What Does Line Mean In Your Art? (2024)

This postis byguestauthorJennifer Stottle Taylor,This article has been edited and published with the author's permission. We've promoted this post to feature status because it provides great value to the FineArtViews community. If you want your blog posts listed in theFineArtViewsnewsletter with the possibility of being republished to our 48,000+subscribers, consider blogging withFASO Artist Websites. This author's views are entirely herown and may not always reflect the views of BoldBrush, Inc.

Sometimes this is a misunderstood element in art. What is LINE in art? Wikipedia has a pretty good description:

Line is an element of art defined by a point moving in space. It is probably the most fundamental of the elements of design as it is usually the starting place for much of artistic creation. Lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or curved. They can be any width or texture. And can be continuous, implied, or broken.

To make a summary, it is how you draw lines in your painting. What are they implying?The J. Paul Getty Museumhas some good images and descriptions about LINE.

There are at least 5 different types of line descriptions:

1. Horizontal line - creates a calm, peaceful feeling

2. Vertical line - creates significance, attention,

3. Diagonal Line - creates energy

4. Curved Line - creates energy also

5. Combination of Vertical and Horizontal - creates perception

Here is a Youtube video aboutLINE,you may find useful.

Lines can also be bold, unassuming, or hinted.

This is a dramatic LIVE OAK painting I did in Gulf Shores last year. It has many diagonal lines. Does it give you a certain feeling?

This is a good example of a horizontal line, the "calm feeling" that comes with a horizontal line.

This painting has strong vertical lines, to keep your eye moving back to the camper. Can you feel a different feeling, than the sunset with no vertical lines? This also has lines for perspective presentation.

This painting uses Curves to draw your eye around. Compare these paintings and see if you feel more energetic with one vs. another. Also, What is the message being given in all of these different paintings?

Think about LINE and how you are using it to draw the viewer into your main subject, or main message.

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