Fig. 72 shows how a leaf or any piece of ornament may be shaded; care should always be taken not to let the texture be too close at any part in the shaded portion so as to make hard pieces in the cloth, as would be the case if a plain texture were used in a firm cloth.
Fig. 73 shows how a flower and bud should be painted so as to give a natural, or rather semi-natural, representation. The shading should be made to express the form as well as possible; a variety may also be made in the twilling on the flower, as may be seen on the front petal, where a straight twill is used; this makes the cloth richer and the petal come out fuller. This pattern is rather small on the design paper to come well on the cloth; it would be better twice as large, as it may be seen that in many cases single lines of the design paper have to be used for divisions, and for full-harness work it is generally better to have at least two lines, representing two threads.
This painting, omitting the twilling, would suit for a pressure harness, with each line of the design paper representing two or three threads of both warp and weft. No twilling is required on a pressure-harness pattern, as the texture is wrought by the front mounting; otherwise the pattern is the same, bearing in mind that as each check represents two or three threads, it will not be reduced on the cloth as a full-harness pattern would. The twilling of this pattern is the 8-leaf satin, which is generally used for fine damask, giving a much richer effect than the 5-leaf satin.
It will perhaps be well to make some reference as to the desirability of using these natural forms for designs, though it would be useless to enter into the oft-disputed point of whether it is correct or in good taste to attempt to imitate natural forms upon cloth, or whether even shaded or rounded forms should be treated upon a flat surface. To the latter I would answer without hesitation, by all means do so, but make the appearance satisfactory and keep them in good taste; and this can be done if the subject treated is duly considered.