The Teaching of Art Related to the Home Part 6

a.s.sume that the group to be taught is a ninth-grade cla.s.s in art related to the home. Very few members of the cla.s.s have had any previous art training and such training has consisted of some drawing and water-color work in the lower grades. Previous to this lesson, it is a.s.sumed that the teacher has developed the pupils' interest in the beauty to be seen and enjoyed in the everyday surroundings of their community, and has developed pupil ability to understand and to use a principle of proportion, namely, that _a shape is most pleasing when one side is about one and one-half times as long as the other_.

The establishment of the above principle has probably given the cla.s.s an opportunity to read of the Golden Oblong or the Greek Law of proportion in an art reference such as Goldstein's Art in Everyday Life. This will have served to further establish a feeling for interesting shape relationships and also will have made the pupils familiar with the term "proportion." The cla.s.s may or may not have developed an ability to recognize and use the principles of balance.

=Details of Lesson Procedure=

[Sidenote: Problems and questions to introduce the principle needed to solve this and many similar problems]

The first-aid room in the school is very bare and cheerless. Miss M., the school nurse, and Mr. B., the superintendent, have decided that some thin ruffled curtains at the two windows will soften the light and make the room more homelike. Miss M. has purchased some ready-made curtains and has asked if the cla.s.s would like to determine the best way to arrange the tie backs. "How many of you think that this is an art problem? Will it be helpful to us to know how to divide a window s.p.a.ce with curtains? Tie-back, ruffled curtains have been very much in vogue for some time. The models in the drapery departments and the ill.u.s.trated advertis.e.m.e.nts show a variety of methods to use. Since there is so much variation, how can we be sure that curtains are tied back in the most attractive way possible?"

[Sidenote: Use of ill.u.s.trative materials]

The curtains have been hung at the two windows in the first-aid room.

At one window the curtains are not tied back and come to the bottom of the casing, at the other one they are arranged in two other ways designated as A and B. By the A method the curtain is tied back exactly in half; by the B method it is tied back between one-half and two-thirds of the length. The initial question would probably be: "Which of these two arrangements, A and B, do you think contributes most to the appearance of the window?"

[Sidenote: Cla.s.s discussion]

Some of the cla.s.s will undoubtedly choose A. Their reasons for this choice may be as follows:

1. The uncurtained window s.p.a.ce is more or less diamond shaped.

2. The four sections of the curtains are almost exactly alike.

Others will choose B, and give such reasons as follows:

1. The window s.p.a.ce is less noticeable.

2. There is more variety in the curtains.

3. It is more interesting if the eye can travel down the longer part of the curtain and then come to rest at the part tied back.

These reasons will probably lead the majority of the cla.s.s to decide that B is more desirable than A.

At this time another arrangement designated as C may be introduced. For this, one curtain at the second window may now be tied back so near the sill that the two parts do not seem to be related. One designated as D may also be introduced, in which the arrangement is exactly like that of B, except that the curtains are tied back above the center instead of below.

A summary of the points which may be brought out by the cla.s.s on each arrangement of curtains follows:

[Sidenote: Summary of cla.s.s discussion]

A, in which the curtains are divided exactly in half, is not interesting for a very long time because--

1. The divisions on each side as well as above and below the tie backs are all alike.

2. It leaves too much of the window exposed.

3. The window s.p.a.ce exposed does not follow the lines of the window.

4. The arrangement becomes tiresome the longer one looks at it.

5. One's curiosity is quickly satisfied when it is obvious that the two areas are exactly alike.

B, in which the curtains are tied back between one-half and two-thirds of the length and below the center continues to be interesting because--

1. The two sides are alike, but the top half is not exactly like the bottom half. This variation makes it more pleasing.

2. Although the top half of each side is larger than the bottom half, it does not look top-heavy because the tying back of the curtain gives a place for the eye to rest. It holds the same amount of attention as the long length of curtain above it.

C, in which the tie backs are placed at a point below three-quarters the length of the curtain, is not interesting for any length of time because--

1. The eye travels very far down the length of the window, then is suddenly interrupted by the tie back.

2. This arrangement is top-heavy.

3. The window s.p.a.ce is not pleasing.

D is exactly the reverse of B, so it is equally interesting.

[Sidenote: Further use of ill.u.s.trative material]

"Suppose we now look at these curtained windows from the outside. Do you think that the arrangements which we decided are most pleasing from the inside are equally pleasing from the outside?"

After examining the arrangements of curtains at the windows the pupils may be led to decide that B and D continue to be the most pleasing.

"Since we are now agreed that in B and D the tie-backs divide the curtains so that the s.p.a.ces are most pleasing, would you like to determine just where the division comes in each of the curtains?" Some of the members of the cla.s.s will be eager to take the measurements and report on them. They will find that in--

[Sidenote: Cla.s.s determines best division of s.p.a.ce]

A the division is exactly in the center of the length.

B the division comes at a point between one-half and two-thirds of the length.

C the division comes at a point more than three-quarters of the length.

D the division comes at a point between one-half and two-thirds of the length.

At this point it will be well to direct the attention of the cla.s.s to the possibility of s.p.a.ce division in other places. "Do you think that there are s.p.a.ces, other than windows, which could be satisfactorily divided according to the same measurements?" Members of the cla.s.s may suggest panels in doors, divisions in dress, and the like.

"Marie is making a plain one-piece dress. The narrow belt is to be of the same material. Where would be the best place for her to place the belt?" Try placing a belt on a plain one-piece dress or provide three tracings of such a dress with the belt placed as follows:

In one the belt divides the dress in two equal parts.

In the second the belt is placed so the skirt is a little longer than the waist.

In the third the belt is placed at normal waistline. (With a long skirt this makes the skirt very much longer than the waist.)

Measurements may again be taken and compared with the divisions of the window. The cla.s.s may be led to decide that a plain dress is divided best by a belt which comes some place a little above or below the center of the total length.

[Sidenote: Cla.s.s develops statement of principle for good proportion]