All this reading about clouds got me thinking. Somewhere in deep in the brain the memory banks are still working, I remembered that Ruskin had an interest in measuring the blueness of the sky which is after all the background to these clouds. Eventually I tracked the reference down to Praeterita.(Last paragraph,Chapter VIII) He gives just a sentence to say that as an adolescent he had taken a cyanometer with him to Switzerland.
The cyanometer was invented by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure whose work as a natural scientist was to be well known to Ruskin.The device is simply a circular gradated scale of mostly blue tints-52 in number which can be compared to an area of sky.The original instructions specified that the observer face to the north. Alexander von Humboldt was originally keen on the cyanometer. As a scientific device it had to be consistent and he got his from de Saussure.
From an artist's point of view I can see the attraction of focussing on an area of sky and analysing its colour.But does one really need a cyanometer to do it?
It is possible that the novelty may shock one's presumptions about sky colour but why not just look for yourself, perhaps through a cut out window in a piece of card? And how do you make your own scale? What kind of blue? Do you go out and observe -in which case why not keep the observation for an actual painting? It is obvious from my research on the web that cyanometers appeal to artists-see the links below.
Sometimes I think that a cyanometer would be just a toy. An observant person can see that the sky is likely to be whiter near the horizon on a sunny day and bluer higher up.
So, does an artist really need a cyanometer. I think not. But one could be pleasant to use and experiment with.
Why not make a cloudmeter-to study the colour of clouds? There can be infinitely subtle differences of hue between the shaded side of a cloud and the sky which is its background.The values can be very close. But my objection to the cyanometer may also be valid here.
For information on Saussure and the cyanometer read: Why the Sky is Blue: Discovering the Color of Life by Göetz Hoeppe.There is information about Saussure and the cyanometer here. For a modern artist designed cyanometer see the work by Macarena Ruiz-Tagle.For a simple cyanometer-which would certainly make an interesting project for children see the website of artist Benoit Philippe. For a modern design of a cyanometer see this site.
Saussure cyanometer
The cyanometer was invented by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure whose work as a natural scientist was to be well known to Ruskin.The device is simply a circular gradated scale of mostly blue tints-52 in number which can be compared to an area of sky.The original instructions specified that the observer face to the north. Alexander von Humboldt was originally keen on the cyanometer. As a scientific device it had to be consistent and he got his from de Saussure.
From an artist's point of view I can see the attraction of focussing on an area of sky and analysing its colour.But does one really need a cyanometer to do it?
It is possible that the novelty may shock one's presumptions about sky colour but why not just look for yourself, perhaps through a cut out window in a piece of card? And how do you make your own scale? What kind of blue? Do you go out and observe -in which case why not keep the observation for an actual painting? It is obvious from my research on the web that cyanometers appeal to artists-see the links below.
Sometimes I think that a cyanometer would be just a toy. An observant person can see that the sky is likely to be whiter near the horizon on a sunny day and bluer higher up.
So, does an artist really need a cyanometer. I think not. But one could be pleasant to use and experiment with.
Why not make a cloudmeter-to study the colour of clouds? There can be infinitely subtle differences of hue between the shaded side of a cloud and the sky which is its background.The values can be very close. But my objection to the cyanometer may also be valid here.
For information on Saussure and the cyanometer read: Why the Sky is Blue: Discovering the Color of Life by Göetz Hoeppe.There is information about Saussure and the cyanometer here. For a modern artist designed cyanometer see the work by Macarena Ruiz-Tagle.For a simple cyanometer-which would certainly make an interesting project for children see the website of artist Benoit Philippe. For a modern design of a cyanometer see this site.
No comments:
Post a Comment