Line

Drawing by Rembrandt

Line is essential to all art. It is the first step in understanding how to represent an object on paper. No matter the subject, no matter the setting or composition, line is crucial to our drawings.

Line is not only drawn explicitly (as we may think of it), but it is also found implicitly, through the coming together of shapes and tones. Where the edges of objects meet space or each other (on the picture plane), line is implied.

As outlined by Andrew Loomis (in "Creative Illustration"), there are 7 primary functions of line.

1. To convey its own intrinsic beauty
2. To divide or limit an area or space
3. To delineate a thought or symbol
4. To define form by edge or contour
5. To catch or direct the eye over a given course
6. To produce a grey or tonal gradation
7. To create design or arrangement

It is important to understand how each of these functions work and how the artist can use them creatively. I will work backwards, starting with number 7.

7. An important part of creation is setting up the composition - the shapes on the plane and how they interact with one another. An artist can approach this function in a completely abstract way or in a way the takes into account true and perceived forms. This function can embody the sketching phase of art-making, when the artist is attempting to blueprint their design. The function can also relate to abstract formal and informal design, in arenas such as architecture or pottery.

6. Think of comic books. Or hatching. If you are familiar with these techniques and styles, you have witnessed grey or tonal gradation through the use of line. It is a way in which the artist can render three-dimensional forms without the use of flat tones and shapes, but only through the use of line and variation of line.

5. This goes in hand with some of the ideas I alluded to in number 7. Good compositional arrangements often rely heavily on how the artist can lead the eye of the audience. Think of the arrow on a street sign or the wanderings of the kid in Family Circus comics. These lines lead the eye. An artist can use line, either blatantly or subtly, to do the same thing. A good exercise is to find a drawing or painting you enjoy and break it down by drawing over it, finding the lines in a rudimentary fashion and seeing how and where the artist is leading your eye.

4. This is kindergarten stuff. When a child draws a house, it is a square with a triangle on top. The sun is a circle. The cloud is a few semi-circles arranged in a pattern. When a form or variation in form (contour) is represented by line, you are seeing this function in action.

3. Numbers and letters. This function is how we often see line used. It becomes a part of our nature and everyday existence to see line used this way. An artist may be able to use this function to their advantage, conjuring up the deep ideas that are hidden within these types of symbols. Think of $, *, #, @, etc. You'll find that these symbols tap into connotations that can be out of our control.

2. This one is tricky in practice. Think of how a backslash divides two numbers or a wall divides two areas. Think of how the horizon divides the ground from the sky or how a box contains its contents, dividing it from the outside world. You can get existential with this one. However, in practice it is worth noting that lines in artwork create tension when used to divide. You can very easily communicate two subjects being at odds by introducing a line. The reason this is tricky is because you can easily do it on accident and sabotage your own expression.

1. Line can be beautiful. The amount of variation you can achieve with line through bends, straights, wides, narrows, angles, curves, etc, is communicative in and of itself. The audience, without knowing why, like your drawing - with the only reason being how you achieved your line. Line quality is immensely important to achieving a visually compelling drawing, if that is the point of the work. As an exercise, try doing a blind contour drawing. Do not look at your drawing as you draw it, but only look at your subject. Really try to feel the weight of the contours, the shapes that are being made. When you are done, you will find that your drawing does not really hold up as a cohesive work, but that the lines you have created are beautiful nonetheless.

I hope to write more on how important line is to creating art, but for now I will leave you with a little encouragement regarding the creative process, from our friend Andrew Loomis. "Even a poor drawing exhibiting inventiveness and some originality is better than a hundred tracings or projections." Know that your work as an artist isn't about being like other people and isn't about copying things, but is about expressing what you find interesting in a way that is genuine to your own convictions.