HERAMIC STUDIO 
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as a principle. And yet this is one of the most important. It 
is prominent in every well composed painting. It is true of a 
building in which the structural lines, the broad wall spaces, 
the doors, windows and decorations are thought of as so many 
parts having a direct influence on each other by their size and 
shape. 
Suppose we give this principle our first consideration. 
Suppose we draw a rectangle five inches one way (the other 
dimensions to be left to the student and lay across it several 
stalks of grass, as in fig. XIII.) These stalks will break up the 
rectangle into lines and areas having a vertical movement, and 
can be adjusted so as to produce a bit of beauty. To copy 
one of these arrangements requires some knowledge of draw- 
ing. If, however, the composition is reduced to the simp- 
lest terms possible, viz.: straight lines (fig. xil), we would still 
have the same principle involved and produce a similar kind 
of beauty. The point I wish to make is, that any one can 
draw straight lines and try to produce beauty, thereby exer- 
cising the mind and judgment in the direction of art expres- 
sion. Just as the flower composition is more difificult than 
Japanese prints and often it is the movement produced by 
the meeting of shapes. In either case this boundary is con- 
sidered a line. The possibilities of this line language are un- 
limited. To cite a few examples : the meeting of a horizon- 
tal by a vertical line (fig. l) gives dignity and repose, while 
the meeting of two diagonals (fig. Il) is that of action. The 
line drawn with a rule (fig. ill) is tight, lifeless and mechanical, 
while the line drawn free hand, (fig. iv) if the mind controls 
the medium, shows directness and power, but if the mind does 
not control the hand, it discloses weakness or rudeness (fig v). 
If we go from straight to curved lines the possibilities of ex- 
pression increase immeasurably, as there is greater opportunity 
for individuality. The curved line may have fire and vitality 
like the crack of the whip (fig. vi) or it may be tame and lazy 
like the line that has nearly the same curvature at every point 
(fig. VIl). As the circle and square are universal types devoid 
of variation except in size, a line like part of a circle does not 
admit of that freedom and personality. Hence a vase whose 
contour is nearly like segments of a circle, (fig. VIIl) is not so in- 
teresting as one in which there are long sweeping lines and 
short snappy curves (fig. ix). Then there is the line that 
seems a fitting force, as in the curves of the breaking surf 
(fig. x). Again the melodious quality of the conventional 
line of a brook, (fig. xi) the tenderness and refinement of a 
line study of a flower (fig. xvi) and with slight variations the 
firmer quality of leaf and stem. The line that by its varia- 
tion gives all the qualities of a tree, a cloud, a house, a human 
figure (fig. xxil). 
Many other examples might be added, but for our pur- 
pose it is advisable to begin with the simplest term, that of 
the straight line, and work by easy stages to advanced prob- 
lems requiring much more power. The straight line is within 
the reach of all, even those who have not studied, while the 
line that is to express a flower, figure or landscape presup- 
poses some knowledge of these forms. As all designs consist 
of some given bounded shape broken up into other shapes, 
we may consider that of a square or rectangle and break it up 
by means of straight lines into areas of unequal size, but well 
related. Usually symmetry, balance and repetition are con- 
sidered in a design ; but that kind of beauty that is produced 
by a fine adjustment of unequal areas, is seldom thought of 
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