Title: Lines
Course: EN_Overall composition > Section: 3. The elements of art and design

Learn all around lines

A Line is a mark with greater length than width. Lines can be

- horizontal
- vertical
- diagonal
- straight or curved
- thick or thin.

They can be used for different purposes.

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Practise: Get a feel for how diverse lines can be.

Material: paper and pencil

- Draw as many types of lines as you can think of, like for example wavy, zigzag, dotted, dashed, straight, bumpy, etc.

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To see the wide variety of lines that visual artists use, watch the video.
And: Don’t forget to complete the work-table “Elements of art”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDePyEFT1gQ

Through the lens of the self-portrait, it shows you how the line is used by different artists to express themselves and to create the messages they wish to communicate.

In summary lines can:

- Describe 2-dimensional shapes and 3-dimensional forms
- Create feelings of movement and emotion
- Create value and thereby show the direction of light
- Change 2-dimensional shapes into 3-dimensional forms with value
- Depict texture

Exercises

1. What kind of lines where used by the artists in the following artworks?

Although you can't always see all the lines in artworks, they are there. Therefore, try to identify them in different works of art.

- See the slide show of seven pieces of art and explore, what kind of lines where used in each one by the artist!

Artist: Chiron Press - Brushstroke, 1965
Artist: Charles Sheeler - Classic Landscape, 1931
Artist: Joan Miró - The Farm, 1921–1922
Artist: Morris Louis - Beta Kappa, 1961
Artist: Henri Matisse - Woman Seated in an Armchair, 1940
Artist: Winslow Homer - Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873-1876
Artist: Fitz Henry Lane  - Lumber Schooners at Evening on Penobscot Bay, 1863
https://www.nga.gov/learn/teachers/lessons-activities/elements-of-art/line.html

2. Draw an everyday object, using lines.

Material: paper and pencil