INDUSTRIAL ART 



2980 



INDUSTRIAL ART 



harmonies (see COLOR, subhead How to Use 

 Color, page 1483). Black and white can be 

 depended upon to balance spots of intense 

 color. A little of the strong color solution 

 that you used for stick printing may be added 

 to a small quantity of letterine, making the 

 opaque color that we use in design. In mix- 

 ing, pour a half teaspoonful of letterine into 

 a small saucer and add to it the same amount 

 of the strong color you intend to use. Mix 

 it, well with the brush, and spread the color 

 evenly. You can paint light tones of opaque 

 color on black or dark papers. This is not 

 possible with transparent water colors. 



Fig. 20 shows the beginning of a design 

 that you will see has been used in a practical 

 problem. A cross shape in bright blue opaque 

 color was painted at regular intervals over a 

 sheet of black squared paper. In Fig. 21 a 



When the box was finished, one would never 

 believe, unless he had seen it, that a thing 

 so attractive could have been made from such 

 commonplace materials. Of what use is such 

 a box? It can hold collections of Christmas 

 candies, assorted nuts, sugared pop corn, tiny 

 cakes or any of the numerous goodies that you 

 can probably make yourself. But better than 

 the contents is the experience to be gained in 

 making the box and in learning that a knowl- 

 edge and use of art can transform the humblest 

 object into a thing of beauty. 



Problem 4; A Decorated String Box. If you 

 have watched the druggist and the grocer when 

 they were weighing out the things they have 

 to sell, you will know what scales are. They 

 are instruments provided with weights placed 

 at one end of a bar, which balance equal 

 weights placed at the other end. Scales are 



Fig. 2 1 



white open square has been painted in each 

 background space. This gives snap and bril- 

 liancy to the design, and it is now worthy to 

 be used. Fig. 22 shows what this beautiful 

 design did to an empty biscuit box. The 

 wrappings and labels were all removed, dis- 

 closing a box of fine proportions and of a 

 warm gray color. Panels of the decorated 

 paper were cut for each side of the box, a 

 half inch less in each dimension than the side 

 for which they were planned. Paste was 

 spread over the entire surface of the wrong 

 side of these panels, and they were pasted on 

 the four sides of the box so as to leave a 

 half inch margin of gray all around the pan- 

 els. The ends of the box were treated in 

 the same way. A bright blue cord of mer- 

 cerized cotton was twisted for a tie string, 

 and to the ends of this cord were fastened 

 an orange and a blue bead. These beads were 

 a half-inch long, and were made of wood. 

 They are the kind that children in the kin- 

 dergarten use for stringing. 



Fig.22 



sometimes called balances. You may not 

 know that balance has anything to do with 

 design, but we shall learn that balance is as 

 important an art principle as is rhythm. Col- 

 ors and shapes are forces which act on our 

 eyes much as weights act upon a pair of scales. 

 In a design, if one part pulls your attention 

 one way, then there must be an equal force 

 that pulls your attention in the opposite di- 

 rection. When all parts of a design pull 

 equally, it is said to be balanced. By using 

 again the device of paper cutting, we can 

 illustrate the simplest form of balance. Fold 

 a small piece of paper in the middle. On the 

 folded half draw a shape any shape you like. 

 (Fig. 23.) Be sure that the folded edge will 

 be the middle of your design when the paper 

 is unfolded. Cut out the shape you have 

 drawn (Fig. 24) and open your paper (Fig. 25). 

 You have now a balanced unit, one that is 

 symmetrical, or exactly alike on both sides of 

 its axis. Figs. 26 to 30 are other examples of 

 symmetrical units that, have been cut from 



