The Importance of Line in Art

It’s More Than You Think

The importance of line in art is undeniable. It is one of the basic fundamentals of art. You might think that a line is just a line and in fact Merriam Webster defines line as, “a narrow elongated mark drawn or projected: such as…a mark (as by pencil) that forms part of the formal design of a picture distinguished from the shading or color.” It leads one to understand line as just the defining mark or outline around objects, when in fact there is so much more to it than that. If you ask an artist or an art teacher, they’ll give you a list of dozens of different types of lines. I’m going to narrow it down to just a few.

Line Quality

Line quality, sometimes referred to as line weight, refers to the thickness or thinness of the line. The line may be thicker where the object has greater mass. Or the line may be thinner on one side of an object to help indicate a light source. In this case, the opposite side of the object would have a thicker line to indicate the side that is in shadow as seen in the apple drawing above.

In actuality, the world around us does not look like a coloring book with lines around every object even though our minds perceive things that way. The clearest example of this is objects with straight edges such as doorways, bookshelves, table edges, etc. The kind of drawing you’re creating will dictate what type of line you will use. For example, a comic book artist will use a variety of lines whereas an artist who does photorealistic drawings will likely have little to no actual lines at all.

Implied Lines

Implied line. The mind fills in Wonder Woman’s shoulder, arm, and hip.

Implied lines are lines where the line is basically missing in whole or in part. Take a dashed street line, for example. Your mind knows that the line continues even though there are spaces in between the dashes. Or consider the Wonder Woman image above. The line is missing where her shoulder and hip are, indicating the light is coming from that direction. Your mind, however, does not come to the conclusion that she doesn’t have a shoulder or hip. Rather, it fills in the blanks of the implied line and completes the image as whole.

In the work that I do, which is photorealistic pencil drawings, I use very little actual lines. Most of perceived lines in my drawings are edges created between light and shadow, implied lines. In fact, for the most part, the tip of my pencil does not travel in a linear pattern, but a circular one instead. Tiny little circular motions help me to avoid any actual lines altogether, which adds to the realism of my drawings.

Geometric, Organic, Gestural

Geometric lines are exactly what they sound like. Geometric. They create patterns and geometric shapes that are clearly manmade. Think of the shapes of architecture, furniture, bookshelves, TV’s, electronics, etc.

Organic lines are just the opposite. Objects in nature do not generally create hard, structured, geometric lines. They are more fluid, wavy, undulating, and unstructured. I know…many people would argue that nature produces many geometric shapes like crystals, patterns in feathers, seashells, and leaves, etc. and I would agree. But for the sake of this one, lines that are more ambiguous, irregular, or amorphous are considered organic.

Karl Gnass gesture drawing.

Gestural lines are lines that are generally drawn quickly to capture the overall gesture or motion of the object of interest.  Karl Gnass is a master of gesture drawings as seen in the sketch above. There is minimal detail in each drawing but enough is conveyed with the gestural lines used to actually deliver quite a bit of information to the viewer. In a classroom setting, students might have as little as 30 seconds to capture each pose, so the focus is not at all on the details, but the overall motion. Gesture lines can be used for all sorts of subject matter, not just people.

To wrap things up…

I don’t think anyone would argue the importance of line in art. Most people who attempt to draw usually use line in the wrong way. They become frustrated and quit without bothering to learn how artists do what they do, the nuances of line, actual, implied, or otherwise. By acknowledging the importance of line in art…in your art…you can begin to become aware of how to use it. By practicing with a variety of media and the way in which you use those tools, you begin to develop a mastery of it. In other words, if you use a pencil, do you use more than just the tip of the graphite? Or are you missing out on the wonderfully soft line quality achieved by using the side of the graphite?

The point here, as with any desired skill, practice and experimentation are vital. By ignoring the fundamentals of art, such as the importance of line in art, you’re not only remaining uneducated on the basic foundations of art, but also doing your own work a huge disservice.

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