Born: 24th March 1834
Departed: 3rd October 1896 (62 years old)
Nationality: English
Occupation: Textile designer, artist, designer, socialist
Known for: Tapestry, stained glass, wallpaper, textile design
Tapestry
Title: The woodpecker
Year: 1877
Description: Inspired by the legend of Picus, an ancient Italian king turned into a woodpecker by the sorceress Circe because of her jealousy of the king's love for his wife.
Element
Line
-Curvy lines (not straight) , shading which provides a 3-D effect
-Thin and smooth
Colour
-Tertiary colours :yellow orange, violet blue
Shape
-Organic shape (flowing and curving appearance)
-Curvilinear
-Ornate: decorated elaborately, flowery, excessively ornamented
Direction
-Oblique: Shows movement
Texture
-Physical / Visual: smooth but not flat as the swipes of colours used to shade gives it a 3-D texture.
Value
-Tone: not much of tonal contrast.
Principle of design
Repetition/ variation
Contrast
-Not much contrast hence it doesn't destroy the unity of the art work.
Dominance
-Direction and shape not dominating / size is dominating
Title: Heraldic Unicorn
Year: Unavailable
Description: The Unicorn is a mythical animal symbol of purity and grace, strolls in a forest.
Element
Line
-Angular lines , curvy lines, shading provides a 3-D effect
-Angular lines- provides structure and strength
-Curvy lines: Show movement and grace
Colour
-Primary colours- red, yellow, blue
-Secondary colours - Green, orange, blue
Shape
-Organic shape (usually used for natural landscape ie. leaves, animals, flowers, pond)
-Ornate – decorated elaborately, flowery, depicts a forest
Direction
-Oblique - Shows movement (unicorn, ripple)
Texture
-Physical / Visual – smooth , shading provides a 3-D texture (forest)
Value
-Tone- not much of sharp difference between dark and light areas as it is not highly saturated.
Principle of design
Repetition/ variation
-both present (variation provides individual character)
Contrast
-Not much contrast hence it doesn't destroy the unity of the art work.
Dominance
-No dominance: makes it less confusing
Stained Glass
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| Incorporated religion into his art work. Design: Oblique |
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| Shows 48 drawings related to his religion Christianity |
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| Incorporated subtleness with religion, culture and belief in angels Texture: smooth, Direction: oblique |
Why I choose William Morris
Being a deep thinker, and a major in psychology, I can very well relate to his idea of expressing himself through his art work.
He let out untapped emotions through his art work in various ways, from mind blowing to subtle art work
He brought back a spark to the textile art industry : designs on his tapestry and wallpapers expressed his individualism as he was a nature lover. (incorporated plants, animals and especially birds.
His art work was a depiction of his thoughts and situations that was at his interest. For example :-
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Title: The Temptation of St. Anthony
Description: supernatural temptation reportedly faced by Saint Anthony the great in the Egyptian desert.
Tiles
The William Morris Tile: He hand painted on the porch tiles for his first married house.
He became more ornate and started painting "Story Tiles" Cinderella   Sleeping Beauty   Beauty and the beast   Location: London |
