Owen's next to the last bit of design advice:
PROPOSITION 36: The principles discoverable in the works of the past belong to us; not so the results. It is taking the end for the means.
Surprised?
I know I was....More......
Looking at the works commended in his Grammar of Ornament, which takes examples from countries all over the world and all across the ages, I wouldn't have expected this.
No mere copying-and-pasting design elements for our Owen, however. No historical pastiches, and they were plentiful during his day, no Neo-Gothic, no Neo-Renaissance, no Neo-Classicism, no Neo-Orientalism, no! no! no!
Then again, maybe I should have expected it.
It rings true to his exhortation about studying nature:
adopt the principles, abhore superficial copying.
If you think about it, it doesn't just cut one way.
Like a two-edged sword, for those loving modernism the implied exhortation is just as strong:
don't turn your nose up at works of the past just because they are "old"; they, too, should be studied in order to distill and profit from their accomplishments.
The farsightedness and continued usefulness of his advice continues to astound me.
Showing posts with label Photoless Friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photoless Friday. Show all posts
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Photoless Friday: Owen Jones countdown
Only a few more of Owen Jones' precious design principles still left to ponder.
PROPOSITION 35: Imitations, such as the graining of woods, and of the various coloured marbles, [are] allowable only, when the employment of the thing imitated would not have been inconsistent.
huh?...More......
It's easier to understand if you take out the double negative:
PROPOSITION 35: Imitations, such as the graining of woods, and of the various coloured marbles, [are] allowable only, when the employment of the thing imitated would have been consistent.
In other words, in Jones' opinion, artists and architects should use materials, or their imitations, only where they make logical sense.
Today, I think most artists and architects would be more eager to "push the envelope" than this might seem to encourage, but, for all his seemingly hard and fast rules, Jones encouraged keeping true to the principles, not the surface details, of nature.
If we want structure of any kind to seem sturdy, then the materials, or their representations, must seem able to support the "weight" in whatever form it is.
It also means that the contrary is true. If we want to encourage a sense of disorientation, or incapacity, or..., or..., or..., then the structure will be out of materials, or their representations, that do not seem to support the weight.
Klee's twittering machines just sprung to mind.
PROPOSITION 35: Imitations, such as the graining of woods, and of the various coloured marbles, [are] allowable only, when the employment of the thing imitated would not have been inconsistent.
huh?...More......
It's easier to understand if you take out the double negative:
PROPOSITION 35: Imitations, such as the graining of woods, and of the various coloured marbles, [are] allowable only, when the employment of the thing imitated would have been consistent.
In other words, in Jones' opinion, artists and architects should use materials, or their imitations, only where they make logical sense.
Today, I think most artists and architects would be more eager to "push the envelope" than this might seem to encourage, but, for all his seemingly hard and fast rules, Jones encouraged keeping true to the principles, not the surface details, of nature.
If we want structure of any kind to seem sturdy, then the materials, or their representations, must seem able to support the "weight" in whatever form it is.
It also means that the contrary is true. If we want to encourage a sense of disorientation, or incapacity, or..., or..., or..., then the structure will be out of materials, or their representations, that do not seem to support the weight.
Klee's twittering machines just sprung to mind.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Photoless Friday (a handful of Owen Jones)
Photoless Friday...yeah! For the first time in quite awhile. I'm wanting to be done with this list, though, as interesting as it is and as helpful as it will be, of Owen Jones' design principles, and get to the designing together with you, so here are...More......
...a handful of them all about separating foreground from background:
"PROPOSITION 29: When ornaments in a colour are on a ground of a contasting colour, the ornament should be separated from the ground by an edging of lighter colour; as a red flower on a green ground should have an edging of lighter red.
PROPOSITION 30: When ornaments in a colour are on a gold ground, the ornaments should be separated from the ground by an edging of a darker colour.
PROPOSITION 31: Gold ornaments on any coloured ground should be outlined with black.
PROPOSITION 32: Ornaments of any colour may be separated from grounds of any other colour by edgings of white, gold, or black.
PROPOSITION 33: Ornaments in any color, or in gold, may be used on white or black grounds, without outline or edging.
PROPOSITION 34: In 'self-tints,' tones, or shades of the same colour, a light tint on a dark ground may be used without outline; but a dark ornament on a light ground requires to be outlined with a still darker tint."
Enjoy!
...a handful of them all about separating foreground from background:
"PROPOSITION 29: When ornaments in a colour are on a ground of a contasting colour, the ornament should be separated from the ground by an edging of lighter colour; as a red flower on a green ground should have an edging of lighter red.
PROPOSITION 30: When ornaments in a colour are on a gold ground, the ornaments should be separated from the ground by an edging of a darker colour.
PROPOSITION 31: Gold ornaments on any coloured ground should be outlined with black.
PROPOSITION 32: Ornaments of any colour may be separated from grounds of any other colour by edgings of white, gold, or black.
PROPOSITION 33: Ornaments in any color, or in gold, may be used on white or black grounds, without outline or edging.
PROPOSITION 34: In 'self-tints,' tones, or shades of the same colour, a light tint on a dark ground may be used without outline; but a dark ornament on a light ground requires to be outlined with a still darker tint."
Enjoy!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Photoless Friday (28): What else? More Owen Jones!
Hi, there! It's photoless Friday, again, already! Yup! More great design advice from Owen Jones!
PROPOSITION 28: [color, cont.] Colours should never be allowed to impinge upon each other.
What do you think he meant by that?
When we're done contemplating his design advice, we'll examine it, and try out some examples.
Enjoy!
PROPOSITION 28: [color, cont.] Colours should never be allowed to impinge upon each other.
What do you think he meant by that?
When we're done contemplating his design advice, we'll examine it, and try out some examples.
Enjoy!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Photoless Friday (27): back to good ol' Owen Jones and his great design advice
More great design advice from Owen Jones...and the proposition numbers are back in sync with the Photoless Friday numbers...a small silly tidy thrill:
PROPOSITION 27: [color, cont.] Black grounds suffer when opposed to colours which give a luminous complementary.
PROPOSITION 27: [color, cont.] Black grounds suffer when opposed to colours which give a luminous complementary.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Photoless Friday (26) and StitchPainter: a break from Owen Jones (whew!)
Maybe you'd like a bit of a break from all that wonderful design advice coming from Owen Jones' "Grammar of Ornament," so I thought I'd give you two hints about other sources for help and inspiration that are related to the StitchPainter program I use....More......
The company, which--for you sewers--also makes GarmentDesigner, is called "Cochenille Design Studio," and it has a web site, a blog and a discussion group.
Web site: http://www.cochenille.com/
Blog: http://cochenilledesignstudio.blogspot.com/ (Very kindly, they have included my "Ars acupicturae stellae" tweets in their tweet box.)
Discussion group (in Yahoo Groups): DesignerSchool. I'd particularly like to encourage all of you doing hand-done cross-stitch and needlepoint to buy their marvelous program, and join in the discussion because--remembering that I get no kick-backs of any kind for any mention of any products--I'm almost the only StitchPainter person in that group, and I'm lonely! Everyone talks about GarmentDesigner (and it makes me want to take up sewing, again), but I'd like a little needlepoint company!
Hope to be seeing you, soon, in the discussion group!
The company, which--for you sewers--also makes GarmentDesigner, is called "Cochenille Design Studio," and it has a web site, a blog and a discussion group.
Web site: http://www.cochenille.com/
Blog: http://cochenilledesignstudio.blogspot.com/ (Very kindly, they have included my "Ars acupicturae stellae" tweets in their tweet box.)
Discussion group (in Yahoo Groups): DesignerSchool. I'd particularly like to encourage all of you doing hand-done cross-stitch and needlepoint to buy their marvelous program, and join in the discussion because--remembering that I get no kick-backs of any kind for any mention of any products--I'm almost the only StitchPainter person in that group, and I'm lonely! Everyone talks about GarmentDesigner (and it makes me want to take up sewing, again), but I'd like a little needlepoint company!
Hope to be seeing you, soon, in the discussion group!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Photoless Friday (25):...yup...Owen Jones on color!
More thought-provoking design advice from Owen Jones'"The Grammar of Ornament":
PROPOSITION 26: [color, cont.] Colours on white grounds appear darker; on black grounds lighter.
Ponder and enjoy!
PROPOSITION 26: [color, cont.] Colours on white grounds appear darker; on black grounds lighter.
Ponder and enjoy!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Photoless Friday (24):...you guessed it...more Owen Jones on color
We're heading into the home stretch, really we are!
Here is the next design advice snippet from Owen Jones' "Grammar of Ornament":
PROPOSITION 25: [color, cont.] When two different colours are juxtaposed, they receive a double modification; first, as to their tone (the light colour appearing lighter, and the dark colour appearing darker); secondly, as to their hue, each will become tinged with the complementary colour of the other.
When we finish going through them all, and you've had time to think about each of them and "digest" them, we'll try some designing experiments together.
'Til the next Photoless Friday...Enjoy!
Here is the next design advice snippet from Owen Jones' "Grammar of Ornament":
PROPOSITION 25: [color, cont.] When two different colours are juxtaposed, they receive a double modification; first, as to their tone (the light colour appearing lighter, and the dark colour appearing darker); secondly, as to their hue, each will become tinged with the complementary colour of the other.
When we finish going through them all, and you've had time to think about each of them and "digest" them, we'll try some designing experiments together.
'Til the next Photoless Friday...Enjoy!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Photoless Friday (23): More...Owen Jones (surprise!)
More Owen Jones...surprise!
We're working our way through what I consider to be the more important snippets of great design advice found in his "Grammar of Ornament." (He should have asked me to edit this list before he published it, there's some repetition, only I would have had to have been born more than a hundred years earlier, and my parents hadn't met, yet.)
Today's snippet is:
PROPOSITION 24: [color, cont.] When two tones of the same colour are juxtaposed, the light colour will appear lighter, and the dark colour darker.
We're working our way through what I consider to be the more important snippets of great design advice found in his "Grammar of Ornament." (He should have asked me to edit this list before he published it, there's some repetition, only I would have had to have been born more than a hundred years earlier, and my parents hadn't met, yet.)
Today's snippet is:
PROPOSITION 24: [color, cont.] When two tones of the same colour are juxtaposed, the light colour will appear lighter, and the dark colour darker.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Photoless Friday (20): More Owen Jones (out of chronological order, to get us back on track...)
We were up to the published Photoless Friday note n. 22, and the "label" number wasn't tallying.
Hunting here and there, I finally realized that I had skipped n. 20! Sorry!
So, here's more Owen Jones (what else?) on color (what else?), to get us back on track...thanks for your patience!
PROPOSITION 23: [color, cont.] No composition can ever be perfect in which any one of the three primary colours is wanting, either in its natural state or in combination.
Hunting here and there, I finally realized that I had skipped n. 20! Sorry!
So, here's more Owen Jones (what else?) on color (what else?), to get us back on track...thanks for your patience!
PROPOSITION 23: [color, cont.] No composition can ever be perfect in which any one of the three primary colours is wanting, either in its natural state or in combination.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Photoless Friday (22): more...quess what?!...Owen Jones!
More color advice from Owen Jones (don't get frightened, we're back to the intelligible stuff):
PROPOSITION 22: [color, cont.] The various colours should be so blended that the objects coloured, when viewed at a distance, should present a neutralized bloom.
PROPOSITION 22: [color, cont.] The various colours should be so blended that the objects coloured, when viewed at a distance, should present a neutralized bloom.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Photoless Friday (21): More Owen Jones (this one's a mouthful...hang in there!)
Workin' so hard, would so love to chat and "digest" together with you these great design hints from Owen Jones, but that will have to wait 'til the work load lightens up. For now, here's a whalloping big snatch of his complicated color advice...More......
The other indications about color are easier to understand. These snippets are hard on the brain, but we'd might as well get them out of the way, so we can continue our tour through his advice.
At the end, we'll try to make some sense of what he's told us, and try using it, ourselves, together.
Are your seatbelts fastened? Here goes...!
PROPOSITION 18: (Field’s Chromatic equivalents) The primaries of equal intensities will harmonise or neutralize each other, in the proportions of 3 yellow, 5 red, and 8 blue – integrally as 16. The secondaries in the proportions of 8 orange, 13 purple, 11 green – integrally as 32. The tertiaries, citrine (compound of orange and green), 19; russet (orange and purple), 21; olive (green and purple), 24; -- integrally as 64. It follows that, -- each secondary being a compound of two primaries is neutralized by the remaining primary in the same proportions: thus, 8 of orange by 8 of blue, 11 green by 5 of red, 13 of purple by 3 of yellow. Each tertiary being a binary compound of two secondaries, is neutralized by the remaining secondary: as, 24 of olive by 8 of orange, 21 of russet by 11 of green, 19 of citrine by 13 of purple.
PROPOSITION 19: [color, cont.] The above supposes the colours to be used in their prismatic intensities, but each colour has a variety of tones when mixed with white, or of shades when mixed with grey or black. When a full colour is contrasted with another of a lower tone, the volume of the latter must be proportionally increased.
PROPOSITION 20: [color, cont.] Each colour has a variety of hues, obtained by admixture with other colors, in addition to white, gray, or black: thus we have of yellow, -- orange-yellow on the one side, and lemon yellow on the other; so of red, -- scarlet-red, and crimson-red; and of each varity of tone and shade. When a primary tinged with another primary is contrasted with a secondary, the secondary must have a hue of the third primary.
PROPOSITION 21: [color, cont.] In using the primary colours on moulded surfaces, we should place blue, which retires, on the concave surfaces; yellow, which advances, on the convex; and red, the intermediate colour, on the undersides; separating the colors by white on the vertical planes. When the proportions required by Proposition 18 cannot be obtained, we may procure the balance by a change in the colours themselves: thus, if the surfaces to be coloured should give too much yellow, we should make the red more crimson and the blue more purple, -- i.e., we should take the yellow out of them; so if the surfaces should give too much blue, we should make the yellow more orange and the red more scarlet.
Ouch! (The rest of his hints are more straight forward, like the first ones we have seen, so don't worry!)
Back atcha' later, enjoy!
The other indications about color are easier to understand. These snippets are hard on the brain, but we'd might as well get them out of the way, so we can continue our tour through his advice.
At the end, we'll try to make some sense of what he's told us, and try using it, ourselves, together.
Are your seatbelts fastened? Here goes...!
PROPOSITION 18: (Field’s Chromatic equivalents) The primaries of equal intensities will harmonise or neutralize each other, in the proportions of 3 yellow, 5 red, and 8 blue – integrally as 16. The secondaries in the proportions of 8 orange, 13 purple, 11 green – integrally as 32. The tertiaries, citrine (compound of orange and green), 19; russet (orange and purple), 21; olive (green and purple), 24; -- integrally as 64. It follows that, -- each secondary being a compound of two primaries is neutralized by the remaining primary in the same proportions: thus, 8 of orange by 8 of blue, 11 green by 5 of red, 13 of purple by 3 of yellow. Each tertiary being a binary compound of two secondaries, is neutralized by the remaining secondary: as, 24 of olive by 8 of orange, 21 of russet by 11 of green, 19 of citrine by 13 of purple.
PROPOSITION 19: [color, cont.] The above supposes the colours to be used in their prismatic intensities, but each colour has a variety of tones when mixed with white, or of shades when mixed with grey or black. When a full colour is contrasted with another of a lower tone, the volume of the latter must be proportionally increased.
PROPOSITION 20: [color, cont.] Each colour has a variety of hues, obtained by admixture with other colors, in addition to white, gray, or black: thus we have of yellow, -- orange-yellow on the one side, and lemon yellow on the other; so of red, -- scarlet-red, and crimson-red; and of each varity of tone and shade. When a primary tinged with another primary is contrasted with a secondary, the secondary must have a hue of the third primary.
PROPOSITION 21: [color, cont.] In using the primary colours on moulded surfaces, we should place blue, which retires, on the concave surfaces; yellow, which advances, on the convex; and red, the intermediate colour, on the undersides; separating the colors by white on the vertical planes. When the proportions required by Proposition 18 cannot be obtained, we may procure the balance by a change in the colours themselves: thus, if the surfaces to be coloured should give too much yellow, we should make the red more crimson and the blue more purple, -- i.e., we should take the yellow out of them; so if the surfaces should give too much blue, we should make the yellow more orange and the red more scarlet.
Ouch! (The rest of his hints are more straight forward, like the first ones we have seen, so don't worry!)
Back atcha' later, enjoy!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Photoless Friday (19): still workin' on Owen Jones
Still working our way through Owen Jones' design advice:
PROPOSITION 17: The primary colours should be used on the upper portions of objects, the secondary and tertiary on the lower.
PROPOSITION 17: The primary colours should be used on the upper portions of objects, the secondary and tertiary on the lower.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Photoless Friday (18): still working our way through important design thoughts to ponder in Owen Jones' book
"PROPOSITION 16: These object[ive]s are best attained by the use of the primary colours on small surfaces and in small quantities, balanced and supported by the secondary and tertiary colours on the larger masses."
Friday, June 17, 2011
Photoless Friday (17): guess what? (More Owen Jones!)
Can't beat the design advice of Owen Jones:
"PROPOSITION 14: Colour is used to assist in the development of form, and to distinguish objects or parts of objects one from another."
Verrrrrrry Venetian in origin, as opposed to the Florentine tradition emphasizing drawing. There's plenty of that in Owen's writing, too!
"PROPOSITION 14: Colour is used to assist in the development of form, and to distinguish objects or parts of objects one from another."
Verrrrrrry Venetian in origin, as opposed to the Florentine tradition emphasizing drawing. There's plenty of that in Owen's writing, too!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Photoless Friday (16): surprise, surprise, more Owen Jones
Here it is, Photoless Friday, already.
Time for more Owen Jones...More......
PROPOSITION 13: Flowers or other natural objects should not be used as ornaments, but conventional representations founded upon them sufficiently suggestive to convey the intended image to the mind, without destroying the unity of the object they are employed to decorate. Universally obeyed in the best periods of Art, equally violated when Art declines. [Jones’ cursive]
Huh?
Yeah, I know, his old-time language is sometimes a bit impenetrable.
Here, the meaning is simple: draw inspiration from nature, stylize (don't copy) it, and certainly don't make it into a merely decorative motif.
My spin? Try to adapt the idea to the medium and the project's end goals.
Time for more Owen Jones...More......
PROPOSITION 13: Flowers or other natural objects should not be used as ornaments, but conventional representations founded upon them sufficiently suggestive to convey the intended image to the mind, without destroying the unity of the object they are employed to decorate. Universally obeyed in the best periods of Art, equally violated when Art declines. [Jones’ cursive]
Huh?
Yeah, I know, his old-time language is sometimes a bit impenetrable.
Here, the meaning is simple: draw inspiration from nature, stylize (don't copy) it, and certainly don't make it into a merely decorative motif.
My spin? Try to adapt the idea to the medium and the project's end goals.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Photoless Friday (15): more Owen Jones
What wonderful design advice for harmonious fulfilling designs. Here's another nugget from Owen Jones' "Grammar of Ornament":
PROPOSITION 12: All junctions of curved lines with curved or of curved lines with straight should be tangential to each other. Natural law. Oriental practice in accordance with it. [Jones’ cursive]
PROPOSITION 12: All junctions of curved lines with curved or of curved lines with straight should be tangential to each other. Natural law. Oriental practice in accordance with it. [Jones’ cursive]
Friday, May 13, 2011
Photoless Friday 14: More Owen Jones
"PROPOSITION 11: In surface decoration all lines should flow out of a parent stem. Every ornament, however distant, should be traced to its branch and root. Oriental practice." [The cursive is Jones’.]
Friday, May 6, 2011
Photoless Friday (13): More Owen Jones, Proposition 10
Love that Owen Jones. For this Photoless Friday, here's his
PROPOSITION 10: Harmony of form consists in the proper balancing and contrast of the straight, the inclined, and the curved.
The origin of his principles in nature are so evident, here.
Often I see what I consider successful design, I see his ideas of harmony and balance.
PROPOSITION 10: Harmony of form consists in the proper balancing and contrast of the straight, the inclined, and the curved.
The origin of his principles in nature are so evident, here.
Often I see what I consider successful design, I see his ideas of harmony and balance.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Photoless Friday (12): More Owen Jones
Friday, again, already. VERY busy with special dinner preparations (if desired, follow the progress on my blog dedicated to Milan: http://mymilanitaly.blogspot.com/2011/04/photoless-friday-11-preparations-and.html).
Can't linger, but couldn't turn up the opportunity to share another gem from Owen Jones with you, either. This one is his "Proposition 9":...More......
"PROPOSITION 9: As in every perfect work of Architecture a true proportion will be found to reign between all the members which compose it, so throughout the Decorative Arts every assemblage of forms should be arranged on certain definite proportions; the whole and each particular member should be a multiple of some simple unit. Those proportions will be the most beautiful which it will be most difficult for the eye to detect. Thus the proportion of a double square, or 4 to 8, will be less beautiful than the more subtle ration of 5 to 8; 3 to 6; than 3 to 7; 3 to 9; 3 to 4; than 3 to 5."
Hey, mathematicians out there...is he talking about the Golden Mean (approximately 2/3 to the whole)?
Can't linger, but couldn't turn up the opportunity to share another gem from Owen Jones with you, either. This one is his "Proposition 9":...More......
"PROPOSITION 9: As in every perfect work of Architecture a true proportion will be found to reign between all the members which compose it, so throughout the Decorative Arts every assemblage of forms should be arranged on certain definite proportions; the whole and each particular member should be a multiple of some simple unit. Those proportions will be the most beautiful which it will be most difficult for the eye to detect. Thus the proportion of a double square, or 4 to 8, will be less beautiful than the more subtle ration of 5 to 8; 3 to 6; than 3 to 7; 3 to 9; 3 to 4; than 3 to 5."
Hey, mathematicians out there...is he talking about the Golden Mean (approximately 2/3 to the whole)?
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