187. In connection with the practice of Pure Design, as I have
described it,—the composition and arrangement of lines and spots of
paint; of tones, measures, and shapes: this in the modes of Harmony,
Balance, and Rhythm, for the sake of Order and in the hope of
Beauty,—the student should take up the study of Order in its three
modes, as revealed in Nature and achieved in Works of Art.
188. The method of study should be a combination of analysis with
synthetic reproduction. Taking any instance of Order, whether in
Nature or in some work of Art, the first thing to do is to consider
its terms,—its positions, its lines, its areas, its measure and
space-relations, its tones and tone-relations,—bringing every element
to separate and exact definition. The next thing to do is to note
every occurrence of Harmony, of Balance, of Rhythm,—every connection
making for consistency, unity, Order. In that way we shall get an exact
knowledge of the case. We shall know all the facts, so far as the
terms and the principles of Design are concerned. That is what I mean
by analysis. By a synthetic reproduction I mean a reproduction of the
effect or design, whatever it is, following the images which we have
in mind as the result of our analysis. The reproduction should be made
without reference to the effect or design which has been analyzed.
There should be no direct imitation, no copying. We must not depend
so much upon the memory as upon the imagination. Having reproduced
the effect or design in this way, following the suggestions of the
imagination, the reproduction should be brought into comparison with
the effect or design reproduced and the differences noted. Differences
should be carefully observed and the previous analysis should be
reviewed and reconsidered. When this is done another attempt at
reproduction should be made. This process should be repeated until the
effect or design is thoroughly understood and imaginatively grasped.
The evidence of understanding and comprehension will be seen in the
reproduction which is made, which ought to have an essential but not
a literal correspondence with the original. Analysis should precede;
synthesis should follow.
I hope, in another book or books, to be published later, to give some
examples of Order in natural objects or effects, also examples of
Order in Works of Art, with a careful analysis of each one, showing
how the points, lines, and areas, the measure and the space-relations,
the tones and tone-relations come together in the forms of Harmony,
Balance, and Rhythm, in the modes of Order, in instances of Beauty.
In the mean time, as the methods of analytic study and of synthetic
practice are clearly indicated in the preceding pages, the student who
has taken pains to understand what he has read will find himself well
prepared for the work. He can take up the study of Order in Nature and
of Design in Works of Art without further assistance.