Line in Art

It’s More Than You Might Think

Line, by definition, is a dot that creates an identifiable path by moving in space. It is one, two, or three dimensional and can vary in width, direction, and length. They often define the edges of a form and can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved or straight, implied, thick or thin.

We don’t actually see the world around us with coloring book outlines.

In the world around us, we don’t actually see a line around objects, outlining everything like a coloring book. But our minds understand that there is an edge there and so when we attempt to recreate something we see, we do so by first laying out the object or scenery by a series of lines which define what we’re seeing.

Lines can be made with almost any object and with almost any medium. You can use the obvious pen or pencil on any given surface. The same goes for a brush and paint. You can use an airbrush or a spray can to spray a line of paint onto a wall or canvas. You can use a stick or your finger to draw a line in sand or through a liquid, trailing it into a defined path.

Line quality can indicate far more than just the shape of an object.

Lines also have different qualities. A line of the same thickness from beginning to end works fine for identifying a shape, but one of varying thickness can be used to identify the direction of light, the weight of an object, or areas which happen to be in shadow. These things alone can help a two-dimensional shape border on appearing more three-dimensional in form. Varying qualities also adds to the overall interest of the drawing.

Even though we don’t see implied line, we don’t question whether or not Wonder Woman’s shoulder and buttocks is there.

In some instances, line disappears though we know the edge of the object is there. This is called implied line. This can be used to indicate a softer edge or perhaps an edge that is exposed to brighter light. The actual presence of the line is not necessary because the mind fills in the blanks for you.

Implied line can be as simple as multiple subject looking in the same direction in order to draw your attention to the same spot.

In some paintings there is no line at all. Several people in the painting may all be looking in the same direction. That direction is an implied line and is very effective. As an observer of the painting, you too will look in the same direction to see what they’re looking at. Haha, made you look! See how powerful implied line can be?

Even though an implied line is not solid, there is no question as to its direction.

And even though it might be implied, there is no question as to the direction or path. If so, street lines like this might be hazardous!

Another type of line that can fall under implied is gesture. Gesture lines indicate movement or direction. Usually, when we talk about gesture lines, we’re referring to those done in gesture drawings of human or animal forms in motion. They are very quickly drawn and meant to capture a very small moment in time. In a classroom setting, the model will hold very brief poses. One to two minute poses is common, though I’ve had teachers who preferred thirty second poses. It seems impossible to do, but the point is to force students to let go of trying to focus on detail and only capture the gesture, or movement. The fast pace helps an artist loosen up and is often used as a warm up to taking on a more polished drawing.

A series of lines called, ‘hatching’, can be used to define value, or shading.

Lines can be used for more than just outlines (contour lines) or indicating direction. A series of short strokes in the same direction, called hatching, can be used for shading and/or for giving a sense of form. Cross-hatching is the same as hatching but uses another series of short strokes in at least one other direction over the original hatching. In other words, it crosses the direction of your original hatching. This can be done so subtly that you lose sight of the individual lines and start to register a solid shading. Whenever I use cross-hatching, I do the first two perpendicular to each other and then diagonally from two directions. I’ll continue adding layers until I have an even shade.

Hatching, in fact, was one of the first exercises my class was given in one of my first level art classes. It loosens up your hand and wrist as well as develops hand-eye coordination and muscle memory. In a nutshell, with a ruler, draw parallel lines of varying widths on a piece of paper (preferably cheap paper). With a pencil, fill each line with hatch marks, attempting to start and stop at the top and bottom lines. Your grip should be light and your strokes quick. On one line start the stroke at the top. On the next line, start at the bottom. Keep going until the page is full. This is also a great warm-up before you get down to serious drawing.

Next week we’ll get into some exercises that will help loosen you up and warm you up to the idea of drawing. Yes, they are simple, but not to be taken lightly. If you’re a brand new beginner artist, you may be apprehensive. Being new at something often causes people to be too tense. If you have a death grip on your pencil, your drawings will come out stiff and mechanical. I know many seasoned artists who still use basic warm-ups to get the creative juices flowing. So, no expensive supplies needed yet. An inexpensive sketchbook will do, a ruler, and a pencil.

Prismacolor Turquoise (left) or Staedtler Mars (right)

You can use a yellow pencil for now, but start thinking about purchasing some artist pencils. They’re not terribly expensive and can be bought individually or in sets. I prefer Prismacolor Turquoise or Mars Staedtler brands.

See you all next week!

Further Reading:

A Brief Note on Color