The art of decorating life, or What is a pattern

A person is intrinsic to appreciate the beautiful, and he has always sought to bring him into his life. To do this, simple everyday objects were applied to repeated points and lines, and then more complex patterns and ornaments. From ancient times to our days many centuries have passed, but today drawings with a repetitive rhythm surround us and decorate our house and clothes. What is a pattern and ornament, what are they like and what are the differences between them? We will try to answer all these questions.

Pattern - what is it?

It should immediately be noted that the word "pattern" appeared in the Russian language much earlier than the "ornament" borrowed from Latin. And, trying to emphasize the decorative function, the pattern was called "jewelery". So, what is a pattern?

This is a drawing in which colors, lines and shadows, interwoven, create an image. It can be created not only by man: nature demonstrates its capabilities on a daily basis, it is enough to recall the stunning frosty patterns on the windows.

Thus, to answer the question about what a pattern is, you can do this: it's a drawing, parts of which can be arranged arbitrarily. Once the elements of the pattern are arranged and systematized, an ornament appears.

Ornament

The concept of "ornament", in the original designating the decoration, having got into the Russian language, acquired a somewhat different meaning. Today, ornamentation means a pattern built from rhythmically repeating motifs or elements in a certain order. Ornaments and patterns are used to decorate various objects and clothes, internal and external decoration of various buildings and even the human body in the form of tattoos.

And why are they needed?

For centuries, mankind has created and used patterns and ornaments, not only to decorate their everyday life. In many cultures of the peoples of the world it is believed that special decorative images applied to clothes or a house can protect a person from various negative influences and attract good luck to him. In earlier times, according to what patterns, patterns or ornament adorned a person's clothes, one could get information about his marital status, social status and profession. In the modern European world, they are not filled with such a deep informational content, and often we simply do not know about what a pattern or ornament is, what meaning they carry. In some eastern countries, for example, India or Thailand, ornaments in combination with the color of clothes carry a large amount of information about a person, his social status and family, and patterns, for example, in the art of mehendi, can change a person's destiny.

Classification based on motives

All ornaments created by mankind for centuries can be divided into separate groups, according to the main motive used in them:

1. Geometric, composed of abstract forms, such as points and different kinds of lines and geometric shapes of varying complexity.
2. Vegetable, which uses stylized images of leaves, flowers and fruits in various combinations.
3. Animalistic or zoomorphic, in which depict stylized or completely fantastic birds and animals.
4. Anthropomorphic, use images of figures or parts of bodies of people of both sexes.

All these species can be combined among themselves in various combinations, for example, geometric forms and plant motifs, as in arabesques.

Classification by form of construction

There are the following types of ornament:

• A tape created by repeating one or more elements in a strip.
• Continuous (mesh) lined up for planes that in theory have no restrictions, for example, for fabrics. Repetition of its elements is possible infinitely.
• Centric or compositionally closed, it is used to decorate various objects, placing repetitive elements around the common center that unites them.

Ornaments and patterns have a centuries-old history, but to this day they are actively used for decorating clothes, a human dwelling and the surrounding environment.