RERAMIC STUDIO 
63 
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN 
(Third Article.) 
Hugo Froehlich 
F a blot of ink is placed somewhere 
in a rectangle, (Fig. i) the atten- 
tion is immediately drawn to that 
blot. Although it be shapeless 
and unrelated to the rectangle, it 
has the power of attracting the 
eye. If another blot is added 
(Fig. 11), immediatelj^ a relation is 
set up between the two, the eye 
going from the larger to the smaller 
and returning to the larger, thereby producing movement as 
understood in a picture. A third spot (Fig. iii) increases the 
movement. The spots seem to bear some relation to each 
other, but as yet there is none between the blots and the back- 
ground shapes. However, with the addition of more blots 
(Fig. iv) this becomes apparent until in Fig. v a balance is felt, 
viz : the quantities of blots and background shapes are in such 
proportions as to produce a pleasurable sensation on the ej^e. 
This relation between the blots and the background depends 
largety on their position and contour, and as contour is another 
term for line, it is governed by the laws of line. The blots thus 
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far have been devoid of meaning, and j^et the mere distribution 
of them in such a way as to produce movement, main group, 
secondary groups, produces a kind of beaut^^ If, however, 
these spots are charged with meaning or if instead of being 
merely blots, they assume the shape of a flower (Fig. vi), the 
mass of a tree (Fig. vii) , their power to please increases im- 
measurabl3^ 
On the ability to spot a given space well depends the rich- 
ness of the work. So often a design or painting looks thin and 
washed out, which in most cases is due to the inequality of the 
Hght and dark shapes. 
Consider the "Landscape with Boat," by Corot (Fig. vii). 
The horizontal line, middle distance, farther shore line and 
action of the boat produce horizontal movements that are beau- 
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