Formwork

“ Yet even here, if we look beneath the apparent freedom and informality, we find certain laws at work which seem to differ only in degree from the more definite and constructive control of line which we have been considering. In the first place, there are our direct impressions from nature; and, secondly, our conscious aims and efforts to express an idea in our minds. We have the same restricted and definite forms of language and materials in each case—line, form, space, brushes, pencil, colour, paper, canvas, or clay. ”

“ In his philosophy, form plays the most important part. Form is the significant feature of both objective existence and subjective thought. Matter and energy only denote reality, but form characterizes quality. Science traces form, and the nature of all things, the human character included, is constituted by form. ”

“ This is a difficult quality to define, but I should say it chiefly consists in a nice attention to the character of form, the elastic spring of curves, an understanding of the construction and proportions, and grasp of the effect. In designing we constantly feel the need of repeating certain masses with variations or balancing them by equivalents, or the necessity of leading up to certain main forms by subsidiary forms, and to carry out their lines in other parts of the composition. ”

“ Tradition in design may no doubt be largely attributed to the influence of the workshop, or what we should now call technical necessities, the use of certain tools and materials giving a certain character of their own in the rendering of form, as one may see even in the case of such a matter as quality of outline (important enough in all design) if we compare the differences between a form drawn with the pencil, the pen, with the brush, or with charcoal. ”

“ The quality of the surface left by the skilled artist or artisan is more regarded than symmetry of design, or even than correct modelling. Frequently only the important parts in a design are carefully finished and the rest merely sketched: the mode of working, whether by modelling-tools or hammer, being always left apparent. ”

“ When you get an abstract idea for a design or a [69] machine that you want to put in concrete form take a rule and compasses, pencil and paper and draw it out to scale, that is, make a drawing of it and mark the sizes, or dimensions, of each part just as it should be when the thing is done. ”

“ To this craft the present volume forms, I believe, an admirable introduction and text-book, not only on the side of workmanship, but also on that difficult subject, "design"—difficult, that is, from its having been so much discussed in books, yet entirely simple when approached, as here, as a necessary part of workmanship. It is fortunate that we have not as yet learned to bother our cooks as to which part of their work is designing and which is merely mechanical. ”

“ The tools are driven with a mallet or with the palm of the hand, but in most cases with the latter.
6. A capacity for designing, and a knowledge of drawing and modelling, are particularly necessary to make a finished carver. Without these qualifications, at least in some degree, one may be a mechanic, but not an artist. The subject most difficult of execution, is the human figure, and in producing it with accuracy, the same qualifications in the artist are required, and the same general process is pursued, as in producing it in marble. ”

“ Not form, however, for its own sake, for the purpose of rendering it in its logical and reasoned completeness or of exploiting the master’s efficiency in doing what every student aspires, and many can learn, to do; but form so felt, so rendered, that what we are made conscious of is not alone the physical sense of form, but its abstract significance; in a word, if I may say so, the soul of form, as from time to time it is used to interpret some one or other of the artist’s impressions. ”

“ The most minute instructions, detail by detail, cannot make a workman if Nature has denied these gifts. I have known men whose skill in working a design could not be excelled, but who could not be trusted to gild a back without instructions. Others, whose ideas of design were not contemptible, could not tool two panels of a back in perfect uniformity. Some also have so little idea of harmony of colour, that without strict supervision they would give every volume the coat of a harlequin. ”

“ The support, or skeleton, must of course be adapted to line with the pose of the figure, and should be of pipe and heavy wire or rods securely anchored to the base-plate.
The composition of flowers, fruit, foliage, animal life, and landscape is an inexhaustible one, and some beautiful effects can be had in flat-work. Good examples of this character of work may be found on all sides, and to the genius the field of modelling is a broad one—without limit. ”

“ The purpose to which the work is to be put usually decides the ground material, besides governing pattern, stitches, and everything else. A background is chosen, as a rule, to show to advantage and preserve what is to be placed upon it, though sometimes it is the other way about, and the pattern is planned to suit an already existing ground. ”

“ And, in the shop where metals are wrought cold (which, for want of a better name, we call our machine-shop) , every new exercise is like a delightful trip into a new field of thought and investigation. Every exercise, if properly conducted, is both mental and manual. Every tool used and every process followed has its history, its genesis, and its evolution. ”

“ In seeking forms to group together harmoniously—which is the whole object of composition—we shall find that much the same kind of principle holds good whether we are arranging a still-life group or designing a wall-paper or textile. It is only a difference of degree and scale. In the one case we are designing in the solid with the actual objects, before drawing or painting them as a harmonious pictorial composition ”

“ You want, for example, to embroider a rather large running ground pattern on a piece of stuff, that is relatively too small for the subject; or a small and rather minute pattern on a large surface on which it is likely to look, either too insignificant, or too crowded and confused and the chances are, if you do not know how to draw, you will either think it necessary to get a draughtsman to help you or you will give up the piece of work altogether, deterred by the difficulties that confront you. ”

“ When we have settled upon our quality of line and its degree—thick or thin, bold or fine—we shall be met with the question of emphasis, for upon this the ultimate effect and expression of our [55] drawing or design must largely depend. In the selection of any subject we should naturally be influenced by the attractiveness of particular parts, characters, or qualities it might possess, and we should direct our efforts towards bringing these out, as the things which impress us most. ”

“ And, having gleaned these few ordinarily accepted rules, you will probably find your next model will have arms too long, legs too short, and a nose disagreeing most profoundly with the length of the thumb. Nature is a law unto itself, and I bring these few suggestions to you with some misgivings.
If your eye insists that your model measures but five heads high, accept that as a fact. Very few human beings are correctly proportioned. ”

“ In designing, too, unless we can so contrive the essential characteristics of our pattern that they shall be adaptable to the method and material of its production, and make its reproduction quite practicable, it is sure to reappear more or less marred and incomplete. The thing is to discover what kind of character and beauty the method will allow of—whether beauty or quality of line, or surface, or colour, or material ”

“ There are a number of different styles of this joint and methods of fastening, which we will consider later in our work.
The working drawing shown in Fig. 64 gives the dimensions of the pieces, the material of which is to be worked out in one piece, as [Pg 53] directed in the previous exercise, and then cut up into lengths suitable for the exercise. The student should commence work on a piece with a full understanding of what is required to be done in order to finish the work as called for, and not try to make any kind of work do in order to proceed to the next task. ”

“ In high school the design is to be taught by special drawing teachers who have informed themselves of the limitations of the shop methods when it comes to applying these designs. It is for the shop instructor to specify the kind of joint or joints that are to be used and the material, also the limitations as to decoration. ”

“ Emphasis is on the overall effect of pattern, not on its items. The continuous forked-and-angled design, the combinations of hourglass figures, of spaced rhomboids or hexagons, even the simpler fishbone pattern—all have this total-field approach, with relative indifference to figure elements that got squeezed, stretched, or distorted. ”

“ The method above described is called "cutting in boards," and is superior to any other.
[pg 73]
It is of the utmost importance to the young workman that he should pursue and acquire a methodical system in all his operations. Select the best method, as a matter of course, and then adhere to it. Do not, every time you perform one particular process, do it in a different manner. For instance: in backing or in turning up your books, it is better to always have the head towards you; in cutting head and tail, to have the back nearest you. In laying your work down, always do it in one way. ”

“ Every kind of work in relief develops a species of compromise in the expression of form, lying somewhere between the representation of an object on a perfectly flat ground, as in a painting, and the complete realization of the same form, copied from nature in some solid material, without any background whatever. In proportion to the amount of actual projection from the background, of course the necessity diminishes for that kind of foreshortening which is obtained by delineation. ”

“ In familiarizing themselves with the case, the pupils may well begin the use of the job stick and the practice of properly holding it, by the use of large type, in setting up their names and such simple matter as they care to attempt, putting the type back again into the proper boxes. When simple composition is begun, it is thought best that each piece of work should run through the typical processes, setting up the type, emptying the stick, proofing, correcting, tying up, removing to the stone, locking up, and printing. ”

“ The mechanic and the artist, to do satisfactory work, must have a certain working outfit. The layout man is no exception; while he could perhaps manage with only a lead pencil and foot rule, it would be foolish to do so. His work will be expedited if he has an assortment of good crayons; hard, medium and soft lead pencils; a pair of shears, a T-square, a gelatine triangle, a type-line gage, a table for giving the number of words to an inch in the various size type bodies; and a library of books and periodicals on printing, especially of those showing examples of type designs. ”

“ We may conclude from this brief statement of the situation that it is desirable to organize and have courses in our manual training and mechanical drawing and that whatever system is adopted it must make allowance for emphasis upon both the thought element and upon skill. ”

“ In selecting type, a wide, clear, readable face is desirable, and it is best to select those faces which do not contain hair lines or complications which make it difficult to get a distinct impression, and which render the type less durable. It is rather unusual to see a shop sufficiently supplied with quads and spaces, and especially is this so where much of the work is widely spaced and where each line is treated as a paragraph, as in elementary matter. ”

“ The direction of line used in relieving forms, and expressing modelling and details, must depend much upon individual taste and feeling as well as knowledge of form. The element of beauty of design also comes in, and the question between this and force or literalness—the difference between a study or direct transcript from nature, and a design with a purely ornamental aim, or a composition directed mainly to the expression of a particular idea or emotion. ”

“ Certain forms seem to lend themselves to design in ornament better than others, because they give the designer certain lines and masses which can be harmoniously repeated or combined with other allied forms or lines. Design from this point of view becomes a search for analogies of form. ”

“ The deep-seated rhythms of growth which, as I venture to think, are the chief basis of morphological heredity, bring about similarities of form, which endure in the absence of conflicting forces; but a new system of forces, introduced by altered environment and habits, impinging on those particular parts of the fabric which lie within this particular field of force, will assuredly not be long of manifesting itself in notable and inevitable modifications of form. ”

“ This is not the moment to urge upon the needlewoman the study of design, but to urge upon the designer the study of stitches. Nothing is more impractical than to make a design without realising the labour involved in its execution. ”

“ The student should note at the outset of this topic the difference in meaning between the terms form and style: [Pg 63] A form is a plan for building a certain definite kind of composition, but a style is merely a manner of writing. Thus e.g., the fugue is a form—i.e., it is a plan, which although capable of variation in details, is yet carried out fairly definitely in every case; but counterpoint is merely a style or manner of writing (just as Gothic architecture is a style of building) , which may be cast into any one of several forms. ”