Today’s art post comes with a discussion question, are you psyched? Today I stumbled upon some fantastical European castle gardens. They are so similar and yet so different, and they reminded me of a principle I’ve encountered in some of my hat designs.
This is the Chateau de Villandry, displaying in the dizzying splendor of precise geometric design. I did not find any pictures that completely captured the sheer vastness of these gardens, but this one is nice.
Here you have the Gardens of Marqueyssac, displaying the magical harmony of of a seemingly random and varied design. This is also only a small part of the whole garden, and if you choose to look up some more images of it, make sure to find some night time ones. They are stunning.
I’ve found that pattern design has a spectrum of precision and spontaneity, and that spectrum is like a lance with two sharp ends. One the one hand, trying to make something perfectly straight, perfectly round, perfectly parallel, perfectly anything, is like a tiny dictatorship you created yourself. In contrast, if you’re going to make something look just slightly off kilter, it HAS to be perfectly precise lest it appear merely sloppy. And there is no turning the crank with a “random” balanced pattern, each piece must be considered and chosen. Which type of design do you prefer? Do you admire one over another? Which kind of patterns do you find in your home, on your clothes, around you accessories?