Stranica 81 [81]
OCR
REFLEXIONS IN RIPPLED WATER 4: floating swan in gently rippled water; the upright neck is represented by a long and well-marked vertical streak, whilst the body of the swan is lost among the ripples. Plate XIII, showing the action of a light breeze on the farther side of the pond, is a good instance of this tendency of rippled water to emphasize the vertical lines. These ‘‘streaky” reflexions, so characteristic of moving water, are perhaps seen at their best when the ripples are large* and unruffled by the slightest breeze, and the water assumes that oily appearance so often seen at sea ona perfectly calm day. The rocky shore will now cast no definite image, its reflexion being apparently made up of innumerable upright streaks of every shade, a dark shadow or stain on the rocks giving rise to a dark streak in the water, and a white stone or other light object yielding a light streak. Each of these streaks is composed of a succession of short horizontal lines or may consist of one continuous descending zigzag. On a small sheet of water the ripples are necessarily small also, and though in that case the general effect may be much the same, the greater charm is undoubtedly given by the way in which the larger ripples break up the vertical streaks of which the reflexions are composed into patches or waving lines of colour—an effect which lends itself to bold treatment on the canvas. This familiar effect is, however, not easy to imitate correctly ' The Zarge ripples here assumed are due to some distant disturbance in the water. Ripples caused by the immediate action of the wind are far smaller than these and their sides are steeper, so that the image is nearly obliterated.
