A line is a path created by a point moving in space. Lines can vary in width, direction, and length. Lines can be extremely expressive and convey a lot of meaning in an artwork. They lead your eye around the composition and can communicate information through their character and direction.
Functions of Line
1. Lines can outline or define a space. These types of lines are called contour lines. A simple example of contour lines would be the outlines you see in a coloring book.
We most often see contour lines in drawings and prints. This drawing by Henri Matisse is made up entirely of contour lines. The lines separate the objects from the background and define the shapes of the woman, table, and room.
Henri Matisse, Woman with Still Life, 1944, pen and black ink, source
Sandro Boticelli, The Birth of Venus, c. 1484–1486, tempera on canvas
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2. Lines can create texture.
The lines that we see in Ginzer are different than the lines we saw in the Matisse drawing. These lines do not outline a shape or define a space, but instead they create a sense of texture. The texture of the cat’s fur is created by many short, curved lines.
Kiki Smith, Ginzer, 2000, etching, aquatint, and drypoint on mold-made paper, source
In the detail below of Christina's World below, we can the texture of the grasses created by the painted lines.
Andrew Wyeth, Christina's World, 1948, egg tempera on gessoed panel
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3. Lines can create space and movement.
Notice that the curve and the change in width of the large gray line creates the illusion of the line moving back in space.
Anna-Eva Bergman, Planète et terre, 1977, acrylic and metal foil on canvas, source
Gustav Klimt, Avenue to Schloss Kammer, 1912, oil on canvas
Actual, Implied, and Psychological Lines
All lines can be classified as either actual, implied, or psychological lines.
Actual lines are just what they sound like – we can see actual, visible lines. Contour lines are actual lines, but they aren't the only kind of actual lines.
The lines created by this hanging sculpture are actual lines we can see.
Leonor Antunes, alterated knot 5, 2018, source
The line in the Alex Olson painting may be thicker than what we usually think of as a line, but it is still an actual line running down the canvas. This line was created by thick paint on a wide brush (you can see evidence of this at the bottom endpoint of the line). In addition to the bold, thick line, there are also thinner, fainter actual lines creating a hashtag form in the background.
Alex Olson, Proposal 5, 2012, oil on linen, source
Implied lines are not actually present, but we understand them to still be lines. For example, the raindrop shapes below appear to be arranged in vertical lines, even though they are not actually connected. We “connect the dots.”
Margaret Kilgallen, source
Similarly, we read the boundary between two colors as a line, even though there isn’t a visible line drawn (no contour line) between the two colors. We see this in the land masses and the sun in this abstract landscape.
Etel Adnan, Abstract Landscape, 2015, oil on canvas, source
Psychological lines are lines we understand to be such because of cultural convention or symbolism. For example, we look in the direction that an arrow points, or we follow in the direction someone is looking. In the photograph below, we can read a line between the man and the girl by following both the direction of the girl’s pointing arm and the direction her eyes are facing.
Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison, Fable, 2008, archival pigment print, source
Rectilinear vs. Curvilinear Lines
Rectilinear lines are geometric, harsh, and angular. Take, for example, the many straight and angular lines of Sol Lewitt's Wall Drawing #565.
Sol Lewitt, Wall Drawing #565, 1988
Curvilinear lines are flowing, curving, and organic. The drawing below contains curvilinear lines. The implied lines that define the figure and the actual lines of both the face and vest pattern are flowing, rounded, and organic.
Rosie McGuinness, source
This Carine Brancowitz drawing is a good example of using both rectilinear and curvilinear lines in a single work. The lines defining the figures, hair, and plants are curvilinear, while the sweater patterns and tiled planters contain rectilinear lines.
Carine Brancowitz, Si tu me possèdes, tu posséderas tout, 2020, acrylic on paper, source
DIrection
Lines of different directions imply different things.
Horizontal lines suggest calm because we associate them with landscapes, the horizon, reclining, and/or being at rest.
In the painting below, we see multiple horizontal lines to help provide the viewer with a sense of calm. The clouds create one long horizontal line, the mountains create a jagged horizontal line that extends from left to right, the reflection of the water does the same, and the six swans in the foreground are aligned horizontally along the bottom edge of the canvas. To top it all off, the painting itself has a horizontal orientation, stretching wider than it is tall.
Ferdinand Hodler, Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc at dawn, 1918, oil on canvas, source
Vertical lines suggest power and assertiveness. Think of skyscrapers, tall people, and good posture. Egyptian obelisks are symbols of power. Not only are they tall vertical structures, but they also narrow with height and end in a point, extending the illusion of their height.
Egyptian obelisk
Vertical lines are used to emphasize power in this portrait of King Charles II. Even though he is seated, his body remains quite vertical. We can read one vertical implied line from his left leg, up through the center of his cloak, his nose, the ornamentation and cross of the crown, and finally up through the central band of the tapestry behind him. Each side of the king is also flanked by the long vertical band of the tapestry's decorative border. Finally, the king holds a long vertical sceptre that extends upward.
John Michael Wright, Charles II, c.1671-76, oil on canvas, source
Diagonal lines suggest energy, movement, and tension. There are multiple intersecting diagonal lines in the Javier Piñón collage below. These lines make the scene more lively, providing energy and tension. We can feel the chaos of the situation.
Javier Piñón, Untitled (Chairs and Chandeliers series), collage, source
