Opposition. Copy the sketches and illustrations, enlarged. Design
straight‐line arrangements of mouldings, plaids and rectangular
panellings, Nos. 13, 18, 24. Find examples in nature, and draw in line,
with brush, pen or pencil without a border.
Transition. Copy the sketches, as before. Draw a bracket in straight line,
modifying into curved. Design corner ornaments for panels and book covers;
metal work for cabinet. No. 18. Find examples in nature and draw in line.
No. 18.
It is important in all such work to make a number of sketches from which
the best may be chosen.
3. SUBORDINATION. Neither of the foregoing principles is often found alone
as the basis of a single work. Transition in particular, usually serves to
harmonize the parts of a composition. The principle Subordination is a
great constructive idea not only in the space arts but in all the fine
arts:
To form a complete group the parts are attached or related to a single
dominating element which determines the character of the whole. A tree
trunk with its branches is a good type of this kind of harmony; unity
secured through the relation of principal and subordinate, even down to
the veinings of leaves—a multitude of parts organized into a simple whole.
This way of creating beauty is conspicuous in the perfect spacing and
line‐rhythm of Salisbury cathedral, St. Maclou of Rouen and the Taj Mahal;
in Piero della Francesca’s “Resurrection” and Millet’s “Goose‐girl”; in
some Byzantine design and Persian rugs (see pp. 58, 65, 98.)
[No 16. Subordination by Size]
It governs the distribution of masses in Dark‐and‐Light composition, and
of hues in Color schemes. It appears in poetry (the Odyssey for example)
in the subordination of all parts to the main idea of the subject. It is
used constructively in musical composition. Whenever unity is to be
evolved from complexity, confusion reduced to order, power felt—through
concentration, organization, leadership—then will be applied the creative
principle called here Subordination.
In Line Composition the arrangement by principal and subordinate may be
made in three ways, No. 16:
1. By grouping about an axis, as leaf relates to stem, branches to
trunk.
2. By radiation, as in flowers, the rosette, vault ribs, the anthemion.
3. By size, as in a group of mountain peaks, a cathedral with its spire
and pinnacles, tree clusters, or Oriental rug with centre and
border; p. 65.
Art‐interest in any of these lies in the fineness of relation. A throwing
together of large and small; mere geometric radiation; or conventional
branching can never be other than commonplace. A work of fine art
constructed upon the principle of Subordination has all its parts related
by delicate adjustments and balance of proportions, tone and color. A
change in one member changes the whole. No. 22.
To discover the meaning and the possibility of expression in this form of
corn‐position the student may work out a series of problems as suggested
in this