It has been suggested previously that handling dyes would be a more valuable experience to girls than using paints or water colors. However, to insure success, dyes of standard quality should be selected and carefully prepared. Soft water has been found best for most dyes. A soft, loosely woven material without dressing is typical of the fabrics that are most frequently dyed at home and may well be used at school. Carefully dyed yard or half-yard lengths of cheese cloth have been found valuable in supplementing other fabrics in the study of color. The experience girls gain in mixing and handling the dyes for these short length pieces has been deemed by some teachers as far more valuable than that gained through making flat washes for a color chart as a means of understanding colors and their relationships.
Much time is usually lost in having pupils attempt to mix paints for flat washes for the various hues of color charts. The purpose of making color charts is to provide the girls with a guide for recognizing and combining colors. Many teachers have found that a more successful method is to have the pupils arrange colored fabrics or papers in the order of their hue relationship. It has not been considered necessary for each pupil to do this, since the ability to recognize hues and their relationships may be equally well achieved through working in groups. A large chart of standard hues provided by the teacher will be valuable in developing understanding of color.
13. Weaving.—This problem requires a loom, and for the small amount of weaving that should be done in school and in view of future needs, the teacher is seldom justified in asking for such a piece of equipment.
Book ends, trays, and candlesticks are essential articles from the standpoint of utility and well-selected ones are valuable as illustrative material in the development of good judgment in their selection and arrangement. When these articles are used as laboratory problems, special care should be taken to avoid placing the emphasis upon decoration.
There are no doubt other problems that may be used successfully. However, only those should be chosen that will supplement the art training advantageously and that will measure up to the five suggested standards on pages [47-48], which, stated in more specific terms, are—
1. Every article should require a relatively small amount of time and few repetitive practices.
2. Every article should be evaluated in terms of its relation to use and surroundings and chosen for a specific place.
3. Every article should meet the fundamental requirements of good design.
4. Decoration, if any is used, should make a lasting contribution rather than a temporary appeal.
5. All problems should require only that technique which can be achieved successfully by the pupils.