LINELINE

Alice Neel drawing

in art

WHAT IS LINE

in an art-work?

How can we talk about line, in the context of visual art?

A line is a point moving in space.

Nasca Lines, Nasca Desert, Peru(moved, scraped earth ) 400 – 650 AD

Pablo Picasso(photo of moving flashlight)

Pablo Picasso

Paul Klee

Line(s) can describeform in different ways.

LINE may also be seen as the EDGE of a form,

in both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional art.

Martha Alf graphite drawing

Matt Shlian origami sculpture

Line also refers to forms which have linear qualities of direction or gesture.

Line strongly moving in a particular directionmay be referred to as gestural.

Christo “Running Fence”

Franz Kline painting

Balthus painting

What QUALITIES might a line have?

Paul Fabozzi Guache and colored pencil on paper and mylar layersUnknown artist, Manzanar Camp Sumi ink

Line has “weight”:thickness or thinness.

Brice Marden

Juan Gris

Line has SHAPE--- itmight be straight, curvy,angular or …

Dr. LakaKathe Kollwitz

Line can have COLOR, VALUE, and TEXTURE.

Pablo Picasso

HORIZONTAL lines in an artwork may contribute a sense of restfulness, stability, stillness.

LINES ARE DIRECTIONAL.

VERTICAL lines or directional movement can suggest power, forceful stability.

Hong Chun Zhang charcoal and graphite

DIAGONAL lines best evoke motion, energy, dynamism.

Gomedia

Lebbeus Woods

Hokusai wood-block print

Most compositions contain a variety of directional lines, whose energies play off against one another,

and lead the viewer’s eye around the composition.

Lines might be continuous or interrupted…

OskarKokoshka

CROSS-CONTOUR LINESfollow contours across a surface,to show dimensionality.

Pablo Picasso

CONTOUR LINEis a simple, more or less continuous line, which follows contours, or edges .

Line can show SPACE and dimensionalitydimensionalitywith shading lines, perspective lines,cross-contour lines, and overlapping lines.

Gala Bent

Moises Mahiques

George Seurat

HATCHING and CROSS HATCHINGare ways of using lines for shading to create darker values,

often to show dimensionality or space.Pablo Picasso

Calligraphic line refers to line having theflowing and expressive quality of calligraphy(decorative, handwritten lettering.)

Sufi Calligraphic Art Chinese Calligraphy

Henri Matisse

GESTURAL LINES, made with energy and speed, evoke direction and movement of form (whether abstract or representational form.)

Julie Mehretu

Honore Daumier

Alessandro AlbiniWillem DeKooning

Some line, repeating its movement or gesture, may be thought of as

RHYTHMIC.

EXPRESSIVE line may suggest mood, emotion, tension or energy.

Egon Schiele

TO SUM UP

IN A COMPOSITION, LINE FUNCTIONS TO: • Describe form; create shapes.

• Lead a viewers eye around the composition.

• Establish directional movement within the composition.

• Through shading, create darker values, and a sense of space or volume.

• Express energy and mood through line quality and direction.

A definition of DRAWING---lines and marks made on a surface.

Ernesto Caivano

SOMESOME DRAWINGSDRAWINGSin various media:in various media:

Lascaux Caves, France

15,300 BCE (charcoal, earth pigments on stone)

Edgar Degas (black and white chalk on paper)

Charcoal

Kulvinder Kaur Dher

Odilon Redon

PASTEL (colored chalk)

David Musgrave

GRAPHITE

Serse

D.L. Alvarez(graphite drawing based on photo)

Judy Chicago

COLORED PENCIL

Leonardo Da Vinci

PEN and INK

Charles Dana Gibson

RobertCrumb

sketchbook pages

FELT PEN

Tom Friedman(ink pen)

Fang Lijun INK WASH

George Baselitz

Kiteka Rishi

COMPUTER- GENERATED DRAWING

uses wind analysis software (used by builders of skyscrapers)to generate fluid surfaces that he renders by hand.

thefoxisblack.com

Peter Jellitsch

Thread, Paper

Sarah Lucas

Hair drawing on handmade paper Mona Hatoum

Body Art

GraphitePencil on Skull

GabrielOrozco

“Footprints of History” @ 2008 Beijing Olympics

Fireworks

Cai Guo-Quiang

Gunpowder and Ink

Bruce Nauman

Neon, Glass

Bruce Nauman

Drawing Assignment

Art 2

STEPS:

Step 1: Set UpDrawing paper + string with stick

Step 2: Draw Inside (of string) Shapes (only!)

(put string away)

Step 3: Set Up with Leafy Branch

This shows how your BLIND CONTOUR line will follow the outer edge of the mass of leaves.

Step 4: Blind contour of leafy branch OVERLAYS the string shapes drawing.

Use shapes as “skeleton” of drawing byadding shading, graded shading, textures, patterns, and frottage. Aim for clarity, a balanced composition, a sense of space/ dimensionality, with a finished, interesting look throughout.