Reference should be made to examples of early printing, to the works of William Morris, and to the best modern printing.
[Japanese drawing, effect of three values.]
[No 55.] [“The World Afloat” by John Sell Cotman. “St. John’s River” by William Morris Hunt.] [No 55.]
Line, Notan, Color—the elements by which the whole visible world is apprehended,—may or may not be used as the language of art. Like speech, this three‐fold language may voice noble emotions in poetic style, or may subserve the vulgar and the humdrum. Art‐language must be in art‐form; a number of facts, or an incident, accurately described in paint and color may have no more connection with art than a similar set of written statements just plain prose. There is no art unless the statements are bound together in certain subtle relations which we call beauty. When beauty enters, the parts cease to have separate existence, but are melted together in a unit.
Advanced composition is only a working out of simple elements into more complex and difficult interrelations. If the picture has figures and landscape, the lines of each run in such directions, intersect and interweave in such ways as to form a musical movement. The tones and colors are arranged to enrich one another. A noble subject requires noble pictorial style.
Experience of tone‐harmony in two and three values brings appreciation of no‐tan‐structure and lays a solid foundation for advanced work.
SCALE. At this point construct a scale introducing more delicate relations of tone, and involving finer judgment as to intervals.
(a) will be best for beginning, to be followed by a scale of seven values (b). See page 88. These may be made with Japanese ink, water color, charcoal or oil; but not with pencil as it has not depth enough.
The values here are only approximate; perfect accuracy cannot be obtained by the half‐tone process.
Choose a textile, or any design with a variety of spaces, and try notan‐ effects with tones from the scale. The object is to discover a fine notan‐ scheme of values, and by using the scale one is assured of definite intervals. If the notes are mixed in quantity, they may be tried upon a half‐dozen tracings at once, from which the best should be chosen. Remember that the scale‐work is only an exercise to help toward clarity of tone, and to encourage invention. Harmony of dark‐and‐light does not depend upon fixed intervals, nor will the composer adhere to any scale in his original creative work.