For from a good piece
of design you can take away nothing, nor can you add anything to
it, each little bit of design being as absolutely necessary and as
vitally important to the whole effect as a note or chord of music
is for a sonata of Beethoven.
But I said the effect of its being so filled, because this, again,
is of the essence of good design. With a simple spray of leaves
and a bird in flight a Japanese artist will give you the impression
that he has completely covered with lovely design the reed fan or
lacquer cabinet at which he is working, merely because he knows the
exact spot in which to place them. All good design depends on the
texture of the utensil used and the use you wish to put it to. One
of the first things I saw in an American school of design was a
young lady painting a romantic moonlight landscape on a large round
dish, and another young lady covering a set of dinner plates with a
series of sunsets of the most remarkable colours. Let your ladies
paint moonlight landscapes and sunsets, but do not let them paint
them on dinner plates or dishes. Let them take canvas or paper for
such work, but not clay or china.
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