What is a line?

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What is a line?

• "A line is a dot that went for a walk." - Paul
  Klee.

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Paul Klee

• WAS FEHLT IHM?, 1930
• Whats the Matter with Him??Stamped drawing in
  ink on Ingres paper on cardboard, 55.5 x 34 cm
• A line is defined by length its length is always
  greater than its width.

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Types of Line

• Here are a few
• Broken
• Implied
• Contour
• Gestural
• Curvilinear
• Rectilinear
• Heian Period, 12th c.
• Japan, Scroll of Froliking Animals.
• Shows Curvilinear, Gestural, Implied and Broken.

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Henri Matisse, curvilinear contour line.
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Rectilinear lines are those that are geometric in
style. Rectilinear lines are straight and clear
with pointed angles. Rectilinear lines can create
a harsh and energetic feeling to an artwork.
Cubist work such as Picasso's Guernica employs a
dominant use of rectilinear lines to express an
organized sense of chaos. Studies for Guernica
by Pablo Picasso.
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Now, the lines we are dealing with today are
called Contour Lines. A contour line can be
curvilinear, rectilinear, gestural or implied,
but a contour line always shows the edge of an
object. A contour line can be the outside edge
of our view of the object (its perimeter) or a
contour line can show the edge of a plane within
the object.
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Pablo Picasso Contour Drawing
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Lucian Freud Contour Drawing of Francis Bacon
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Diego Rivera Contour Drawing
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Cross-countour lines go around a form,
describing the volume of the form. Cross
contour lines are great for drawing people or
vegetables. (Well be doing both in the next two
weeks.) You can vary the pressure of your
cross-contour lines. You may start the line in a
shadowed area with a good deal of pressure and
lessen the pressure as your line flows into a lit
area.
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Contour lines are sometimes hard, with a heavy,
even pressure, that creates adark line. Such
images have a stark, flat look.
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Sometimes soft or broken contour lines work
better.
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Or sometimes a mix of both. If you were to draw
these dice you might make the hardest line at the
base where the dice touch the table. The soft
edges that define the round faces of the dice
could be executed in a broken and/or softer line.
Softer contour lines are also called for when
you want to express an illuminated (rather than
shadowed) edge.
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Look at this contour drawing of a mannequins
head. Which contour lines could be softened or
broken because the edge of a plane is soft (and
shows a low contrast of light)?
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Egon Schiele 1890-1918
Expressive lines can be spikey or looping They
can vary throughout a drawing, shifting from
curvilinear to broken.
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A lines best friend may be a mark. A mark can
be as wide as it is long. In general marks are
shorter strokes than lines. Beginners rely too
much on line (rather than mark.) Beginners also
tend to use only outline, rather than true
contour lines Look at this landscape by Van
Gogh. Can you see how different marks suggest
different textures and forms? Try combining line
and mark.