Lesson 1: Elements of Art: Line
Discussion
The reading assignment in your textbook, ArtTalk, introduces you to many new terms and ideas, and the new information may seem overwhelming to you at first. You may ask yourself, “How can I remember all these things while I am drawing?” and fear that if you stop to concentrate on these things, you will get very confused and not be able to draw at all! Let me assure you this is not going to happen.
The terms and ideas introduced in the textbook and course guide are important for you to know in order for us to have a common basis for talking about art. If I should ask you to notice the implied lines of a drawing or notice the static or active nature of a composition based on the vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines, I want us both to be very sure that we are looking at the same things.
It is true that drawing would not be very pleasurable if you had to stop after each stroke of the pencil and ask yourself what kind of line you have drawn, if a particular contour is made by the line, or if certain lines create gesture. Fortunately, the act of drawing is not so complicated. It is a process of describing what you already know and see. And because you have been looking at the world around you for many years, you have already developed powerful seeing skills. Half the preparation for drawing and painting is already done!
The readings presented in the textbook and in this course guide are intended to help you be aware of and think about what you already know. They will also help you concentrate your efforts to describe what you see and how you feel about those things.
Have you ever been in a violent thunderstorm? First the dark clouds roll in and cover the sun. The wind begins to blow. The leaves of the trees may seem to tip up and turn over and appear very light against the dark sky. As the wind grows stronger, the tree limbs sway heavily, and some twigs and leaves are ripped free and blown away. Lightning flashes. Rain comes driving down. Close your eyes and see the storm in your mind’s eye. What lines, light and dark values, and textures do you see? Imagine the zigzag line of a streak of lightning. Does this add to the excitement of the scene? Notice how all these elements “fit together” to make a mental composition of a thunderstorm.
If I asked you to draw the thunderstorm, you would begin by choosing directional lines, contour lines, and implied lines that best fit the idea of a thunderstorm, because you already know how a thunderstorm looks in your mind. Of course, the picture you create may look very different from the one I, or someone else, might create. However, each of us would make a picture with appropriate elements to depict our own vision. The six elements of art that we use in creating an artwork are line, shape and form (together, shape and form are one element), space, color, value, and texture. These elements can be used in many different ways and in various combinations.
(Click to see the image on a museum website.)
Look at the storm scene above by Charles E. Burchfield. Compare it to this storm seen by Thomas Hart Benton (click on thumbnail image to see a larger version on a museum website). Notice how the artists have used the elements differently, yet the elements of each painting accurately describe the storm we are shown. What kinds of lines describe the objects? What lines represent the approaching wind and its effects? Examine all the ways you think the element of line is used in these pictures.
(Click to see the image on a museum website.)
Lines can be used to portray similar subjects but yield many different results. Compare the image presented here of Arshile Gorky’s mother with Elizabeth Catlett’s image, Sharecropper, on page 48 (figure 3.10) of ArtTalk. Notice how the human subject can be portrayed either with soft, curved lines or with straight lines and angular shapes. Does the use of line and shape convey a message about the personality of the person portrayed?
Of course, lines are not the only important art element in the Benton, Burchfield, and Gorky images. Shape, value, and space are also especially important. Line, however, is one of the basic tools an artist uses to convey his or her visual message.
Drawing is a basic skill which artists must acquire. Notice that I said skill, not talent or innate ability. Some people may be naturally more talented than others, but drawing well can be learned through practice. No matter how much natural talent you may—or may not—have, you can become skilled at drawing.
Drawing involves describing what you see. But what you see may sometimes be in conflict with what you know to be true. For example, you know that most people have four fingers and a thumb on each hand. Look at the drawing by Paul Calle presented here. Look at the first astronaut’s left hand. How many fingers do you actually see? Does the astronaut really have only a thumb and one finger? Of course not! He is holding an object in such a way that we see only the thumb and forefinger. Similarly, we do not see the faces of the astronauts; we see only reflections of light and dark on the face masks. Calle concentrated on showing us what he really saw—a part of a hand and the reflections on the face masks. It is not necessary for him to draw all the fingers or the actual faces because he knows that we know they are there, even though we cannot see them. This is an example of point of view. What we see of an object and how we experience it depends on our point of view.
