LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION 95 



most agreeable are those which are consistent in character and easy to follow. 

 It must not be argued that the sequences in which we move quickly and easily 

 are for that reason the most interesting. There is many a road which is per- 

 fectly straight which has no divergences and is without obstacles or difficulties 

 which is, nevertheless, a very stupid road to travel on. It may offer us the 

 possibilities of easy and rapid motion and be a perfect speedway and have no 

 other interest. Unless we are in for the pleasure of easy and rapid movement 

 the road I have described has no attraction for us. We prefer a road on which 

 we are entertained as we go along. We have a perfect illustration of sequence 

 in a straight line, but we get through it quickly and are not at all interested. 

 We prefer, perhaps, to move slowly, even very slowly, if there is something to 

 interest us, to make it worth while. . . . When the artist has established 

 his sequence, which is a certain direction and form of movement, he can put 

 into it no end of interesting features provided that he keeps the sequence 

 unbroken and does not admit of diverging interests or obstacles which stop 

 the movement and make it impossible. The interests and attractions which 

 are set together in any sequence should have a logical connection and relation 

 and the relation should be one of sequence. The first interest should lead 

 us to the second, the second to the third, and so on. [See the snowshoe 

 tracks in Plate 17.] In that way unity is secured with no very serious loss 

 either of interests or of attractions." * 



A second form of sequence is that of alternation producing the Rhythm 

 combination of harmony with rhythm. 



"When any line or sequence is broken repeatedly and at equal intervals, 

 we get alternations which give us the feeling of Rhythm. Rhythm means not 

 a continuation merely but a continuation with regularly recurring breaks or 

 accents. In sequences of Continuation we have the feeling of Harmony, that 

 is all, but when the continuity is broken at regularly recurring intervals by a 

 certain change we get in addition to the feeling of Harmony the feeling of 

 Rhythm. [See the rhythmic repetition of trees in Drawing XI, opp. p. 82, 

 and in Plate 16.] 



"It is possible to produce the effect of Rhythm with an alternation of certain 

 elements ; other elements being, so to speak, imposed upon this alternation 

 as concomitant variations. We may, for example, have an alternation of 

 large areas of one shape with small areas of another and this alternation may 

 be set in a line or sequence. The Rhythm being thus established, we can put 

 a different composition and effect of light in every area of the sequence, 

 whether large or small. The variety of these compositions must, of course, 



* Ross, On Drawing and Painting, p. 68-69. 



