End of the Reflections; Learning to Compose Figures from Life
Reflected light is dimmer than direct, then advice to sketch men's actions in a pocket book
The opening lines finish the advice on reflected garment colours, warning the painter not to separate them from the flesh with too marked an emphasis unless needed. Two short chapters close the section on reflections: all reflected colours are less luminous than the direct light, in proportion to their causes, and a reflection ending against a lighter ground effectively ends against a darker one and so becomes perceptible. A new section then opens on how to learn to compose figures in narrative scenes: once perspective and the limbs of things are mastered, the painter should watch men speaking, disputing, laughing or fighting and jot their actions in brief marks in a small tinted-paper book carried at all times. A tiny pen sketch of a gesturing figure sits in the text.
On this page
Reflected light is always dimmer than direct light
All reflected colours have less luminosity than the direct light, and the incident light stands to the reflected light in the same proportion that their luminosities have to one another from their causes.
A reflection reads against a darker ground
When a reflection ends against a ground brighter than itself, it effectively ends against a ground darker than itself; then it becomes perceptible, and the darker that ground, the more evident it grows. This closes the section on reflections.
Carry a pocket sketchbook to compose narratives
Once perspective and the limbs of things are mastered, the painter should observe the postures and actions of men speaking, disputing, laughing or fighting, and note them with brief marks in a small book of tinted paper carried at all times, changing the old one for a new one rather than erasing.
Small sketch of a gesturing figure
A tiny pen figure in an active gesture appears within the text, illustrating the kind of quick note of men's attitudes the passage recommends recording in the pocket book.