The
most practical lights are those which fall from one side, so as to give simple masses of
light and dark; they should come from above the level of the head, so as to throw the
shadow somewhat downwards.
”Contre Jour.” - One kind of posing with reference to lighting, gives very beautiful
effect, but calls for close study of values, and is very difficult. It is called in French,
contre jour; that is, literally, “against the day,” or, against the light. It is a placing of the
model so that the light comes from behind, and the figure is dark against the light. From
its difficulty it should not be taken as a study by a beginner, for modeling and color are
difficult enough at best. When they are to be gotten in the low key that the light behind
necessitates, and with the close values which this implies, the difficulty is enormously
increased. But before you attempt the human figure in the open air, you will find it very
good study to work in the house contre jour. The effect of a figure out-doors has many of
the qualities of contre jour. The diffusion of light and the many reflections make the
problem more complex; but the contrast, the close values, and the subtle modeling
which you must study in contre jour will be good previous training before going out-
doors with a model.
Look at Millet’s Shepherdess Spinning, at the head of this chapter, as an example of
contre jour.
Figures Out-of-doors. - In painting, an object is always a part of its environment.
So a figure must partake of the characteristics of its surroundings. Out-of-doors it is part
of the landscape, characterized by the qualities which are peculiar to landscape. The
diffusion of light, the vibration and the movement of it, the brilliancy and pitch, the cross
reflections, and the envelopment, - all these give to the figure a quality quite different
from that which it has in the house. There is no such definiteness either of drawing, or of
light and shade, or of color. The problem is a different one. You must treat your figure no
more as something which you can control the effect of, but as something which, place it
in what position, in what surroundings, you will, it will still be affected by conditions
over which you have no control.
Textures and surface qualities, local or personal colors, lose their significance to the
figure out-of-doors. They become lost in other things. The pose, the action, the mass, the
note of color or value, - these are what are of importance. The more you search for the
qualities which would be a matter of course in the house, the more you will lose the
essential quality, - the quality of the fact of out-doors.
When in the house, you can have thins as definite as you wish; out-doors you will find
a continual play of varying color and light. The shadows do not fall where you expect
them to. The values are less marked. The stillness of the pose is interfered with by the
constant movement of nature. The color is influenced by the diffused color of the grass,
the trees, and the sky. The light does not fall on the face so much as it falls around it. The
modeling is less, the planes are not precise. The expression is as much die to the
influence of what is around it as to the face itself.
All this means that you must study and paint the figure from a new point of view. You
do not make so much of what the model is as how the model looks in these
surroundings. You must not look for so much decision, and you must study values
closely. Look more for the modeling of the mass than for the modeling of surface. Look
more for the vibration of light and air on the flesh and drapery colors than for these
colors in themselves. Look for color of contours in the model.