

colour, and their shape is more defined. Many of the branches have 

 produced a second crop of young leaves, Lammas shoots, as the 

 foresters call them, and their fresh light green makes a beautiful contrast 

 among the darker leaves. Soon — too soon, alas ! when we realise it is a 

 s\-mbol that summer is passing — these oak-leaves are again changing 

 in colour ; the light frosts of early autumn have tinged them with a 

 glory of variegated green and gold. Later on, when the frosts have 

 become more insistent and severe, these leaves turn a rich brown, and 

 frequently' cling, in a more or less crumpled form, to their branches 

 throughout the whole winter, giving a lovely patch of warm colour in 

 the greyness of a winter landscape. 



He very careful, when colour is absorbing \-our attention and interest, 

 to avoid losing sight of the special characteristics of the form of the 

 leaves. Although I am general!)' very averse to exaggeration in 

 any form, perhaps it is better for the student to accentuate their 

 characteristics rather than to lose sight of them altogether. 



In one and all of these studies we cannot fail to be struck with the 

 marvellous invention and the wonderful feeling for decorative effect 

 Nature shows us. The designer, whose art consists of the conven- 

 tionalisation of these natural forms for purposes of decoration and 

 applied art, finds much to learn from leaves. 



Look at this sycamore leaf, for instance, and in it we see three most 

 useful principles of ornament — gradation, symmetry and radiation. 



Take the leaf and stud}' its form. Notice, that in spite of the 

 serrations of its edges, what bold grand sweeps of form we see from 

 point to point ; this is gradation. 



Look how this beautiful sha])e is repeated on both sides, reversed, 



of course, in 

 direction, the 

 value of those 

 curves im- 

 mensely en- 

 hanced bj' this 

 repetition ; this 

 is symmetry. 



Now notice 

 the wonderful 

 veining of the 

 leaf, and how 

 from the main 

 rib of tiie 

 centre the 

 lesser veins 



