What is a line? Geometrically, it connects two points. A line is a path traced by a moving point, i.e. a pencil point or a paintbrush. We see lines all around us. Line is a vital element of any artwork.

Actual and Implied lines.

Actual lines

Actual lines are marks or objects that are real lines; they exist physically. Examples of actual lines include lines painted on a highway, tree branches, lines incised on the surface of gravestone, telephone poles, neon signs, and words on a page. Contour lines define the edges of objects, like the sides of a bookcase, the edges of a table, a boulder, a window. Contour lines define both the edges of the object and the negative space between them, such as the space between the rungs of a ladder.

Implied lines

Implied lines are lines that we see in our mind’s eye that fill in the spaces between objects, such as a line of lights in the ceiling and the rows of windows in a large office building. Implied lines are also found in the gaze between two people. We imagine a line that goes from one person’s eyes to the other. Implied lines can also extend beyond the edges of an artwork.

Stonhenge c2500 BCE Wiltshire County, England

Image Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethwiscombe/1071477228/in/photostream/ Author garethwiscombe

This a good example of implied line: the horizontal stone on top of the vertical stones appears to extend across the vertical stones on either side of it.

Geometric and Organic Lines

Geometric lines

Geometric lines are mathematically determined. They have regularity and hard or sharp edges. True geometric lines are rarely found in nature, but often found in man-made constructions. They convey a sense of order, conformity, and reliability.

Sol LeWitt Bands of Lines in Four Directions in Black and White 1977

screenprint on paper 15 x 19 inches

Collection Walker Art Center; Gift of the artist, 1983



Organic lines

Organic lines are the types of lines found in nature. They are irregular, curved, and often fluid. They convey a sense of gracefulness, dynamism, and spontaneity.

Hasegawa Tohaku Pine Trees (left hand screen) 16th century

Pair of six-folded screens; ink on paper. 156.8 × 356 cm (61.73 × 140.16 in) Tokyo National Museum

Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagonal Lines

Horizontal lines suggest landscape and the horizon. They impart a sense of peacefulness, vastness, and constancy.

Caspar David Friedrich The wanderer above the sea of fog 1818

oil on canvas 98 × 74 cm (38.58 × 29.13 in) Hamburger Kunsthalle

Vertical lines suggest alert attention. They imply strength, power, and authority.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), Chartres, France 1193--1250

Diagonal lines suggest action and movement. They convey dynamism, vitality, and animation.

Laocoön and his sons, also known as the Laocoön Group

Marble, copy after an Hellenistic original from ca. 200 BC.

Found in the Baths of Trajan, 1506.Height 8' (2.4 m.) Current location Museo Pio-Clementino, Octagon, Laocoön Hall

Horizontal and vertical lines used together suggest permanence. They imply sturdiness, solidity, and immovability.

The Parthenon,a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, 447-438 BCE