Choose a textile of the best period, say Italian of the XVth or XVIth
century; copy or trace the line and play upon this several notan‐schemes
of two values. You will at once discover how superb the spacing is in
these designs, but your main thought is the creation of new dark‐and‐light
ideas upon the fine old pattern; p. 65.
The Oriental rug affords an excellent line‐scheme for practice in notan.
As composition it is a combination of two principles: Subordination and
Repetition. Copying a part or the whole of some good rug—in line and
color—is the best way to become aquainted with the spacing, motives and
quality. Then design a rug with border and centre, the shapes to be pure
inventions or symbols. Border and centre must differ, and there are many
ways of doing this even in two values, for instance: Border: Black figures
on white ground. Centre: White figures on black ground. Border: White
figures on black ground. Centre: Black figures on white ground. Border:
Small figures. Centre: One large figure. The illustrations, pp. 65, 66,
give some idea of the possibilities of tone‐composition in textiles and
rugs. The exercise points to one good way of using museum collections and
art books.
[No. 47.]