All About Lines - Understanding The Elements of Art and Design

Did you know there are seven basic building blocks of art, which can be found in every single artwork, whether you tried to put them there or not? These seven building blocks are known as the elements of art and design, and today we'll be taking a look at the first and simplest element, line.

Hey, welcome back to Mr. News Art Class, it's wonderful to see your smiling faces today.

If you've ever been in a math class, you've no doubt been taught that lines have to be straight and they go on forever, that's true for the mathematical definition, but this ain't math class, it's art class.

When you're in math class, do what your math teacher says, when you're in Mr. News Art Class, make art.

For artists, lines come in all different types and they have many different uses, let's take a look at some of the most used types of lines and how different artists use them in different ways.

First, lines can go in different directions, the three main classifications for direction are horizontal, sideways.

Vertical, up and down, or diagonal, anywhere between horizontal and vertical.

It's important to note that diagonal lines can go in lots of different directions, so you often have to be more specific when talking about them.

Next, lines don't have to be straight.

They could also be jagged zigzags with pointy tips or wavy with smooth curves.

This well-known logo design for the Nike brand uses a single curved line to express an upward movement.

Often, lines can even loop over themselves or overlap under other lines.

There are many different ways that lines can intersect, such as the way that we draw different letter forms.

Yes, drawing letters is a form of art too.

Another way lines can be used together is to make them parallel.

In math class, there are very strict rules about parallel lines always being straight.

But in art, we have the flexibility to say that wavy or zigzag lines can also be parallel.

Parallel just means that they go the same direction and follow along each other's path.

Such as the zigzag lines on top of this pole painted by Bridget Riley.

And lines don't always have to be the same thickness either.

Using different line weights or thicknesses is crucial for creating depth in line drawings or doodles.

Line is considered to be the simplest element because it's often the first that artists learn about when learning to draw.

Like you see in this Van Gogh painting, most artists start their work by drawing the outlines and contours of the objects within their image.

However, many artists choose to subdue these lines or eliminate them altogether, instead using the other elements such as color and value to create the barriers at the edges of objects.

Even so, anywhere that two objects point towards each other or have any kind of barrier between them, viewers' eyes manage to imply the lines that aren't really there.

Lines are most commonly used either by themselves or mixed together to create shapes.

Which are the next element that we'll discuss next Thursday.

Lines can also be used as hatching or cross-hatching to create different values.

Which we'll cover in two weeks time.

In the meantime, try practicing all the different types of lines we've talked about here today.

And see if you can come up with any that we haven't talked about.

And most importantly, study your own artwork and the artwork of others to see how lines are used in different ways to create different effects.

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And as always, thanks again for watching.

And I'll see you next time.