Scotch Plaids.
Long, long years ago, before the days of kings and queens, people lived together in great families or tribes. In Scotland these tribes were called clans, and the sign or badge of a clan was shown in the tartan plaid. This was a heavy piece of woolen cloth worn over the shoulders, as a protection from the weather. A sort of skirt, called a kilt, was made from the same plaid, and this costume was worn by both men and women of the clans in the Highlands of Scotland. The tartans were woven in bright colors, forming designs like those at the top of this page. They were often very beautiful in their arrangement of spaces and colors. Each different design received a name from the clan that wore it. Those at the top of this page are the Gordon and the Logan or MacLennan tartans.
Copy in colors some good plaid design, that you can find in ginghams, in silk, or in woolen cloth.
A Stained Glass Window.
Some stained glass windows are as beautiful to look at as fine paintings. Their rich colors glow with light, and they show an interesting variety and arrangement of shapes. They are usually made of colored glass, held together by lead grooves. These are represented in the design on this page by the heavy black lines.
You can make with water-colors an effect very much like stained glass. With pencil, draw an oblong ten inches long and about seven inches wide. Within this, draw another oblong, for the central piece of glass. The size of this inner oblong you must determine for yourself. Remember that its size fixes the width of the border. In the border space, draw some simple straight line design. Paint the smaller oblong, by wetting its surface evenly, and dropping in red, yellow, and blue. Let the colors blend as they will, and use the brush to carry color to the edges of the oblong. When this is dry, paint the shapes in the border in flat washes of any two colors. Last of all, paint strong, black lead lines.