Get in LINE --how artists use line

 

What can you do with a line? Artists use line to form shapes, create patterns and divide spaces.

Lines come in a variety of lengths, widths, directions and colors. Some lines are thick some are thin. Some lines are short some are long.

Composition VIII by Wassily Kandinsky

When a line is thick or thin we are talking about the weight of the line. Some art looks better with a thick lines while other times a thin line is just right.

 Artists use Contour lines! 

 A contour line is a fancy way of saying a line which defines the outline of an object.  Basically an outline!

Keith Haring

Let's look at ways artists use LINE.

Bridget Riley 

Bridget Louise Riley is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London and France.

The lines in Bridget's art create an optical illusion. What does Optical refer to?  Using thick and thin lines and changing the line direction can send different messages to your eyes and brain.

Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist who created art in a couple various styles.  Though his most recognized art used lines and shapes to fill large spaces and areas like rooms and walls.

Artists use lines to make patterns

In the south of Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in west Africa, near the border with Ghana lies a small, circular village of about 1.2 hectares, called Tiébélé. This is home of the Kassena people, one of the oldest ethnic groups that had settled in the territory of Burkina Faso in the 15th century. Tiébélé is known for their amazing traditional Gourounsi architecture and elaborately decorated walls of their homes.

Artists use lines to make shapes

Sonia Delaunay,  Prismes 1914.                                                                                 Rythme, 1938

Lines that close make shapes.

Piet Mondrian

Artists use lines when they draw

Pablo Picasso                                                                    Vincent Van Gogh

Artists use lines when they paint

Alma Thomas, Iris                                                                                                            Joan Miro,  The Sun

Artists use lines to make sculptures

Artists use lines when they create Fiber Art

Working with appropriated vintage photographs of artists, musicians, and politicians, Mexican textile artist Victoria Villasana applies a colorful layer of embroidery atop each image. Lines of color and bright highlights around the eyes seem to lend a sense of empowerment to the works.

Artists find lines when they take photos

Berenice Abbott

Now that we are familiar with the many ways artists consider line, let's look at one more contemporary artists that fills her work with line.

Shantell Martin

Shantell Martin is a London born /NY based mixed media artist best known for her free-form line drawings

"Getting deep into the flow of drawing allowed Shantell to let go of all thoughts, all fears, all insecurities .. anything that would get in the way of her being completely herself. Drawing gave her freedom and allowed her to create a space for herself."

"being yourself truly is the most important thing you can give your creativity."

As you watch this clip..........*It takes a lot of practice and experience for it to "just work"!

*Think about how you might store this inspiration in your creativity bank account?

"I come to a drawing with intention, a good intention to make something work"

-Shantell Martin

How will you use line in your art?

Will you use thick or thin lines?

What materials will you use to make lines in your art?