Line is one of my favorite elements! It’s just so dynamic and has an inherent language that we’ve all come to recognize, although often unconsciously, that you as visual artists can use to direct the viewer and evocate emotion. The type of line, how it is applied or formed, or the way it travels across a surface or through space conveys all kinds of information making it one of the most communicative elements in design.
Want to harness this power? Come join me for a quick but thorough overview of how line works in art, the types of line from standard strokes to the wild and implied, and how to create energy, rhythm, and emotion by manipulating orientation, weight and arrangement. It’s easy stuff to do but it can have such a powerful outcome.
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CREDITS:
Cover design by Sage; Illustration by Olga Kostenko
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For Transcript click on the episode here: https://rss.com/podcasts/thesagearts/
Transcript
Hello all of my linear lovelies. Thank you for joining me on the sage arts podcast I’m sage, your tour guide on this excursion through the world of line. That’s the subject matter for this month design focus and today’s chat. This is one of my favorite design elements because there’s so much you can do with it, Its just really fun and kind of magical in the things we can get from using line.
So let’s set up the stage, your visual idea of where we’re chatting. I am as usual, in the podcast room with my kind of standard mixed berry tea but with a heavy dose of matcha and gotu kola. My poor brain has been literally under a lot of pressure lately. Really crazy pressure headaches. Doctor isn’t sure why but we’re starting with some allergy support and lymphatic massage and we’ll see if that works. Seems to help so far so fingers crossed.
I’m good at the moment so lets get this going before that changes. It’s just me for now here. Ember has taken to sleeping under my writing desk in the other room or brett’s desk and that seems to be her comfort place right now so she’s off doing her thing which means there’s plenty of room for you and a few of our friends to come in and join me. I do really wish I could actually have people show up here. But I’m gonna imagine all of you out there and you imagine you’re in here with me on this sunny and not too hot Southern California afternoon. Life is settling into a routine again here although there’s still that big empty space from missing Kimba. Thanks to everyone who has continued to drop in to see how we’re doing and sending kind words about the loss of our pet. You are such wonderful people. I just so appreciate how supportive and caring you all are. Speaking of which why don’t I get a few other thank yous in and then we can get on to this fun stuff with line.
I’d give a shout out to the new people donating this week but it’s been an anonymous week so… you know who you are and I so appreciate your support. Thank you. Also got some lovely comments on social media, favorite was from Sun Hesper Jansen who is a poet and author rather than a visual artist, although from their feed on Instagram they seem to be quite appreciative of the visual art of Mother Nature. But they left a comment about how much they love the podcast and how it’s good for all kinds of creatives. And, in actuality, I think that too. And i wish i could market this to creatives in general but it’s already a bit of a challenge to speak to all types of visual artists. And yet, Son is not the only writer that listens to my podcast but that just goes to show that the workings of the creative mind and our battles as creative people isn’t really about what we work with. Whether you work with paint or clay or words or sound or whatever, it’s all born from that same human need to put something out there in the world that didn’t exist before, something born of your unique self and your unique experience. Thank you son for putting that out there and giving me the opportunity to bring that up and allow me to remind you all that if you’re enjoying this, I bet your other creative friends will too, so tell them about it and lets grown this community of more self aware and vibrantly curious creatives.
That comment actually came in on my personal Instagram page which, if any of you want to see what I am up to personally, that’s at sagebrayvaron, all one word. You can find my photography, my poetry, sometimes my mixed media art, mostly its my ICM which is the intentional camera movement stuff, it’s a very painterly kind of photography. Just pop on over and say hi and and follow if you like. I wasn’t very active on that page the previous few months because I was really trying to focus on things I could do to further develop what I’m trying to do through the podcast. Still working on those things but getting back to posting on that page now. This month I’m doing something called AuthorAugust it was created by Mariah Hankenman for Instagram, participants use this calendar she created to post a little something about ourselves every day so you could probably learn a lot about me this month if that’s of any interest.
IN any case, keep those comments and stories coming. Reach out to me via e-mail through the sage arts.com website, go to the contact page there or write me via social media on Instagram or Facebook at the sage arts podcast pages or even my personal sage bray varon Instagram page just mentioned. And don’t forget we do have a zoom call next week Thursday August 10th at 11 AM Pacific Time. The gather this time will be on the theme of Creating Your Artistic voice so bring your questions and your stories to share with your fellow Sage Arts folks. There is no set cost to join although There is a suggested $4 donation. You can find those donation buttons part way down the home page of the website at sagearts.com or in the show notes. To get the link to the Zoom call you need to be a member of the sage arts podcast share space on Facebook or be signed up for the newsletter which you can do on the home page of thesagearts.com, look for the news and notices button. All these links can be found in the show notes or description section of the page you’re listening to this through.
Alright, business completed, let’s do this thing.
So if you like having questions in mind as we dive in, let’s just keep it simple by asking yourself how you use line and are the concepts I’m introducing familiar to you? can you think of ways to work with the concepts that are new to you or that you haven’t thought about in a while in any of your present works in progress or upcoming projects? Mostly just take this all in and I’ll send notes in the newsletter for review later as well as on social media, if you want that, and post examples on there throughout the month of August as well.
I have to say
Line one of my favorite elements, its just so dynamic and it’s so easily read by pretty much anyone because there is an inherent language in line that we all learn and you’ll see what I mean by the time we’re done here.
Likes marks, which we explored last month, line is one of our most essential design elements but it’s one that may often be overlooked or not considered as fully as it could be. Line is something we tend to associate with a stroke on a surface or an intentional boundary, but it is also something we see in 3-dimensional things out in the world. From tree branches to cobwebs to streams in a valley to cracks in a sidewalk, lines have always made up so much of our visual world.
Line may seem a simple element, but it is really quite complex. The type of line, how it is applied or formed, or the way it travels across a surface or through space conveys all kinds of information making it one of the most communicative elements in design. That is why line is the element used for writing, symbols, graphs, maps and nearly all types of abbreviated communications—it’s simple and easy to create but immensely powerful.
Lines in art can be produced through or inherently exist in nearly all visual mediums. Obviously, you can create lines with brushes, pens and pencils, or use tools to carve, sculpt or embed lines in clays, metals, fabric, and all manner of malleable materials. Lines can also be found in the absence of mediums like taped areas in paint or open space between elements in 3-dimensional art such as sculpture or jewelry. Lines are inherent in wood, stone, and most photographs because lines are so essential in the world around us, defining most of what we see on some level. That’s why, when children first draw, they start with line. Most of us will start to plan or express our ideas in line regardless of what we work with. It’s everywhere.
So let’s talk about all the options you have for creating lines. Don’t think too much about these. Just take it in. I’ll give you some ideas for increasing your innate understanding of line at the end of this episode, a way that is effortless and shouldn’t make you overly conscious of your line, which is not what we want. Just want you to be more aware of it and its possibilities.
Creating Line
So, Your choices for creating line is hugely varied but I’ve broken it down into three primary types which should encompass your options. So, Virtually any kind of treatment or manipulation of the material can develop some type of line that you can use to direct a viewer’s eye, elicit emotion, or create energy.
Strokes are the ones we think of first when we talk line
Since we were children, we have been creating line with the stroke of a pencil, a pen, markers, chalk and even with sticks in the mud. This is the most common method of creating line as well as one of the easiest. WE can define a stroke as any element that stands out as a line with its own length and thickness moving across the surface or the space of the piece.
In malleable materials, strokes are created with tools and other various mark making implements, and yes, If you listened to the episode on mark making, pretty much every thing that can make a mark can make a line although not always a stroke and we’ll get into those alternative is just a sec.
The advantage to strokes are that they give us a tremendous amount of freedom and spontaneity in the creation of line in a piece. The caveat is that some strokes are inherent like, as I mentioned in many examples wood and stone and photos. They actually create limitations rather than being freeing but limitations are wonderful and if you haven’t listened to Ep.25 the one on limitations, do so and you’ll see why these inherent lines can be a blessing rather than a hinderance.
But yes, strokes are one of the most basic and probably the most common of lines but not by far the only type.
There are also Boundaries…Lines created by the edges or border of visual elements. For example, where two materials meet, such as the boundary where two different colors of paint come together or mixed metal in jewelry like mokume, inlays in wood, the shapes of buildings or any objects that stand out against a background in photographs or illustrations, polymer clays in a cane… those all create a point of sudden change and we see those changes, those boundaries as lines.
So that means Lines are also created where other sudden changes are made like where different textures or treatments end and another clearly begins, or where layers end, their edges standing out against the layers beneath them. These lines may feel incidental but especially when there are few if any other lines on the piece, they can become strong lines that guide the eye through the piece.
Now for the really fun lines…Implied line
The thing is, Lines are so basic and so intrinsic in the way we see things that our mind see lines that aren’t even visible.
We will see or sense parts of lines that don’t exist but as a continuation of existing lines such as when a line is created that terminates at the very edge of a piece. Our mind generally imagines it continues off into the space beyond. This is even stronger when a line is briefly interrupted by an object or a space like in a series of dashes showing you were to cut a coupon. We see the line as continuous, not a collection of marks, as our brains fill in the missing bits that we don’t see.
That holds true for things that are not traditionally part of a stroke of other typical line as long as these non-linear objects are organized on a continuous path, like as buttons on a shirt or people standing in a “in line” at the store. No line has been drawn between them and there can be significant space between those objects but if our mind can find a smooth path from one to the other, then we ‘see’ a line. You can use this in your art with marks… and this is why I mentioned last month that marks can create lines, right? So a series of paint dots, or beads or impressions or even a series of recognizable objects or symbols… as long as they follow one after another on a discernable path, we’ll see a line and it will work like any other line.
Ok, so now you have a general definition and idea of what kind of lines you can create in design.
so let’s talk about how lines work in your pieces by talking about the primary Characteristics of Line
Understanding the language of line, how you can use them to best express yourself or relay what you want in your work, starts with defining the primary characteristics that all lines have to some extent. Primarily Orientation, path and Weight or Emphasis. These are kind of my own terms because there’s not really any one set of terms used in for all mediums so focus on the concepts more than the terms. The terms are just a way to organize this into manageable little chunks.
Orientation
The orientation can dramatically affect how your work is interpreted so this becomes a really important choice for you.
Horizontal lines feel secure, calm, and steady, like the line of the horizon or a stretched out, sleeping figure. It is not high energy, and tends to makes us think of things in stasis. So using horizontal lines can balance an otherwise high energy background or heavy use of chaotic marks, for example. They also tend to split the space, especially those horizontal lines that go all the way across the work. We consider what is above and below horizontal lines, most likely because our view of our world is often split by horizontals like a landscape is usually split into land and sky, what is above a table or counter or window sill even, those separate the space to what is above and below. So it sets up a very simple but strong symbol of higher and lower, greater and lesser, if you want to push those ideas in your work.
Vertical lines feel strong and bold. They invoke the idea of standing tall and being in a powerful, secure position. Think of pillars in a building, tall monuments, and towering trees. Unlike horizontals, we don’t think in terms of left and right sides, even if the vertical runs from top to bottom. For one, we don’t have any universal ideas about left and right things and also vertical lines, due to their upright nature, are so commanding on their own with their innate but still energy, showing strength and groundedness. They command attention and are easily made into focal points. And that’s a little trickier to do that with other line orientations so their special in that way.
Diagonal lines—these are the high energy lines, they give both the feeling of energy and action, often adding a bit of drama. Things on a diagonal look ready to give into gravity and roll or move down slope or, alternately, they can represent something shooting up. Out in the world, we might see vertical objects take on a diagonal orientation when they are windblown or being toppled. In all these cases, we get a definite sense of movement in this orientation of line. In other words, diagonals represent things in the midst of change or on the verge of it. That makes diagonals very high energy.
Ok,… I put this one kind of under orientations but it’s a concept of its own really and that’s Curved/changing paths. So think of waves, circles, and spirals. These kind of lines speak to harmony and well-being, but they can also be fun and playful. Unlike the other orientations, they aren’t nearly as forceful or insistent but they do still encourage your eye to follow along, just not in a straight line, which like when driving a car slows down the movement. They are found throughout the natural world and are widely used as both decorative motifs and important symbols in societies all over the globe and through the ages. From the unfurling form of a sprouting fern to a winding stream to the whorls of our fingerprints, these flowing lines, rolling inward or gently meandering about are a comforting design that takes us on a slow and often alluring path. And you can dial up or down the energy by how wide the waves are or how tight the circling is. You can also combine them with the other orientaions when it’s a wavy line, in that they can run more or less horizontal, vertical, or diagonal and then take on some of those orientation’s aspects as well.
Next we need to talk about Weight or Emphasis
So this is really about how apparent they are. When they’re strokes, for instance, they can be Thick or thin, somewhere in between, or a variation of thickness along the length of them. This is another way to adjust the energy of the line. A big thick line is going to feel bold and vying for attention while a wispy one is, well, going to be quieter like a whisper.
Weight doesn’t’ usually come into play with boundary or implied lines but what you use to make that line can change how much they feel emphaisized. Like if the boundary line is between two opposite colors, that boundary can really buzz with that contrast. Or if the lines are implied in a line of dots that are actually dots on dots looking like tiny targets, like you see in mandala and rock painting a lot these days, that makes the line feel heavy and definitely grabs the eyes with all those little targets. Put those next to a line of single small dots and the small dots are going to feel like they’re tiptoeing through the work. However, if a line of single dots was on a piece with the only other lines being subtle boundary lines, the dotted one is going to feel extremely important.
So, of course context matters when it comes to any design element. But knowing this, you can emphasize or magnify the characteristics of a line and thus fine-tune the message or emotion of the work. It will also play a role in the composition and where the eye will travel as heavy lines will generally get more attention than thin lines, but thin lines can be quite persistent when they are straight and in contrast with other lines and characteristics.
So let’s actually get to that… the way lines are used and composed.
In addition to the types of lines you can create, how you arrange or group the lines in your work can further communicate your ideas and direct the viewer’s eye around the piece.
The most important aspect is probably the Directional/Leading aspects of Line
Because that is what line does more than anything… it directs, leads, and guides the viewer’s eye, drawing us to follow them through the piece.
Now why do we follow a line with our eyes? Our eyes are drawn to line in large part because line represents travel and movement which has always been a part of our natural day-to-day existence and often represents a way to something necessary or significant. Our ancestors would follow well-worn trails or the bank of a stream to find their way around or find food or shelter but now it is more often roads and sidewalks and hallways. The change in what our paths are made of, however, has not changed our instinct to follow them in whatever form they appear before us, including just representational lines.
How insistently line can direct the viewer’s eye, how quickly and to what effect those lines lead us along, is dependent on visual characteristics including whether they are vertical, horizontal, diagonal, broken, wavy, orderly, chaotic, dense, heavy, feathery, etc., as well as how readily it will be recognized as a line. For instance, the stroke of a black marker will be instantly recognized as a line and our eye will follow it but the line where two colors meet on a surface, that boundary, seems incidental, so the eye may follow that line but only after it has hit upon more obvious ones if they exist in that piece.
In other words, you can choose to be obvious or subtle in how you lead the eye around with lines which result in a different feel. So the bold marker line probably adds a confidence and certainty in the way it leads the eye while the boundary between too colors may gently coax and feel more casual or easy going about leading the eye both of which will influence the sense of energy and emotion of the work, right?
If you are aware that line leads the eye around, you can arrange the various lines in your work to take the eye from one point to another, very much like a writer crafting a storyline. Now they’re not the only thing that leads the eye around but that tends to be their primary effect. So you can combine lines with elements like Focal points which give the viewer a starting point (or periodic jumping to or resting points if they are secondary focal points), and then lines can lead the eye from one focal point to another. They can also become focal points of their own when heavy or grouped.
Which is the next use of line I want to talk about. That is… Focal Point
Because we are so strongly drawn to line, you can use line itself as a focal point or to emphasize something, usually creating secondary focal points. It’s why we underline things… to draw attention to it. Just another example of a common use for line that shows how strong it can be.
Let’s look at a few other daily uses of line that can come up in your work as well that create focal points. There’s a super strong one when multiple lines cross or meet at the same point, that point becomes a strong draw, enough to be the primary focal point of a piece. Think of a line-drawn arrow. It’s three lines that come to a point, one long, 2 short… if there is an arrow on a page, if it’s not too chaotic, your eye will go straight to it, and then shoot off from there due to an implied line, because arrows push us to continue looking where that long line was going, mostly born of symbolism now, but arrows became that symbol because of this focal effect and implied direction it gives.
If there is an x because two lines cross, your eye will be drawn to that too. IN your work, these could be a primary or secondary focal point depending on how much else is going on. Same for a spiral. The eye is led to a center point by that line and we have to check out center points just like on a target, right. We like center points although I’m not how that came about. Maybe it has something to do with how targets are like eyes or something I don’t know.
A horizontal line in a quite space can also be the focal point—like the horizon line on an ocean image—you’ll be drawn to that if everything else is subdued and soft, while vertical lines in most any composition where it is the only obvious line, will very likely be a focal point. Think of a single tree in a landscape or light coming through a cracked door in a photograph. Even a single wavy line or group of them can become a focal point because line has that strong directional force we are drawn to check out. We are, of course, drawn to other things—like targets, eyes, faces, the color red all kinds of things. But if you need a single element to create energy, movement, and emphasis, think line.
Now another thing that line can do, that marks also do but nothing else creates quite so well, is Rhythm
Lines that are arranged in an orderly fashion create a regular, stable rhythm that conveys order and control. Like a Mondrian or columns in a building front. Erratically placed line will feel more frenetic because the rhythm will be uneven like a jackson Pollack painting or a photo of winter tree branches. These rhythms, however, are usually quite dependent on other characteristics of line so chaotic lines, for example, can come across as fun or frantic or austere even, depending on the weight, orientation, and emotional quality of the line.
And that brings us to the last way to use line … to create emotion
The way a line is executed conveys some level of emotion due to our associations with the various characteristics we can imbue the line with. These emotional characteristics are similar to what you may have discovered in your exploration of marks. They are additionally related to how we imagine someone might have created the line. For instance, if someone is angry, we can only imagine the lines they’d create would be jagged, heavy, and erratic. If someone is feeling happy, we imagine the lines will be smooth and flowing. If someone is all business, we imagine the lines will be straight and concise. Therefore, jagged lines feel irate, flowing lines feel content, and straight, even lines feel serious.
The quality of the application of the line, as well as how it moves across a page can aid in the subtler aspects of an emotion. Take the flowing line with its sense of contentment. A thin and light flowing line will give off a sense of calm and serenity, while a thick flowing one can imbue the line with delight, and an uneven application of that flowing line can add energy, even a sense of joy, maybe pushing the emotion into the realm of excitement.
The emotions that lines can convey is a vocabulary that most all of us already have. The question is, are you aware of how your lines convey emotion when you create or choose them for your work? Sometimes we get wound up in the practical aspects of the composition or don’t pay attention to the inherent lines in our materials. Because lines have this language of emotion that’s so strong and nearly universal, I do think it benefits us to stand back and ask ourselves about the emotion conveyed by our lines and then determine if that fits our message or the aesthetic of what we’re trying to create.
Although I listed the characteristics of line separately here, they can be, and often are, combined to create complex lines and messages. A line that is vertical until the top where it suddenly leans into a horizontal creates a feeling of compromised security or conflict between something solid and something toppling over.
A horizontal line intersecting a spiral can relay a very strong sense of both security and potential or growth. If the horizonal line is thicker than the spiral, the sense of security will be prominent but if the spiral is thicker, the viewer is bound to feel that the piece is more about growth or discovery or something of that sort.
This can be a lot to juggle in one’s mind as you create but just being aware that you have these options in how you use line can help you resolve a design that isn’t quite working right and be the thing to reach for when you are not sure a piece is communicating your intent. The simple, unassuming line is, in reality, one of your very strongest design tools. Keep it well in mind as you create, and it will inevitably bring your designs up a notch and, dare I say, can help you keep it in line with your intentions.
Ok, so you’re excited to get into working with line? I hope so. But let me suggest how to really get into that to start yourself off.
I’m going to suggest an exercise for you. It’s very simple and it will allow you to learn line in a very passive way.
Just spend some time with your work or the work of others you admire and ask yourself about the energy and the emotion of the work. How does it make you feel? What are your initial thoughts about the message or the emotion that you or the other artist was probably trying to convey.
Then make note of what kind of lines are in there. What is the orientation of the most dominant lines? Are they heavy or thin? Are they continuous or broken? Are they obvious or implied? Do they create rhythm or focal points?
Once you’ve identified the characteristics and how they’re being used, see if you can reconcile the initial emotional impact and or the message that you got from it with how the lines are being used. Do the use of lines assist in developing that emotion or message? If you took out the lines would it change the feel or the message of the piece?
I’ll create a CHEAT SHEET that will come out in the newsletter and I’ll post it on Instagram that you can use to kind of go through a piece and ask if the kind of common interpretation of the characteristics of line match with how you’re reading it in the artwork that you’re looking at.
For instance if you see a vertical line, do you feel that bold strength, and if so what is that doing for the piece? Are there WAVY lines and are they serene or fun or something else? Is that also the way the piece feels in general?
Asking these questions allows you to become familiar with the way line works in a way that will become rather subconscious for you. Like I mentioned in what I think was the first reel last month on Instagram, learning design isn’t about memorizing terms or concepts. It’s about becoming familiar with the possibilities and just letting that sink in. It will come out in your work… and in those times where it doesn’t come out or you’re just not happy with what you’ve done, you will have this library of design information to access and start asking the questions, like are my lines supporting what i’m trying to say or show? Right?
So I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about lines. I’ll see what I can post on Instagram this month to support your learning of line. I do have a crazy month ahead of me with the in-laws moving into our area, repairs on the House being done and landscaping being done in our yard along with my own personal work and literal headaches. But we’ll get some reminders out there so do check in on Instagram and Facebook at the sage arts podcast. Write me with any questions or thoughts or especially stories. You can do so through the contact page at the sage arts.com or through messaging me on instagram or facebook. If you enjoy what I do here and you want to give back there are donation buttons on the home page of thesagearts.com a little ways down as well as in your show notes. And those are the same donation buttons that you can use to fulfill the suggested contribution for the upcoming zoom call if you’re going to join us on that. Again, that’s August 10th at 11:00 AM Pacific Time, that’s 2pm Eastern, and should be right after dinner time in much of Europe. the newsletter will have a time conversion link for you to help out. If you’re not already on the newsletter list, find the button that says news and notices on the home page of the sage arts podcast website or look for it in your show notes or description wherever you’re listening to this podcast from
And as we wrap up here, if you haven’t already done so, hit that follow button on your podcast player if you’re listening through one, considering giving the podcast a review so other people interested in it can know what they might be in for
Now get out there and start looking at line. I think it’s gonna be funny as you go through your day now you’ll start noticing line everywhere. I apologize ahead of time for the distraction but that’s also another great way to concrete these ideas in your mind. I hope you have fun with it. So yes, go out there feed that muse with all the lines you can find, stay true to your weirdness and join me next time on the sage arts podcast
