How Lit Leaves Stand Out Against Shadowed Foliage
Distant trees blur to blue; a diagram shows a lit leaf's relief against darker leaves
Continuing the treatment of trees at distance, this leaf explains that only the principal masses of light and shadow survive across long spans, while small lit or shadowed patches are swallowed by their surroundings; at the greatest distance the shaded and lit masses merge into a single blue. A further chapter analyses the tops of leafy branches, arguing that a sunlit leaf stands out in greater relief when set against deeper, more shadowed leaves behind it. A small pen diagram in the lower centre labels the sun e, the eye n, and leaves a, b and c to demonstrate the effect.
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Small lights and shadows lost at distance; trees turn blue
At long range only a plant's principal shadowed and luminous masses remain visible; a small lit patch in a large shadow, or a small shadow in a large lit field, is lost and does not corrupt its surroundings. When trees stand still farther off, the interposed air and diminution merge their light and shade so that they seem all one colour, namely blue.
Relief of a sunlit leaf against darker leaves behind it
The shadow a first leaf casts on the second is less dark than the second casts on the third, and so on. A leaf lit by the sun (a) therefore stands out more when its background is the darker third or fourth leaf than when it is the nearer second leaf b; projecting outward before leaf c, which is darker for having more leaves between it and the sun, increases its relief still further.
Pen diagram of a lit leaf, the sun and the eye
A small ink sketch of a leafy branch accompanies the chapter on branch-tops. Rays run from the sun, marked e, to the eye, marked n, past leaves lettered a, b and c, illustrating how the chosen background leaf governs a lit leaf's apparent relief.