Illusion Effect And Expression In The Use Of Lines


107. We very often notice a room which has been carefully carried out but is utterly lacking in charm. The color seems right, and, considered in detail, the furniture and the furnishings are appropriate, but the room lacks effectiveness.



It is uninteresting.



It is like a doll face that is, perhaps, perfect in detail, but utterly devoid of expression.



The artist who paints a portrait is a failure without the ability to give expre

sion: hence in architecture the acute-angled spires or arched roofs have the same expression that the “long face” carries.



 



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If we smile, the mouth curves upward; if we grieve, the lines turn downward.





108. In festival decorations, joy is expressed by loops, curves and festoons.





109. In serious decorations (libraries, studies, church or office work) straight lines are used; curtains are gathered in plaits so that the sags and drapes are all out of them; they are drawn. It is the same when we say of a person: “He looks serious, his face is drawn; it is full of lines.”



110. The observation, “a broad smile on his face,” means literally just that; the lines extend outward and upward, giving an expression of breadth and joy to the countenance.



 





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