n admixture or infusion of other
colours.

To begin with the negatives--white and black--white may be creamy or
silvery; black may be of a greenish or a bluish or brownish tone; then
the primaries--red, blue, yellow, or red, green, violet--red may range
from crimson to orange and russet; yellow may approach green or gold;
green may be first cousin to blue; blue may be turquoise on the one
hand, and touch purple upon the other; and so on through infinite
variations of half tints and tones.

No doubt it is an easier matter to harmonize half tints than full bright
colours, which may account for the prevalence of the former in
decorative work. Nature's pattern-book, too, is full of half tones and
mixed tints.

[The Colour Sense]

We may not all see colour precisely in the same way, and the same colour
may appear to be of a different tint to different eyes; and it seems
certain that climate and surroundings affect the colour sense: light
and colour will stimulate the delight in colour; while, where grayness
and dullness characterize the surroundings of life, the colour sense
will grow weak, or, if it is manifested at all, it will show a tendency
to grayness and heaviness of tint.

The art of the different peoples of the world illustrates this, and, as
we may see by turning from east to west, or from north to south, or even
from winter to summer, in the main the love of colour follows the sun,
like the rainbow.

We can all do something to cultivate our sense of colour, however, and
there is no better way than studying the harmonies and varieties of
nature. Even the town-dweller is not altogether deprived of the sight of
the sky, which constantly unfolds the most beautiful compositions both
of form and colour.

As to the choice of colours in decorative design, so far as that is not
narrowed by the particular conditions of the work, we must be guided by
much the same considerations as would serve us in designing generally,
and must, of course, think of appropriateness to position and purpose.
Much depends, too, upon proportions of colour, and a beautiful and
harmonious effect may be produced in a room by keeping the colour in a
particular key, or even delicately varying the designs and tints of one
or two colours. The same might be said in arranging a scheme of
colouring for any particular piece of design--say, a painted panel or a
textile pattern; although such t