'
-
; .
i ■ :
I
'
COMPOSITION
by
ARTHUR W. DOW
LIBRARY OF WELLESLEY COLLEGE
BEQUEST OF
ALICE CHENEY BALTZ3LL
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries
http://www.archive.org/details/compositionserieOOdowa
COMPOSITION
A SERIES OF EXERCISES SELECTED
FROM A NEW SYSTEM OF
ART EDUCATION
BY
ARTHUR W. DOW
Professor of Fine Arts in Teachers College, Columbia University, New York,
formerly Instructor in Pratt Institute and the Art
Students' League of New York
PART I SIXTH EDITION
NEW YORK
THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY
33 East Seventeenth Street 1905
luestef Copyright, 1899, by Arthur W. Dow.
\^°\D-i^
CONTENTS
PAGE
NOTE 5
LINE DRAWING AND MATERIALS 7
LINE COMPOSITION
I. — Squares 16
II. — Variation 18
III. — Examples of Beautiful Straight Line Arrangement . . 21
IV. — Landscape 24
V. — Examples of Pictures Composed on Rectangular Lines . 27
VI. — Repetition — Oblique Lines 29
VII. — Landscape Arrangement 32
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
VIII. — Notan 36
IX. — Notan of Line . . '■■ • 38
X. — Notan of Two Tones — Straight Line Patterns ... 41
XI. — Two Tones — Variation 44
FLOWER COMPOSITION
XII. — Line and Notan of Two Tones .46
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
XIII. — Notan of Landscape — Two Tones 50
BORDERS AND SURFACE PATTERNS
XIV. — Line and Notan of Two Tones ...... 56
FLOWER COMPOSITION
XV. — Borders in Two Tones 58
XVI. — Two Tones — Japanese Examples 60
BOOK COVERS, TITLE-PAGES, AND LETTERS
XVII. — Line and Notan of Two Tones . . „ . .62
BOOK-PAGE COMPOSITION
XVIII. — Two Tones — Landscape ....... 64
PAGE
LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION
XIX. — Two Tones — Japanese Examples 65
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
XX. — Three Tones 68
XXI. — Three Tones— Flowers .72
XXII. — Three Tones — Landscape 75
BOOK ILLUSTRATION
XXIII. — Three Tones — An Imaginary Poem 76
ADVANCED COMPOSITION
XXIV. — Many Tones 7g
CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST PART 83
NOTE
THE title "Composition" has been given to this book because the system of art instruction which it represents has come to be commonly known by that name. The term " Com- position " is, however, too limited, as the system in its full development includes, not only so-called composition, but all stages of the creation of a work of space- art. But as the following exercises relate to the fundamental process in such a creation, viz., the putting together of lines and masses, we will, for the present, ac- cept the popular name. This is the first publication of any con- secutive series based upon the scheme of art education whose elements are here presented.
The history of the movement is as follows : Some nine years ago, after a course in the schools of Paris, I entered upon a com- parative study of the art of all nations and epochs, in the hope of finding more light on composition in painting, and, incident- ally, a better method of teaching than the prevailing nature-copying. While seek- ing for examples of Japanese art I met Professor Ernest F. Fenollosa, then cura- tor of the unrivalled Oriental collection in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He had had exceptional opportunities for a critical knowledge of both Eastern and Western art, and as a result of his re-
search and comparisons, guided by a bril- liant mind's clear grasp of fundamental ideas, had gained a new conception of art itself. He believed Music to be, in a sense, the key to the other fine arts, since its essence is pure beauty ; that space-art may be called "visual music,'" and may be criticised and studied from this point of view. Following this new conception, he had constructed an art-educational system radically different from those whose corner-stone is Realism. Its lead- ing thought is the expression of Beauty, not Representation.
I at once felt the truth and reasonableness of his position, and after much prepara- tion in adapting these new methods to practical use, I began teaching a class in Boston, with Professor Fenollosa's co- operation. Here for the first time in this country, Japanese art materials were used for educational purposes. After a few years of quiet effort and ex- periment in this way, Mr. Frederic B. Pratt of Brooklyn became interested in the results attained by this class, and as a consequence, the work was transferred in 1895 from my Boston studio to Pratt Institute, where in a progressive atmo- sphere, with large opportunity and hearty cooperation, it has reached a development already well known.
NOTE The art-instruction of modern days, an out-growth of the theories of Leonardo da Vinci, and the practice of later Renais- sance and French academic artists, is too largely scientific. The pupil, from the very beginning, is forced to concentrate his energies upon acquiring a knowledge of various facts and processes. Self-ex- pression is usually deferred till he has " learned to draw, "till he has been through a course of cast-drawing, perspective, history, anatomy, history of costume, etc., — a thoroughly scientific drill related chiefly to Realism. After all this, he at- tempts to combine the knowledge and the skill in artistic expression, or in other words, a composition. Unless apprecia- tion has developed despite the crowding of other things, the chances are that his work will lack the one vital element for which art exists, and to which he has as yet given slight attention — that is, Beauty.
But in this new view, art study is the gaining of an experience, and art instruc- tion is the guiding of tendencies toward appreciation, and the training of mind and hand to create. This guidance and training, we believe, can be given by a series of exercises beginning, as in Music, with the simplest. In fact, the main idea in the system is to help the pupil at the very outset to originate a beautiful
arrangement, say — a few lines harmo- niously grouped together — and then proceed onward step by step to greater appreciation and fuller power of expres- sion.
During this course, skill in drawing will come as a natural growth, and knowledge of perspective and all other requisites will be sought as the developing artistic faculty feels the need of them. In a word, instead of spending most of the effort on drawing, and then adding original work, or Composition, we begin with Composi- tion, and find that it will lead to all the rest.
It is not my intention to furnish a book from which art may be taught, but to offer a principle by which an instructor can be guided, and exercises and exam- ples suggestive of ways of carrying out the principle.
While the book will be of special service to those who have already had training in this method, to those who have not, it will I hope, afford many new ideas, and a mode of self-education. The author is greatly indebted to his pu- pils, who have so kindly offered examples of their work, and also to friends who have in various ways assisted in the pro- duction of this book.
ARTHUR WESLEY DOW New York, 1898
LINE-DRAWING AND MATERIALS
THE first step in the Art of Painting is the drawing of lines as the boundaries of shapes. These lines may be straight or curved, wide, thin, rough or sharp, faint or firm ; they may be frankly left in the finished work, as in Japanese prints and early Italian fres- coes, or they may appear merely as the edges of tones, as in a modern landscape painting or a charcoal sketch. But in the making of these lines there is opportu- nity for great beauty of proportion, and a powerful, vital touch, full of personality. Examples are here given of lines by va- rious great masters.
The line of Soga Shubun, Nos. i and 2, is bold and strong, and varies with each ob- ject drawn. The character and texture of houses, rocks, trees and marsh grass are suggested in the line. The line of Sesshu, Nos. 3 and 4, is angu- lar, rugged, and vibrating with the nerv- ous force of the artist's hand. The line of Kano Yusho, No. 5, is grace- ful, but sharp and crisp. The school of Kano Tanyu, Nos. 6, 7, 8, and g, is readily recognized by the peculiar quality of the slap-dash, picturesque line. Okumura Masanobu, No. 10, puts into his simple curves the classic purity of Greek line.
Michelangelo's great Titanic lines, No. 11, are well calculated to express the su-
N? 6 TarC of A sfee^ch from bobfr of ftcTanyi*. Jchool
perhuman beings of his compositions. Leonardo's, No. 12, combine delicacy and absolute power.
Millet's strength lies largely in his line. There is more than truth in it; there is beauty and character and intense mean- ing. (No. 13.)
To produce lines so expressive requires complete control of the hand, guided by a disciplined creative mind. It therefore seems proper that the student should, at the outset, enter upon a training that will give him such control and discipline.
LINE- DRAWING AND MATERIALS
MATERIALS There are many implements for drawing lines, but the one which responds most readily, gives the widest range of quality and tends soonest to make the hand obey the will, is the Japanese brush. The sizes generally used are shown in the illustra- tion:
Lin« "WAtK V*rieuj Line -0iu»he»
oi-
The long brushes are best for long lines, the short ones for sharp corners and broken lines. The "painting brush" is here meant, not the Chinese "writing brush" which is worthless for this pur- pose. Japanese paper is to be preferred, as it is
specially prepared with glue-size, and so takes the ink better than any other, is beautiful in color and texture and thin enough for tracing. I have found unprint- ed wall paper very serviceable for prac- tice : — it has a good surface and is cheap. The best ink is the Japanese, ground on the ink-stone, but other inks or even black water-color may be used. Place a few drops of water on the ink-stone, and rub the stick of ink on the slant till intense blackness results. Dry the stick at once and wrap it in paper. Never leave it soak- ing, or it will crumble to pieces. DRAWING THE LINE Pin your paper very smoothly upon a board, or dampen and paste it by the edges. If the brush is new, it must be washed and dried, as the maker puts starch into it to keep the point. Dipping a wet brush into the ink, of course grays and weakens the tone.
The board may be laid upon the knee or on a desk: it can be flat or slightly in- clined. Keep the head up and away from it. Take the brush between thumb and middle finger, as shown in the illustra- tion, steadying it with the fore-finger.
planner of holrfinja A« Qv«t»n,
8
LINES BY
VARIOUS
MASTERS
(See page 7) The Japanese ex- amples on pages g, 10, 11 (except No. 4), and on pages 39, 40, are from the collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
i
■_
No. 1. — Soga Shubun, Japanese, XV century (part of screen)
■V
K r Al\\
>^
^^■o^OTiri^^Ulb^K
#5^
*s*=*m^
No. 2. — Soga Shubun
No. 3. — Sesshu, Japanese, XV century
Page 9
No. 4. — Sesshu (Japanese) XV century-
No. 5. — Kano Yusho, XVII century (fragment)
r7- <f= wi
No. g. — Kano Tanyu, XVII century (fragment) Page 10
No. 8. — Kano Naonobu, XVII century (fragment)
LINES BY
VARIOUS
MASTERS
(Seepage 7)
Michelangelo
No. 7. — Kano Yasunobu, XVII century (fragment)
Michelangelo
Page n
*£$
■7?
.,«^**'T*"
■•'''/- %
If-
:' - f 4< "W?
■■^M
No. 12. — Leonardo da Vinci (Louvre)
|
$&% |
|||
|
.. ■ . . |
p. |
||
|
gp: 'JT}i |
|||
|
.... ; |
If
\^S
■:"
No. ii. — Michelangelo
Page 12
No. 13. — J. F. Millet
Dip it into the ink, and holding it perpen- dicular to the paper, draw your line. It must be held in a perpendicular position in order to move freely in all directions as does the etcher's needle. The line is not drawn with the fingers, but by a movement of the whole hand andarm
in one sweep. This gives greater force. The hand may be steadied if necessary by resting the end of the little finger on the paper.
Determine the width of the line at the start, by pressing the brush-point firmly down till it spreads to the desired width. Slowness of drawing is most important, as an expressive or artistic line is not made by mere momentum of the hand, but by pure force of will controlling the hand. In slow drawing, the line can be watched and guided as it grows under the brush- point.
Slight waverings, when not resulting from weakness or nervousness, are not objec- tionable ; in fact, may add to the individ- uality and expressiveness of the line.
Good lme» - <(«-*vwn very slowly vuilt\ ui\Cki&e4 h^nd
Poor . we&fc line* - quicMy jrtwft
Brush m wrona j>e»i(*(on
N?1'0 Oxamur* M^^nobu. (&?*!*>•) iB*fOT,r. Ruled jint> hcnc* of T19 ArthtH vaIu*
13
LINE
DRAWING AND MATERIALS
LINE- DRAWING AND MATERIALS
Examples of both good and faulty lines are shown on preceding page.
EXERCISE As the straight line is the simplest, the pupils should begin with that and prac- tice until they can draw it freely, remem- bering that straightness of direction is the essential point, not mere geometric straightness. In beginning, the lines can be about one-eighth or one-fourth inch wide and must be kept of uniform width throughout. Let them draw not only isolated lines but sets of parallels, also squares, etc., as in the illustration.
sake of a facsimile, but in the endeavor to reach the same power and feeling. The aim of this exercise is to put the hand under control of the will, but it should not be carried too far, as all the succeeding problems will tend to the same end.
•4 41
A STARTING POINT A work of fine art, in one view at least, is a result of Appreciation combined with Power to express. Neither of these can be gained by methods of scientific study ; on the contrary, they are the birthright of every human being and can be developed by training. The most natural course of training is that which begins with the simple ele- ments of an art and leads on gradually to its more complex problems. The student who is set down before an outdoor land- scape and directed to paint it, is at once embarrassed by many different kinds of obstacles ; the choice of the subject, plac- ing it on the canvas, managing the darks, mixing the colors, handling the brush, all Pr4cr;c..i<n.j'<jr.w» «:h. japont,, BruiK Cf«duced Jt) confuse him because he is attempting an
Copying some of the lines by the masters advanced stage of his art, and lacks edu- would be valuable, if done, not for the cation and experience.
14
The thought of the present system is that the many different acts and processes that go to make up a painting may be attacked and mastered singly, and thereby a power gained to handle them unconsciously when they present themselves all to- gether in an advanced work. In the Art of Painting there are three ele- ments by which beauty may be created : i. LINE — that is, the boundaries of the shapes.
2. DARK AND LIGHT MASSES.
3. COLOR.
(The first two only will be considered in this book.)
The beginner might take up any one of these and compose in it, or he might take all three together in their simplest form. But as Dark-and-Light and Color are directly dependent upon Line, it seems
most reasonable to begin with Line, and to become somewhat familiar with the putting together of lines and the harmon- izing of sizes and areas, before attempting the other two.
Among the many kinds of lines used to bound areas, the straight line is the sim- plest, and here we have found a starting point for a series of progressive studies. If the pupil can create even a little beauty with a few straight lines, he is on the way to great possibilities, for it must be re- membered that in this seemingly limited field are to be found works of the high- est order, from the Greek fret to Giotto's Tower.
This is not the only starting point. There are many others, but we will choose this and begin our series with Straight Line Composition.
LINE
DRAWING AND
MATERIALS — A START- ING POINT
A Study in Proportion — e/ec^ °f 4'_(f re_n^ -sPAC'nQ' Ar"t grouping
15
LINE COMPOSITION
I.— SQUARES
PAINTING is a space art. It is con- cerned with the breaking up of a space into parts which vary in shape, depth of tone and color. In choosing a space for first attempts at Composition, we shall take one of the sim- plest — the square. It is bounded by straight lines and its proportions cannot be varied. We will use vertical and hori- zontal lines of uniform width. The beauty that will result from such elements must be a beauty of proportion, a harmony of well-cut space, a little musical theme in straight lines and grouped areas. If a square is cut at regular intervals — No. 14 — no art can be manifested as long as it is in outline only. But with irregu- lar intervals there is room for inventive genius, and the square may be cut sym- metrically— No. 15 — or unsymmetrical- ly No. 16. In the first case we have the kind of beauty seen in panellings, etc. ; in the second, plaids and ginghams.
EXERCISE Let the pupil draw a square in pencil or charcoal, purely by the eye, no measure- ment of any kind being used. Then cut it by vertical and horizontal lines. He can choose one way of arranging his lines, his theme, so to speak — say No. 17 — and then see how many variations he can
make, keeping the same general plan. This exercise may be much prolonged, if neces- sary, but the pupil must constantly set up a row of his drawings and compare them, picking out the best. For instance, make six arrangements on the plan of No. 17. Then choose the best. The instructor will help in this critical judgment. The selected drawings may be still further improved; then stretch Jap- anese paper smoothly over them and trace in firm, black ink-lines, with the unaided hand. Continue the tracing until the draw- ings are as good as possible in proportion and the line executed with feeling for ar- tistic quality.
Avoid hard mechanical lines and all that savors of rule and compass or laborious painstaking. Never try to erase an ink line ; — if a mistake occurs begin a new tracing.
The examples show a few of the various ways in which this problem has been worked out by students and others. This exercise if carried on under compe- tent criticism, will have begun in a small way a development of
1. The Inventive Faculties.
2. Appreciation of Beauty, and
3. Power of Expression,
being purely and wholly an artistic effort.
16
Den
Dnjru
DC ID
— idLId r—
LhncJ
I I m '■III ■ '
Vari&lion of- N? 17
3 L
N? 17
raffiBBMl
four V..riftl.oBi of N? 17
|
gjpx H....E |
53T
M M
ma
5fc=f
JpngL
r,** vor^r,o..» of .n? v?
|
, |
||||||||||||||||||
|
• |
||||||||||||||||||
Page 17
LINE COMPOSITION
II.— VARIATION
THE subject of Variation receives little or no attention in the ordin- ary academic course of art educa- tion, but it is a fundamental idea in this system.
The great masters of music have shown the infinite possibilities of combination and varied expression : — the same theme appears again and again with new beauty, with different quality and with complex accompaniments. Even so can lines, masses and colors be wrought into musi- cal forms and endlessly varied. The Jap- anese color-print exemplifies this, each copy of the same subject being varied in shade or hue or disposition of masses to suit the restless inventive energy of its author. In old Italian textiles the same pattern appears repeatedly, but varied in size, proportion, dark-and-light and color. The artistic mind is always trying new ways of expressing a beautiful idea. In times when art is decadent, the design- ers and painters lack inventive power and merely imitate nature or the creations of others. Then comes Realism, conven- tionality, and the death of art. The art education which this book advo- cates would reveal to the student the boundless possibilities of his mind, and teach him to avoid the conventional and the commonplace. It would show him that poverty of ideas is no characteristic
of the artist and that no work is of value unless it expresses the personality of its creator. That which anybody can do is not worth doing. If your drawing is just like your neighbor's it has no value as art. The work of all masters of fine art is intensely individual, full charged with mighty personality. A study of variation tends to the very opposite of the conven- tional and the commonplace — to a find- ing for one's self ever new ways of ex- pression.
EXERCISE
In the last chapter Variation was intro- duced, but only in the interior lines, as a square is not variable. A step beyond this is to choose a shape where both the boundary and the interior lines are vari- able. The Rectangle is one such shape, — it is self-evident that the modifications of its proportions can be numberless. The composition of lines in this shape can be treated in two ways: i. The Rectangles being made all of the same size andproportion, but interior lines varied, as in No. 18.
2. The same Interior system but the border varied, as in No. 19. The instructor chooses some simple ar- rangement of vertical and horizontal lines within a rectangle, sketches the idea up- on the blackboard for the class to draw in pencil or charcoal, and requires them to
18
|
I |
||
|
BHBi |
_J L |
|
|
n r* |
||
|
1 |
^.^ |
N° 18
Page 19
TION
LINE COM- make a number of variations upon it as POSITION indicated above and in the examples. ]^;~^yARIA' The best designs are to be traced in ink in lines of equal width throughout. From previous experience the pupils will show better judgment in arranging the lines and areas, and more appreciation of good proportion. The difference between
a commonplace design and a beautiful one may be very slight — it can be felt, but not described.
Study the illustrations given herewith; use any or all of them as themes for Varia- tion. This exercise admits of very great expansion according to the age of pupils and the limits of time.
EH HH
Page 20
LINE COMPOSITION
III. — EXAMPLES OF BEAUTIFUL STRAIGHT LINE ARRANGEMENT
AN important part of an art edu- cation is the coming in contact ■with the best works of art, and get- ting from them an appreciation of beau- ty and a stimulus to create. The pupil too often listens to talk about the sub- ject of the picture, or the history, de- rivation and meaning of the design, or the accuracy and likeness to nature of the drawing. All these are really either literary or scientific considerations, and, while they have their place, touch upon art only superficially. The most impor- tant fact relating to a great work of fine art is that it is beautiful ; and the best way to help the pupil to see and appreciate that beauty is to call his attention to it as an illustration of a principle. Let him see what a master has done with the very problem which he is trying to work out. If you have given him curved line com- position as a subject, show him one of the best examples of it that the world has ever known, — the Victory of Samothrace. His previous efforts to evolve compo- sitions of curves will at once give him the key to an appreciation of the statue. The purpose of the present exercise is to show the student how the simple straight- line beauty of which we have been speak- ing may appear in things great and small, fromacathedraltowertoacupboardshelf. The campanile of the Cathedral of Flor-
ence, No. 20, designed by that master of architecture and painting, Giotto, is a rectangular composition of exceeding beauty. Its charm lies chiefly in its deli- cately harmonized proportions on a straight-line scheme. It is a music of lines and spaces. The areas are largest at the top, diminishing downwards by subtle changes and variations. The graceful mouldings, the window tracery, the many tones of marble and porphyry, are but the finish, an embroidery, so to speak, on the splendid main lines of the structure.
A Venetian palace of early period, No. 21, presents this rectangular beauty in an entirely different way. First, a vertical line divides the facade into two unequal but balanced proportions ; each of these is again divided by horizontal lines and by windows and balconies into smaller spaces, the whole forming a perfect har- mony — each part related to, and affected by, every other part. The wall of honor of a Japanese room is arranged in this same rectangular fashion, No. 22. A vertical line, as in the Venetian palace fagade, divides the whole space into two — one of these is further divided into shelved recesses, or cabinets with sliding doors ; the other is for pictures (kakemono), no more than three of which are hung at a time.
21
LINE COM- POSITION III. — EX- AMPLES OF BEAUTIFUL STRAIGHT LINE AR- RANGE- MENT
No. 23 shows three of these shelf arrange- ments. As in their other design, the Jap- anese manifest no end of invention in the manner of filling this space. They pub- lish books with hundreds of designs, no two alike.
EXERCISE
If possible the student should in this case work from large photographs, but as they are not always accessible, we give here tracings from photographs of the build- ings mentioned, and from the original Japanese design-books. Let the pupil copy these examples. In no better way can he be made to feel their refinement, and to perceive the art in them. An attempt to copy brings his mind for a little time into contact with that of a superior. He sees the difficulty of reaching the perfection of the master. Copying as a means of improving one's style, and a strengthening of the creative faculty, is the opposite of copying as a substitute for original work. After making the most exact copies pos- sible (without any measurement what- ever), the pupil must invent designs of his own, on the same general plan, but varied as to the sizes of spaces, etc. Let him try the Tower and the Palace with widely differing proportions. Let him see how many shelf arrangements he can originate.
This, and all these exercises, may be summed up in two words :
APPRECIATE
ORIGINATE
N?2.6
( traced front a
}>horoa>a^K)
* r o
,»*'\*»»\,t»«W\
/A -A A
^
r\
& &
*» <
.
M h 'i I*
•m h.| u u 0 0"
j rtl'I fiiii 1 n 11 rr*A
'— ' j - - - »
c— •*
22
<c
^ibiky-J-J1 [u
ll | / > I l I M >l 1» ■ I V , ,
Li'JJjl-»J:IHj H
|6r
\U/VN
i i if i
!
Venetian RMam f«c«de - m&in Ii««i-ftrate4> N*2I
<m
(T^&cf4 from a^b«t9ft«^k)
LIE
tfUtttnguUr composition . Sideboard o1
sjl]
nn
r
X'JV ? 2/L Side of a J&p&nese room - (tr$c«4 from *r> anient btotO
— ^— — ^— ■■■ 111 —H«l— 1MI
1 -
S 0
0 »
N?i3
|
e ol |
||
|
0 |
0 |
|
^ |
||
|
a |
0 |
|
Page 23
LINE COMPOSITION
IV. — LANDSCAPE
I
"^HE modern arbitrary division of Painting into Representative and Decorative has tended to put into
In the picture they are not so obvious, be- ing found in complex interrelations and concealed under detail.
the background that which we here call The designer and picture-painter start in
Composition, and to bringf orward nature- imitating as a substitute. The picture- painter is led to think of likeness to nature as the most desirable quality for his work, and the designer talks of "convention- alising" ; both judging their art by a stand- ard of Realism rather than of Beauty. In the world's art epochs there was no such division. Every work of space-art was regarded as primarily an arrange- ment, with Beauty as its raison d'6tre. Even a portrait was first of all a composi- tion, with the facts and the truth subordi- nate to the greater idea of a beauty of aes- thetic structure. Training in the funda- mental principles of Composition gavethe artists a wide field — they were at once picture-painters, decorators, architects and sculptors. Giotto could embody his line-thoughts inglowingcolor on the walls of churches, or in the ivory-tinted marble of the peerless Campanile of Florence. Following this thought of the oneness of art, we find that the picture, the plan,and the pattern are alike in the sense that each is a group of synthetically related spaces. Abstract design is, as it were, the primer of painting, in which principles of Compo- sition appear in a clear and definite form.
the same way. Each has before him a blank space on which he sketches out the main lines of his composition. This may be called his Line-idea, and on it hinges the excellence of the whole, for no deli- cacy of tone, or harmony of color can remedy a bad proportion. A picture, then, may be said to be in its beginning actu- ally a pattern of lines. Could the art stu- dent have this fact in view at the out- set, it would save him much time and ill— directedenergy. Nature will notteach him composition. The sphinx is not more si- lent than she on this point. He must learn the secret as Giotto and Francesca, and Kanawoka and Turner learned it, by the study of art itself in the works of the masters, and by continual creative effort. If students could have a thorough train- ing in the elements of their prof essionthey would not fall into the error of supposing that such a great universal idea as Beauty of Line could be compressed into a few cases like the "triangle," "bird's-wing," "line of beauty," or "scroll ornament," nor would they take these notions as a kind of receipt for composing the lines of pictures. Insistence upon the placing of Arrange-
24
ment or Composition above Representa- tion must not be considered as any under- valuation of the latter. The student may learn nature's forms, colors and effects, and how to represent them; he needs to know the properties of pigments, how to handle brushes and materials, perhaps the laws of perspective and anatomy. More or less of this knowledge and skill will be required in his career, but they are only helps to art, not substitutes for it, and we believe, as stated in the introduction to this book, that if he begins with Compo- sition, that is, with a study of art itself, he will acquire these naturally, as he feels the need of them.
Returning now to our premise that the picture and the abstract design may show the same structural beauty, let us see how the simple idea of combiningstraightlines, as so far considered, may be illustrated by
Landscape. Looking out from a grove we have trees as vertical straight lines, cut- ting lineshorizontal or nearly so. Leaving small forms out of account we have in these main lines an arrangement of rec- tangular spaces much like the gingham
and other simple patterns. This then is one kind of beauty of landscape. To be- come more familiar with it, see the fol- lowing:
EXERCISE
No. 24 is a landscape reduced to its sim- plest lines, all detail being omitted. First make an enlarged copy of this. (In this way one works for proportion only, and cannot slavishly imitate. The same end is gained by making a reduced copy of a large drawing.) Then — to experience the creation of fine rectangular propor- tions in landscape, and the setting of the subject into a space — arrange this in rec- tangles of varying shape, some nearly square, others tall, others long and narrow horizontally, as in No. 25. To bring the whole landscape into all these will not, of course, be possible, but in each the essen- tial lines must be retained in order not to change the subject.
Pupils should draw this exercise in ink after preliminary studies with pencil or charcoal, refining the proportions and correcting errors by tracing. Then they may find in nature a similar subject, sketch it, and vary it in the same way.
It should be clearly understood that we are here using landscape merely as an il- lustration. The art of landscape painting is a special subject, not to be treated here, but we believe that the true way to ap- proach it is through these or similar ex- ercises.
First study the art, then apply it, whether to landscape or any other kind of expres- sion.
LINE COM- POSITION IV. — LAND. SCAPE
25
WIS
(see p. 15)
^s^prra
,j.
\ . v. „.
Page 26
LINE COMPOSITION
V.— EXAMPLES OF PICTURES COMPOSED ON RECTANGULAR LINES
GREAT architects and designers were not the only ones to use this simple line-idea — the masters of pictorial art have based upon it some of their best work.
No. 26 is a sketch from Whistler's " Bat- tersea Bridge." It has but two principal lines, cutting the space into rectangles of beautiful proportion. Puvis de Chavannes, in his mural paint- ings, expresses solemnity, majesty and repose by the vertical lines of his Elysian groves, cutting the level silhouettes or long horizontally sweeping curves. No. 27.
Hiroshige, the best of the later Japanese landscape composers, a man of inex- haustible inventive power, often uses the rectangular idea. Nos. 28 and 29. None
of these examples need further explana- tion. They are beautiful, even when di- vested of color and dark-and-light, be- cause they are built upon a few straight lines, finely related, and a few delicately proportioned areas. .-
EXERCISE
These examples can be treated in the fol- lowing manner: —
1. Copy exactly — as nearly as can be done by the eye, without measurement.
2. Draw enlarged, keeping the same rela- tive proportions.
3. Vary each of them by changing the proportion of the boundary and interior lines.
4. Find in nature a similar subject, and make many original compositions. Draw all the best in ink, as usual.
Cut No. 27
27
Hjposhige (tr&cei *!•.(,. a tolore A (>ri»t) N?28
TK« AniiiuMUAtioft , Puro dtlta Fr«ncesc4. (tracing)
.H«w!iig» «.«««««»■.»* j»mi >•.«!> NU? Page 28
H«roJ'l tfiSt . fr«lco (y Cl'ottO ftr.o.g)
Five examples of rectdngulAi- composition, (Ste.V. p*s*n)
St«Tt* <r»p« « p«i*re by Wfcoffcr N?£6
LINE COMPOSITION
VI.— REPETITION — OBLIQUE LINES
WE have thus far kept to one way of putting straight lines together, and we have found even that one to offer almost unlimited possibili- ties. There are at least seven other principles of straight-line composition, each of which would open a new series as vast as the one we have already con- sidered.
For instance, Repetition, the rhythmical arrangement of lines at regular intervals, as in borders and surface patterns; or at irregular intervals, as in the kind of land- scape shown in Nos. 31, 32 and 33. Repe- tition is a line-music of a very different character from that wehavesofar studied. It is, perhaps, the oldest form of design ; the savage uses it when he ornaments his pottery with rows of straight marks.
Fro^mfnT* of Indian pottery found at IjjjwUh M«>J.
The development of this kind of composi- tion is taken up in connection with Dark- and-Light, in Section XIV. Consult also the illustrations of Sections X and XI. It is not necessary for the present to dis- cuss more than one other way of compos- ing straight-lines. Leaving the rectangu- lar scheme, we will consider two uses of the Oblique line. Sometimes it softens a right angle, thus evolving the whole race of brackets and corner ornaments, in architecture, patterns, and decorations. Nos. 34, 35, etc.
Sometimes it is brought in in triangles, or combined with the rectangle, as in the pavements of Italian churches, and Ara- bic and other' designs, Nos. 36, 37 and 38. See illustrations of Section X.
EXERCISE The oblique line only will be studied here. First copy the examples of brackets, and all the designs where an oblique line is drawn or suggested for the sake of soften- ing a right angle. Then find other exam- ples in photograph, cast, books, buildings, or textiles, and make drawings of them, expressing the principle without useless detail. That is, reduce the examples to as few lines as possible. Then make a series of original designs. A second part of this exercise may be the composing of oblique line patterns in the spirit of the pavements of Italian churches
29
LINE COM- POSITION VI. — REPE- TITION- OBLIQUE LINES
— the line-music of the little pieces of marble arranged in a mosaic of fine pro- portions. A good photograph of the pavement of St. Mark's, Venice, or that of the Cathedral of Murano, with a de- scription of their richness of tone and color, would demonstrate to the student how great an art may lie in these appar- ently simple beginnings. Those design-
ers had, perhaps, only the chips of white marble, of red and green porphyry, left by the builders of the church, but being familiar with the elements of art, with beauty of Line, Dark-and-Light and Color, they arranged their chips into beau- tiful patterns that may well be ranked as art of a high order.
|
//. |
y£ |
|
sS |
Xd |
Page 30
N?34
W35
|
A/\/ |
||
M?27 ^our 't4,i<1B f'vement*
(triced from photography
N°38
<U>w<U
Page 3t
LINE COMPOSITION
VII.— LANDSCAPE ARRANGEMENT
IN Section IV the landscape was con- structed on a rectangular line-scheme for the special purpose of emphasizing the intimate relation between elementary abstract design and pictorial design. The examples given in Section V showed the student the dignity and importance of these simple ideas of composition by let- ting him see how great artists have used them. Incidentally these lessons gave a clue to the appreciation of one class of pictorial art (including some Japanese prints), which might otherwise remain unrevealed for a long time. The student must, however, be warned against mistaking a mere geometric com- bination of lines for an aesthetic combi- nation. There is no special virtue in a rec- tangular scheme or any other in itself; it is the treatment of it that makes it art or not art. Many a commonplace architect has designed a tower similar to Giotto's, and many a dauber of oil paint has con- structed a wood interior on a line-plan re- sembling that of Puvis. So the mere do- ing of the work recommended here will be of little value if the only thought is to get over the ground, or if the mind is in- tent upon names rather than principles. The doing of it well, with an artistic pur- pose in mind, is the true way and the on- ly way to develop the creative faculties. Another reason for introducing landscape
here is to offset the doctrine of the nature- imitators that accurate representation is a virtue of highest order and to be at- tained in the beginning. It is undeniably serviceable, but to start with it is to begin at the wrong end. It is not the province of the landscape painter merely to repre- sent trees, hills and houses — so much topography — but to express an emotion, and this he must do by art. His art will be manifest in his composition, in his placing of his trees, hills and houses in synthetic relations to each other and to the space-boundary. Here is the strength of George Inness ; to this he gave his chief effort. He omits detail, and rarely does more than to indicate the forms of things by a few touches.
This relation among the parts of a com- position is what we call Beauty, and it begins to exist with the first few lines drawn. Even the student may express a little of it if he feels it, and the attempt to embody it in lines on paper will surely lead to a desire to know more fully the character and shapes of things. A young pupil who had been working in this way, said, " I don't know how to draw trees, but I mean to learn at once." She had the ideas ; the effort to put them forth led her to seek a knowledge of drawing with en- thusiasm and pleasure. This case is but one of multitudes in my
32
Page 33
LINE COM- POSITION VII. — LAND- SCAPE ARRANGE- MENT
experience, witnessing to the soundness of the philosophy which underlies this system and offsetting that shallow saying of the realists, " It is time enough to think of composition after you can draw."
EXERCISE The problem in this section is to be, in ac- cordance with our progressive series, a step in advance of the one in Section IV. Leaving the rectangular idea, take any landscape that has some good elements in it, reduce it to a few main lines and strive to present it in the most beautiful way — for example the one in No. 39, or one drawn by the instructor, or even a tracing from a photograph. Remember that the aim is not to represent a place, nor to get good drawing now; put those thoughts out of the mind and try only to cut a space finely by landscape shapes; the various lines in your subject combine to enclose spaces, and the art in your composition will lie in placing these spaces in beautiful relationsto each other. Here must come in the personal influence of the instructor, which is, after all, the very core of all art teaching. He can bring the pupils up to the height of his own appreciation, and perhaps no far- ther. The best of systems is valueless without this personal artistic guidance. At this stage of landscape composition, the idea of Grouping can be brought in, as a help in arranging sizes and shapes.
There is a certain beauty existing in a con- trast of large and small. It is the opposite of Monotony. For instance, compare a street where there is variety in the sizes of buildings and trees, with another of rows of dull ugly tenement blocks. Ranges of hills, spires and pinnacles, clumps of large and small trees, clusters of haystacks, or even the disposition of things on a mantel, will serve to illustrate this idea.
Beware of making a universal rule out of this sort of composition (i.e. principal and subordinate), for there is another kind of beauty exactly opposite, in whichthe parts are all alike, or nearly so ; for example, rows of willows, or Nos. 31, 32 and 33, in Section VI.
To discover the best arrangement, and to get the utmost experience in lineand space composition, the landscape should be set into many boundaries of differing propor- tions, as in Section IV, and as shown in the examples, keeping the essential lines of the subject, but varying them to fit the boundary. For instance, a tree may be made taller in a high vertical space than in a low horizontal space. After working out this exercise the pupil may draw a landscape from nature and treat it in the same way. Let him rigor- ously exclude detail, drawing only the outlines of objects.
34
*
— — .
11
"ifc —
' i f — =
^#4#
|
-O — r- |
|
|
3^ — * |
r /'V |
Page 35
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
VIII. — NOTAN
WE have considered the subject of Line in a very general way, and must leave it at this point, post- poning for the present a detailed study of the separate principles, also the whole subject of Curved Line, and the compo- sition of other varieties of Line except as they appear in the landscapes, flowers and patterns of these exercises. It has already been stated that beauty in painting is manifested in three ways, namely by
LINE
DARK-AND-LIGHT COLOR We have now to consider the second of these elements, Dark-and-Light. There is no one word in English comprehensive enough to express what is here meant by this hyphened phrase, but as the Japanese have brought so much of this kind of beau- ty to our art we may well use their word for it, Notan. Besides, the adoption of a single word, and anew one, servesto em- phasize our characterization of it as a great aesthetic element. Thus the Notan of a pattern or a picture is the arrange- ment of the dark and light masses. Artists often employ the word " spotting " in this sense, and sometimes the more indefinite word " effect," while "wash-out" desig- nates in studio slang the lack of this ele- ment.
The Orientals, who have never consid- ered the representation of shadows as of serious importance, have recognized Notan as a special and vital part of the art of painting, to be studied for its own sake, a field for creative activity entirely distinct from Line or Color. Some of their schools discarded color, and for ages painted in ink, so mastering Notan as to attract the admiration, and pro- foundly influence the art of the western world.
Yet so firmly is our art embedded in the traditions of the nature-imitators, that Dark-and-Light is not considered in school curricula, except in its limited ap- plication to the representation of things. The study of " light and shade " has for its aim, not the creation of a beautiful idea in terms of contrasting masses of light and dark, but merely the accurate rendering of certain facts of nature, — hence is a scientific rather than an ar- tistic exercise. The pupil who begins in this way will be embarrassed in advanced work by lack of experience in arranging and differentiating tones. Worse than that, it tends to cut him off from the ap- preciation of one whole class of great works of art. As in the case of Line, so again in this is manifest the narrowness and weakness of the scheme of nature- imitating as a foundation for art educa-
36
tion. The Realistic standard has tended, and ever will tend, to the decay of art.
To attain an appreciation of Notan, and power to create with it, the following fundamental fact must be understood, namely, that a placing together of masses of dark and light, synthetically related, conveys to the eye an impression of beauty entirely independent of meaning. For example, squares of dark porphyry against squares of light marble, checks in printed cloth, and blotty ink sketches by the Venetians, the Dutch, and the Jap- anese.
When this occurs accidentally in nature, as in the case of a grove of dark trees against a light hillside, or a pile of dark buildings against a twilight sky, we at once perceive its beauty, and say that the scene is " picturesque." This quality, which makes the natural scene a good subject for a picture, is analogous to mu- sic. Truthful drawing and "conscien- tiousness" would have nothing to do with an artist's rendering of this. This is the kind of " visual music " which the Jap- anese so love in the rough ink painting
of their old masters, where there is but a mere hint of facts.
Claude Lorraine and Corot, in the West, Kakei and Sesshu in the East, owe the light of their skies and the mystery of their groves to an appreciation of the refinements of Notan. The etchers, the illustrators, and the practical designers are equally dependent upon it. The modern art student, feeling the necessity of a knowledge of Dark-and- Light when he begins to make original compositions, has open to him but one resource, that of sketching the "spotting" as he calls it, of good designs and pic- tures, — see page 53 and Section XIX, — an excellent practice, if followed under- standing^. I believe that the difficulty may be overcome :
1. 43y acknowledging Notan as an ele- ment distinct from Line or Color.
2. By attempting its mastery by progres- sive stages which shall lead to apprecia- tion.
As in the case of Line, isolate its simplest manifestations, create with them, and then proceed onward to the higher prob- lems.
DARK-AND- LIGHT COM- POSITION VIII.— NOTAN
37
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
IX. — NOTAN OF LINE
AS long as the lines of a design are kept of uniform width, the beauty is limited to proportion of areas and quality of touch, but widen some of the lines, and at once appears a new grace, Dark-and- Light. The textile de- signers who are restricted to straight lines, have recourse to this principle. They widen lines, vary their depth of tone, glorify them with color, and show that what seems a narrow field is really one of wide range.
EXERCISE
Choose some of the previous geometric line patterns, and widen certain of the lines, as illustrated in the plate. Inciden-
tally this will give good brush practice, as the lines are to be drawn at one stroke. Push the point of the brush down to the required width, then draw the line. Try a large number of arrangements, set them up in a row and pick out the best. In choosing and criticising, remember that every part of a work of art has some- thingto say. If one part is made so promi- nent that the others have no reason for being there, the art is gone. So in this case; if one line asserts itself to the detri- ment of the others, there is discord. There maybe many or few lines, but each must have its part in the whole. In a word, wholeness is essential to beau- ty ; it distinguishes Music from Noise.
(**N<M6 >«s«n
|
NMt |
||
|
i |
|||
|
N'47. |
J |
Page 38
EXAMPLES OF NOTAN
(See Section VIII)
No. 40. — Sesshu (see Sections VIII and XXIV, also pages 9 and 10)
No. 42. — Kakei
No. 41. — Yofu (Sesshu school)
Page 39
Ha.i-pi_gnies N? 45 Daubi^ny
V^ompositioMS by various masters, showing' Not&n arrangement (Sections v III , XIX, also page Si )
Page 40
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
NOTAN OF TWO TONES — STRAIGHT-LINE PATTERNS
THE last chapter treated of the transition from Line to Dark-and- Light by means of Notan of Line. In this we enter in good earnest upon a study of this important element, working from simple to complicated. As in the case of Line, there may be many starting points. One might begin by blot- ting ink or charcoal upon paper, by copy- ing the darks and lights from photographs of masterpieces, etc., but we will select the straight-line pattern and the flat black ink wash as more in harmony with our series, and a starting point that experience has proved to be satisfactory. The aim must be to feel and under- stand Notan as something by which beau- ty may be created, hence it is best to avoid Representation at first — not to confound Notan with " light and shade," " model- ling," or anything that refers to the imi- tation of natural objects. Having found a straight-line pattern which is fine in its proportions, we will add to it this new kind of beauty, and as much of it as can be expressed by the ex- tremes of Notan, black against white. It is apparent that we cannot reduce Dark- and-Lightto simpler terms than these two tones.
The beginner may imagine that not much can be done with flat black against flat white, but let him examine the decorative
design of the world. He will find the black andwhite check andpatterns derived from it, in old velvets of Japan, in the woven and printed textiles of all nations, in mar- ble floors, inlaid boxes and architectural ornament. Departing from straight line, the use of these two simple tones is as universal as Art itself. They appear in the black vine on the white marble floor of the Church of the Miracoli at Venice ; on the wall of the Arabian Mosque, and the frieze of the Chinese temple. They have come into favor on book covers and page borders. Aubrey Beardsley went scarcely beyond them. R. Anning Bell and other artists have boldly carried them into pictorial work in the illustration of children's books.
These facts will demonstrate to the be- ginner that no terms are too simple for artistic genius to use. Moreover a lim- ited field often stimulates to greater in- ventive activity.
EXERCISE
The principle of Variation comes into this exercise with special force, for each line- design admits of several Notan arrange- ments. The student should be given at first a pattern with few lines. Let him draw it from the instructor's sketch, or get it in any way that seems best, but the essential point is to have his design as good as possible in space-proportion be-
41
DARK-AND- LIGH COM- POSITION X.— NOTAN OF TWO TONES — STRAIGHT- LINE PAT- TERNS
fore he begins to add the ink wash. Hav- warn the students that mere inventive ac- ing once obtained a good pencil drawing, tion is not art. Any one can, with pa- let him make several tracings from it, and tience, evolve a multitude of straight-line then darken certain spaces with clear shapes that may serve in a rug border.
black ink. A round Japanese brush,
short and thick, will be needed for this
work.
The examples show how this kind of
problem has been handled.
RUGS The Oriental rug suggests an excellent line-scheme for practice in Notan. For- tunately the Mohammedanshave escaped the delusions of Realism, being forbidden by their religion to represent in their art any natural form. Their genius must express itself in abstract line — the geo- metric pattern — but they have Notan and color to help them. Let the student design a rug with border and centre, the shapes to be pure inven- tions, with no reference whatever to na- ture. The border must be made to differ from the centre ; this can be accomplished in many ways, even with black and white.
For instance : Border r Black figures on white ground. Centre : White figures on black ground. Border : White figures on black ground. Centre : Black figures on white ground. Border : Small figures. Centre : One large figure. Border : Large figures. Centre : Small surface pattern, etc. Copying the design of some good rug would be valuable practice preliminary to this exercise. The instructor will find it necessary to
No end of grotesque and ugly designs can be produced. The teacher must guide the young mind to perceive the difference between creating beautiful patterns, and mere fantastic play.
In like manner those little gifted with aesthetic perception may go far astray in following the two-tone idea. It is very easy and somewhat fascinating to darken parts of designs with black ink. The late poster craze showed to what depth of vul- garity this can be carried. The pupil must be taught that all two-tone arrangements are not fine, and that the very purpose of this exercise is to so develop his ap- preciation that he maybe able to tell the difference between the good, the com- monplace, and the ugly. His only guide must be his own innate taste, and his instructor's experience,
4*
|
mtm |
|
♦•♦•♦ |
|
■♦■ |
Page 43
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
XL — TWO TONES— VARIATION
BEAUTY of Line must underlie every Notan composition, and it should be said in this connection that beauty of Notan must underlie every color composition. The three elements have the closest relation to one another. For purposes of study, however,itis neces- sary to isolate each element, and even the separate principles of each. In the present instance, Notan can be separated from Line, that is, the student's attention can be concentrated on Dark- and-Light only, by taking one line-de- sign of acknowledged excellence and making many Notan variations of it; be- ing sure of Beauty of Line, the only problem is to create Beauty of Notan. Here, again, the so-called " historic or- nament " can be used for its own inher- ent beauty, not for the study of a " style." These works of art are available to the beginner in five ways: the objects them- selves, photographs, photographic repro- ductions, casts, and tracings. The litho- graphic illustrations and rude wood cuts in some books of design, being produced by mechanical, painstaking minds, are useless for our purpose here. They give no hint of the quality of the original. If
the actual painting on an Egyptian mum- my case is compared with a page of one of these books, the poor quality of the latter is instantly apparent. Chinese and Japanese "ornament" in most of such books is of the most flamboyant and de- cadent order.
The facsimile copies of Greek vases usu- ally belong in this same category. On the other hand, these works of the mechani- cal copyist are of some use to persons familiar with the originals, or to those who can translate these hints of schemes into designs of their own. The illustrations to this section are Notan variations on a Chinese fret, chosen for its excellent straight-line composition, and good proportion. With these are shown similar variations of old textiles. Though we are not tak- ing up Curved Line, it has been thought best to introduce these here as sugges- tions of ways of studying these beautiful relics of the art of past ages. The student sketches or traces the out- line of the textile pattern, and tries to discover how many fine two-tone ar- rangements can be made with it.
44
IHSSS
JS8yif=ll
Hfaaniani
|
HfcS-H |
|
■S^ H kS |
|
1 2 *—l |
|
H^S.H |
|
*•* : ! |
Page 45
FLOWER COMPOSITION
XII. — LINE, AND NOTAN OF TWO TONES
FLOWERS, by their great variety of line and proportion, are particularly valuable, as well as convenient sub- jects for elementary composition. Their forms and colors have furnished themes for painters and sculptors since the be- ginning of Art, and the treatment has ranged from abstractions to extreme real- ism ; from the refinements of lotus-de- rived friezes to the poppy and rose wall- papers of the present time. In the exercise here suggested, there is no intention of making a design to ap- ply to anythingas decoration, hence there need be no question as to the amount of nature's truth to be introduced. The flower may be rendered realistically, as in some Japanese design, or reduced to an abstract suggestion, as in the Greek, without in the least affecting the purpose in view, namely, the setting of its lines into a space in such a way that beauty shall result — in other words, making it serve as a subject for a composition ex- ercise.
It is essential that the space should be cut by the main lines. A small spray in the middle of a big oblong, or discon- nected groups of flowers, cannot be called compositions ; all the lines and areas must be related one to another by connec- tions and placings, so as to form a beau- tiful whole. Not a picture of a flower is
sought, — that can be left to the botanist — but rather an irregular pattern of lines and spaces, something far beyond the mere drawing of a flower from nature and laying an oblong over it, or vice versa.
EXERCISE
The instructor draws a flower in large firm outlines on the blackboard, avoiding confusing detail, and giving the charac- ter as simply as possible. The pupil first copies the instructor's drawing, then he decides upon the shape into which to compose this subject — a square or rec- tangle will be best for the beginner. He makes several trial arrangements rough- ly, with pencil or charcoal. Having cho- sen the best of these, he improves and refines them, first on his trial paper, and later by tracing with brush and ink on thin Japanese paper. Effort must be con- centrated on the arrangement, not on botanical correctness. Many line compositions can be derived from one flower subject, but each of these can in turn be made the source of a great variety of designs by carrying the exer- cise farther, into the field of Dark-and- Light. Paint certain of the areas black, and at once a whole new series suggests itself, from a single line design. To the beauty of the line is added the beauty of opposing and intermingling masses of black and white.
46
W0>
*<%!§% &££$&&$,
^
vm
WSSfcutSSj*?
Jd|i4n*ie
Jd/>a««s«
•J&bo.asja
Page 47
Page 48
In this part of the exercise the arrange- ment of shapes of light with shapes of dark, occupies the attention, rather than shading, or the rendering of shadows. Hence the flowers and leaves and stems, or parts of them, may be black or white, according to the feeling of the student. Let him choose out of his several draw- ings those which he considers best. The instructor can then criticise, pointing out the best and the worst, and explaining why they are so. A mere aimless or
mechanical blackening of paper, without effort to arrange, will result in nothing of value.
The examples show the variety of effects produced by flowers of different shapes, and the beauty resulting from schemes of Dark-and- Light in two tones. Pupils might profitably copy some of these, en- larging them ; but only for preliminary practice. The instructor will, of course, use his own subject matter.
FLOWER COMPOSI- TION
XII.— LINE, ANDNOTAN OF TWO TONES
49
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
XIII.— NOTAN OF LANDSCAPE —TWO TONES
fTr-^HE student has already experi- enced the composition of two -™- tones with geometric line-design and flower-shapes ; a step farther brings him to the important subject of Dark-and- Light as an element of Pictorial Art. We must again emphasize the distinction between Light-and-Shadow, Light-and- Shade,and that which we here call Notan. Light-and-Shadow, a phenomenon con- nected with sunshine, can be expressed in pictorial art by means of Notan. That is, a combination of lights and shadows in nature is available to the artist only when their shapes occur in, or suggest, a beauti- ful arrangement ; when they form, as it were, a pattern, or, as some would say, when they are " decorative." (This word is only a misleading circumlocution for " beautiful.") The student who is under the guidance of the academic phrase, " Paint what you see, and as you see it," feels that he must represent faithfully every accidental shadow, "just as it is in nature," or else be false to art and false to himself. He discovers later that such accurate rendering is only permissible in studies and sketches; that no accidents enter into pictures, but every line, every light, and every dark are a part of a delib- erate design.
Light-and-Shadeisatermreferringmain- ly to the modelling of things, or the imita-
tion of solidity. The study of it, as usually pursued in the schools by the drawing of white casts or still-life, tends to concen- trate the students' attention upon the Representation of facts rather than the production of beauty. It does not help them to comprehend the aesthetic quality of, for instance, a charcoal sketch by William Morris Hunt. Moreover, to spend so much effort upon modelling is of doubtful value, for Painting is essen- tially the art of two dimensions. When a painter makes roundness and solidity the chief aim of his work, he goes outside of his art and enters the province of his brother, the sculptor. In the best painting, for example, Giotto's frescoes at Assisi, Piero della Francesca's at Arezzo, Masaccio's " Tribute Money," the com- positions of Vivarini, Bellini and Titian, and even the Strozzi portrait by Raphael, the modelling is entirely subordinate to the greater elements of proportion and Dark-and-Light.
In a mural painting extreme roundness is a fatal defect ; a striking illustration is af- forded in the Pantheon at Paris, where Puvis de Chavannes and his contempo- raries have put their compositions on the walls. Puvis thought of his painting there as primarily a mosaic of colored shapes, whose mission was first of all to make the wall beautiful. No one thinks
50
Page 51
DARK-AND- LIGHT COM- POSITION XIII.— NO- TAN OF LANDSCAPE — TWO TONES
at first of the subject that he has put there, but all are charmed with the harmonies of line, tone, and color, the poetry and illusion of his landscape. The other painters seem to have thought mainly of modelling; of making their figures stand out solidly ; and the result is that the be- holder does not perceive the wall, or any suggestion of composition, but is entirely occupied with the sculpturesque reality of the painting. Soon he is confused by it and turns away unsatisfied. But we do not wish to be misunderstood as advocating the entire omission of sha- dows, or of modelling — certain subjects may require their use — but the flat rela- tions are of first importance ; in them must lie the art of the painting. Allusion has been made to the art stu- dents' practice of copying the darks from pictures, or the " spotting," as they call it. This is really studying Notan in two tones. To more fully define its purpose we give a few examples. No. 49 is a set of sketches from well-known masters showing the arrangement of Dark-and- Light reduced to two tones. This will give a hint of these artists' conception of the element of Notan, and it becomes more evident where translated into two tones. In Section XIX will be found some Jap- anese examples of the same thing. So
interested were the Japanese in this kind of composition that they sketched and published in books the "spotting" of their great masters. Some of these books, par- ticularly early ones of the period Genroku, are exceedingly beautiful.
EXERCISE
Give the student as a theme a landscape in line only, with no border. It should be simple, but with a variety of large and small spaces. Let this be handled in two ways:
1. The student sets it into a border, and when its proportions are satisfactory he traces it on several sheets of paper and tries the effect of painting certain spaces black. Some subjects are capable of a great many two-tone arrangements, but not all will be fine. Not number is re- quired, but beauty.
2. Compose the landscape into borders of different proportions, then vary each of these with two tones.
The illustrations sufficiently explain both these ways of working. No. 50 illustrates nine arrangements of one subject.
After using the examples here given, the student may sketch a landscape from na- ture, and after its line-composition has been criticised, let him vary it in two tones.
52
(tilling f rctio)
TiepOlO •' SkmI* <*« C**»IIIM
NH9
ErTan«T »Qnln«B«**h
St jmour H«4fA («TthiiijJ
^8\Vfc
A.Ms.«ve,
J.FWillel Sh«?-»heAv«r»
Fortuity _•_ Sn»K« .;<liarmcr«
Corot
|
"^ |
||
|
m ... ■l.<>, |
iil |
|
|
IjV <' |
i...:i'r :^-^i£ |
|
|
r»',;frr |
||
|
^^" T"^*r — ~ |
||
|
7C — - |
Gtofto * Jo4<Jiim «■' Ann*
Compositions by various me- ters,reduced to two tones. "Spotting-* («*5ectio«VI«rtXIX)
Page S3
|
I ' |
|||
|
/*1^H |
EH |
||
|
^rTTO |
|||
|
fir |
*. a .••~5 |
-c— "j, |
© i |
|
•xfl |
Page 54
No. 50 G. A. C.
Pag« 55
BORDERS & SURFACE PATTERNS
XIV.— LINE AND NOTAN OF TWO TONES
IN Section VI Repetition was men- tioned as one principle by which line- music may be composed; a simple kind of beauty to which even the savage gives expression, instinctively, by rows of lines upon his pottery or his blankets. (See No. 30, page 29). That primitive pattern easily developes into the design known as the "meander" or "Greek fret," one of the oldest ornamental de- vices. Its severe beauty is found in per- fection in Greek design ; but the Egyp- tians, Chinese, Aztecs, and others, the world over, have evolved innumerable variations of this straight-line theme.
EXERCISE
The problem before the student is the production of a rhythmical beauty in terms of straight line, to which shall afterward be added the beauty of Dark- and- Light.
The exercise may be carried out in two ways:
1. Taking as elements a row of straight marks, or lines and dots, | • | • | • | • | • | • develope, by means of repetition, both borders and surface patterns. No. 51 il- lustrates the manner of working. In this part of the exercise no area is enclosed by the lines ; the beauty is that of a rhyth- mical marking off of space. This kind of design is particularly adapted to textile fabrics.
2. From the same row of marks, I develope the meander as a border or a surface pattern. (No. 52.) Taking a sug- gestion from the Arabic designers, com- bine the lines in triangular, or irregular, arrangements. (No. 53.) The Chinese fret in Section XI is an ex- ample of the second kind of composition. Beware of mere invention, without ap- preciation. To multiply marks on paper is just as easy as to drum on the piano. Repetition in itself does not constitute beauty; witness the bad wall-papers and other debased design — repetition of the meanest kind.
Invention is desirable, but a great num- ber of designs thoughtlessly produced will be of no value. First make sure that the unit or the theme which you in- tend to repeat is itself beautiful. If it is composed of a few lines, see that they are well proportioned, one to the other, and delicately spaced. Then you may use Repetition to give a subtle quality of musical movement.
The line patterns may be translated into two tones. (See No. 54, etc.)
56
A Coptic Border
i" *!■ *§• •I3
« »|t •§• >!>
I" "I" "I" "I"
* "I* *I* •■•
li!j!|i|i|i|mil
ilfjililihiiH
xxxxx
XXXXX
xxxxx xxxxx
XXXXX
N?5I
3*
$%$
^r W^ *r %
N°52
N<?54
Di 1 1 1 1
TP *8&Tl **%
N°53
AraMc tortor
Page 57
FLOWER COMPOSITION
XV.— BORDERS IN TWO TONES
FLOWER composition was consid- ered in Section XII purely as an ex- ercise in the arrangement of shapes, with no reference to Applied Design. In this section, while arrangement is still the main point, the student can have in mind some practical use of the designs, either as borders, or head- and tail-pieces for books. But it is not necessary to take into account here all the limitations which such application might involve, as, for in- stance, the special handling for photo- graphic reproduction, the disposition of masses required in perforated woodwork (to make it hold together) or the peculiar treatment of a stencil pattern. All these things can be considered by the student after he has had experience in art. If he has the art, its application will not be dif-
ficult; it is enough for him now to let the practical problem suggest a style of com- position. In this case he may choose a long parallelogram, and work in both Line and Notan.
EXERCISE
The examples accompanying this exer- cise illustrate the idea suggested. These compositions can be worked out in char- coal or ink. Many small rough sketches or plans of the arrangement should be made first and the best of these chosen for further elaboration. If desirable the single composition may be considered as a unit in a repeating border-pattern. The instructor should show the class how this kind of design has been used in magazines and other publications as a page-ornament.
Page 59
FLOWER COMPOSITION
XVI. — TWO TONES— JAPANESE EXAMPLES
DEMONSTRATION by means of illustration is always a powerful means of impressing an idea upon the mind. In teaching young pupils the simple elements of composition, good ex- amples are most essential. Would that time had preserved for us the sketch-books of Phidias, of Giotto, of the architect of St. Mark's, of the great de- signers of textiles, buildings, and pictures. These are, for the most part, lost; the few scraps remaining are stored in museums. But the art of the East comes to our as- sistance with its sketch-books, its colored prints, and its paintings. The Japanese know of no such divisions as Represen- tative and Decorative ; they conceive of painting as the art of two dimensions; an art in which roundness and nature-imita- tion are subordinate to the flat relations. As in pre- Renaissance times in Europe, the education of the Japanese artist is founded upon composition. A thorough grounding in fundamental principles gives him the utmost freedom in design- ing. He loves nature and goes to her for
his subjects, but he does not imitate. The winding brook with wild iris (p. 37), the roadside weeds, the pebbles on the river- shore, are to him themes for his art, but he translates them into arrangements of Line, or Dark-and-Light, or Color. They are so many motifs for the division of a space into beautiful proportions, for har- monious line-systems, or sparkling inter- weavings of black and white. We are speaking now of the real art of Japan. The modern cheap imitation, the de- graded commercial "art," made for the foreign market must be avoided. The examples here given are reproduced from Japanese works of the best period, and from sheets of ancient designs. Their refinement of proportion, beauty of line- combination, strong drawing, and bril- liancy of Notan need no comment. Let the student enlarge them and vary their proportions. These will suggest to him one way of looking at nature, and of translating her beauty into the language of art.
Page 61
BOOK COVERS, TITLE PAGES AND
LETTERS
XVII. — LINE AND NOTAN OF TWO TONES
BOOK cover is a problem in rectang- ular arrangement. Whatever be the de- sign placed upon it, the first question is the division into beautiful propor- tions. See Sections I, II, III, etc. Lettering may be considered as a tracery of Line or a pattern of Dark-and- Light ; in fact it is itself a design, and the dignified beauty of simple lettering is often a sufficient ornament for a book cover. In any case the letters occupy a certain space, which must be well-pro- portioned. Above all, they must be clear and intelligible. Extravagance in lettering should be avoided, but variation is possible. Each letter may be reduced to its elements (as A to a set of three lines), and these varied like any line design. The title page, for our purpose here, is essentially the same problem as the cover.
NITIALS are a part of the Notan-scheme of a book-page. Considering the text as a gray tone, combined with a white margin, the initial comes between the two as a sort of focal point or accent, like the sharp touches of black in ancient Japanese ink-painting (see pages n and 39.) The initial itself is usually a com- position in a somewhat square-shaped space — a useful subject for students if the scale be large.
EXERCISE
TU DENTS should make many small preliminary sketches for book covers, not attempting a large drawing till a definite and satisfactory plan of arrangement has been reached. Let them study good examples in the libraries. Reproduc- tions or photographs of the fine old bindings will be valuable illustrations of dignity of style.
62
mass
THE IMAGINARY MAGAZINE
A Collection of Designs for Book Illustrations hy Composition Class v**^ of Pratt Institute. %/•«>•%/•
IVo. I, December, MDCCC XC VIII.
CA.C
Author
Page 63
BOOK-PAGE COMPOSITION
XVIII. — TWO TONES— LANDSCAPE
THE art in book illustration lies not so much in "telling a story" as in beautifying the page. The page is a space into which the illustra- tion is to be set ; a problem of Line and Dark-and- Light, whose successful work- ing out depends upon the illustrator's experience in composition. If the pic- torial design is to have a rectangular boundary line, the setting of it upon the page is a matter of simple rectangular composition, as in Section II. If it is to
be of irregular shape, its edges require special attention that their lines may be harmonious and may blend well with the type.
As a beginning in illustration the student ought first to practice setting an outline landscape upon a page, following this with the use of two tones (black and white). No. 55 exemplifies the outline work. No. 56, two tones with border. No. 57, two tones with no border.
Page 64
LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION
XIX.— TWO TONES — JAPANESE EXAMPLES
ALLUSION has already been made to the Japanese ink compositions (Section VIII), and Nos. 40, 41, and 42, are photographic reproductions of ink paintings by some of their masters. The two-tone landscape of Japanese art is found in books of sketches from old pic- tures, in books of sketchy studies, and in design books for stencilling cloth, for fret- saw work, etc. The sketches from old pic- tures date from the early days of paint- ing, when only clear black was used (Nos. 58, 59, 60, 61). They are, in fact, studies in "spotting," to aid the memory of those
who had seen the originals, or to suggest to others the general arrangement of the masses in the masterpieces. The quality of these old books with their age-stained paper and velvety gray-black ink cannot be reproduced, butthese illustrations may stimulate the student to investigate for himself.
Nos. 62, 63, and the rest, are examples of more recent date, but of great interest for their naive composition, their beauty of Line and Notan.
The student should copy these, enlarge and vary them.
N°58
Two sKetthes of composition j by
old masters
Aipanetc book o/- XVfll tenT
Par* 65
N ? 5^ From J^|>An ess b oo fc./ X V 1 1 / e.eritwy
Page 66
N°60
N*6I The 'spotting' of a picture by SessflU,
(Irom o. skeUh-book. of tt»e Tinytt School) «e p>t O,/0, 37.30 al>e fi. Si.
N°62 N°63
Orjg'in*! compo
Sitions from A Sketch book of the Shi jo school
Page 67
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
XX. — THREE TONES
CLEAR black against clear white is a strong contrast, and even the best work in these tones has a certain harshness, despite its sparkling brilliancy. But the introduction of a tone of gray , mid- way between these two extremes changes the conditions radically, and opens up a whole new class of creative possibilities. With these three tones comes the beauty of different degrees of Notan, the "value" of one tone against another. This simple set of three tones is the basis of the mezzo- tint, the charcoal sketch, the aquatint, and the wash-drawing. In this class belong the old masters' drawings on gray paper with black and white. From three tones it is easy to develope compositions into many tones, and in these refinements of the great element of Notan lies the true meaning of the word " Values." This word in modern art- education is restricted to that property of painted objects whereby they take their places one beyond another in the picture. While this is a desirable quality in picto- rial art, it is nevertheless a quality belong- ing to Representation, not to Beauty, and in its extreme manifestation becomes a species of deception most agreeable to the mindunappreciativeofart. The multitude who have no perception of harmonies of tone and color are delighted to see objects "stand out" in the picture "as if they
were real." But the word "values " in its broadest and truest sense refers to beauty only; the value of a tone is its lightness or darkness by which it affects the tone next to it.
In three-tone work a new exercise of judg- ment is involved, that of determining the value of the medium tone. The student has to mix this tone and decide when it is of the right depth. Here he begins really to paint for the first time.
EXERCISE
For this painting-exercise will be need- ed two new kinds of materials— a white plate, or set of dishes (correspondingto the palette in oil painting) on which to mix the ink tones — and flat Japanese brushes. The first difficulty to overcome is the lay- ing of a flat wash, a problem of water- color painting requiring dexterity and much practice. For a space of consider- able size a flat brush is preferable to a round one. As to paper the best results are produced on a well-sized Japanese paper of fine quality. The thin coating of glue keeps the edge of the wash from drying in before the brush can take it up. For a beginning choose a simple straight- line pattern, decide which parts of it shall be white, and wash a medium tone of gray over the rest. When dry, paint in the black spaces. Aclean ink-stone, clean plate, and clean brush are essential to success.
68
Page 69
To illustrate Sec XXI P*SC I2-
Page 70
The reason for keepingthetonesflat is that the value of a whole space can best be judged when it is flat. If it is sloppy and uneven it loses force and interest. In be- ginners' work and in decorative design flatness is necessary. But of course in ac-
tual picture-painting the absolutely flat tone would rarely be used. (Note. Many of the three-tone illustra- tions were drawn upon "scratch-board" for convenience of reproduction — in this case thefine lines standf or thegray wash.)
DARK-AND- LIGHT COM- POSITION XX.— THREE TONES
Composition by "Rlbot - jce Sect Un VHE
also po-<?es 3<? a** 40
Pag* 71
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
XXL— THREE TONES — FLOWERS
THE examples with this section sufficiently explain themselves. A comparison of these with the flowers in two tones will at once make evident the new kind of delicate beauty that the third tone introduces.
Designs such as these could easily find a place in book-illustration. The irregular shapes in flower composi- tion will probably necessitate the use of the round, pointed brush in putting on the washes.
7i« pen-Una tepreseififlUeflHtink'Uaih
Page 73
W7~2
I
Flowers to il-
luitrdte Sec XXI
5eepp.70,71
Ldtidscdpe} to il- lustrate Sec.XXIL see pp. 7^,75"
HBiPuK
il/:
BSK
Page 73
r,
-r4
-i*i7 * - :.t
r,*
Kj*t
Mr,
3 |TJ
/ '
**>
Vp-*
M.w.
M
|
-•' |
|
^^r |
|
|
HI |
|
Page 74
DARK-AND-LIGHT COMPOSITION
XXII.— THREE TONES — LANDSCAPE
IN applying three tones to pictorial art we go a step beyond the two previous exercises, for this brings us almost to the expression of effects of nature like gray days and twilight. Still the student should, for the present, consider his landscape as a pattern or mosaic of varying tones, re- gardless of questions of realistic truth. As in all his work, beauty of arrange- ment must engage his attention above all else.
Many illustrators have produced the third tone in black and white work by means of closely-spaced pen lines. This has the advantage of being easily repro- duced.
EXERCISE For three-tone landscape the pupil can use Japanese ink and wash as in the last exercise, or pen and ink with fine lines for the third tone, or charcoal. In the latter case put a tone over the whole paper, take out the lights with bread or rubber, and draw in the darks with very black charcoal. This is closely allied to the process of mezzotint and aquatint.
It is perhaps unnecessary to suggest that a wide scope can be given this exer- cise by varying each landscape attempt- ed, and that the student should draw one of his own from nature and treat it in the same way.
75
BOOK ILLUSTRATION
XXIII. — THREE TONES — AN IMAGINARY POEM
THIS will be a practical applica- tion of the foregoing lessons in composition. It comprises the ar- rangement of verses of poetry, a title in large type, and a landscape, upon a mag- azine page. It seems a complicated af- fair, but is really little more than a sim- ple arrangement of areas, like Sections I and II. The text may be represented by a flat gray wash. The edges of the page are the boundaries of the composi- tion, a parallelogram. If the verses, the lettering and the pictorial part are en- closed in rectangles, then the case is
similar to some of our first exercises, and may be made a severe, symmetrical ar- rangement. But whether the different parts are regular or irregular, the prob- lem is to set them together harmoniously. The best illustrative work is character- ized by restraint, dignity and simplicity. The whole page must be one com- plete composition. Students must avoid strange, pseudo- Japanese combinations, such as scroll-like shapes, imitations of turned-down corners, or meaningless sprays of flowers. Keep to plain simple masses, beautiful in proportion and tone.
MORNING IN THE MARSHES
Page 76
|
L^^^ff^ |
||
|
tj^PH^ r*K |
||
|
♦W^^~ |
||
|
THE OLD MILL |
||
|
■I |
||
|
M.N.K |
|
Mornintf in the Marshes |
||
|
LZj |
H.S. |
Page 77
Page 78
ADVANCED COMPOSITION
XXIV. — MANY TONES
LINE, Notan, and Color may be called the language of the art of Painting. Like the language of speech it may be used well or ill, to voice noble emotions in the beauty of poetic style, or to subserve the vulgar and the commonplace. There can be no aes- thetic quality in this language unless it conforms to the requirements of art. A number of facts, accurately described in paint and color, may have no more con- nection with art than a similar set of written statements — merely plain prose. There is no art in such things unless the statements are bound together by certain subtle relations which we call beauty. When beauty enters, the parts cease to have a separate existence, but are melted together into a unit.
Advanced composition is only a working out of simple elements into more com- plex and difficult interrelations. If the picture has figures and landscape, the lines of the figures and the lines of the landscape run in such directions, inter- sect and interweave in such ways as to form a musical movement. The tones and the colors are so arranged as to mutually enrich one another. A noble subject for a picture requires nobility of style in its expression. Michelangelo's line (No. u) is as grand as his subject. We do not presume to define Beauty or
to attempt its description in words. Its nature must be learned by experience and by the study of the best works. Beauty of Line is illustrated at the be- ginning of this book (pages 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13) ; many other painters are dis- tinguished for this quality, for, example, Ririomin (Chinese, nth century), Viva- rini, and the designers of the best stained glass, Durer, Holbein, and the great etchers.
Beauty of Notan is found in perfection as has been said before, in the works of the old Chinese and Japanese masters (pages 39, 40, 65, 66, 67). Rembrandt, Tur- ner, William Morris Hunt, and again the etchers, can also be studied for this kind of language. (See Sec. VIII.) Beauty of color has its highest develop- ment in the Venetian school ; one hesi- tates to specify, but two noble examples might be mentioned, the "Santa Bar- bara" of Palma Vecchio, and "The Rich Man and Lazarus" of Bonifacio Vero- nese. In the modern French school, if one were to be singled out whose color is pre-eminent, it would be Albert Bes- nard.
In Japanese art the greatest masters of this language are Nobuzane (13th cen- tury), Korin (early 18th), and particu- larly the color-print artists, from Hishi- kawa Moronobu to Hiroshige.
79
ADVANCED This section is illustrated with a few ject in a few planes and simple masses
COMPOSI- TION XXIV.— MANY TONES
sketches for pictures, worked out in char- coal by young students in the author's classes at Pratt Institute. Their train- ing in this new system of art education has enabled them to conceive of a sub-
to keep in mind the underlying ideas of composition — to think of a picture first as pure design, secondly and subordi- nate^ as Representation.
'^4»v **>*■...
©
Page 80
A-ti«i.U«lAH*>J-,^H!HU!.llW!y
tiwimwwjl
Druid priests worshipping at sunrise
The Departure of the old Ye&r
Page 81
^mtiWJiJW^iJW*'
Druid priests worshipping a1 sunrise
The Rc\uiy Day
[ThrouciMhe portals of the sunset
Sketch injhree tones|
Page 82
CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST PART
I HAVE called this book Part I, be- cause other treatises may follow, tak- ing up the subjects more in detail, in- cluding principles not here mentioned, and giving still fuller illustration of the system's development in Line, Notan and Color.
I have purposely kept to a broad and general survey of the field of composi- tion, as a more detailed consideration of principles at this time, with their names, might lead to misunderstanding. The words Opposition, Transition, Subordi- nation, Balance, Dark-and-Light, etc., though common words, were first used by the author of this system to designate certain special kinds of beauty, Or ways of composing; hence, in order to be rightly understood and used, they need- special explanation and illustration, for
which there is no space in this small volume. For instance, Opposition is a great constructive idea, expressing se- verity, calm, solemnity, grandeur ; it is embodied in the Egyptian temple, the Parthenon, the majestic paintings of Puvis de Chavannes. To think of it as a mere geometric right angle is entirely to misunderstand its meaning. To really comprehend such a principle means full knowledge of its use in the art of the world, and actual experience with it as a mode of expression. Such a detailed study of this and other principles will be undertaken in some succeeding vol- ume. The aim of this Part I has been to suggest a line of practical work, which would make clearer the so-called vague subject of Composition.
Japanet* (see paga Oi)
Page 83
|
Date Due |
|||
|
K0M9 *» |
» |
||
|
NOV 2 8'6C |
|||
|
MOV ^ 193 |
'6, |
||
|
^nv^~4 ! |
392 |
||
|
jpn*Ml |
*#> |
||
|
FEB 0 |
1 200^ |
||
|
if in |
|||
|
ii |
V^ |
B |
|
|
Library Bureau Cat, no. 1137 |
745.2D75
ASTTT
Art NC 740 . D7 1905
Dow, Arthur W. 1857-1922.
Composition
dow, Arir5w0°2 00085 9640
Composition : a serip* nf nu •
ienes ot exercises sele
<vi
: - "
. . . -
6
1m '*9k-
4i
7
8
9
10
|
^jPTl |
11
(OREGON RULE CO
U.S.A.
|
i |
|||
|
• |
.' |
||
|
1 ' . N - |
I
I
■
o ■ ''.
■ . * ■ ' i Y
. r;
0
1
U.S.A.
2
3
5
|
8 |
9 |
10 1 |
■:i ■» ■