Elements of Art

The common language of artists

Elements of Art

Line

The elements of design appear everywhere in your life. The first element we will examine is line. There are many different kinds of lines. You have come across many of these in your everyday living. Here are some examples.

lines

Lines can be exciting. For example, a zigzag line implies movement and excitement. A spiral does as well.

line2

When you were in elementary school you probably had the opportunity to tree ringsexamine tree rings in a science course. Did you know that the tree rings form concentric lines (circles with the
same center)?


Lines can have texture. Texture refers to the feel of a surface.

line texture

A thick line seems to move more slowly than a thinner line because a thick line looks heavier.

lines slow fast

You can show movement by the direction in which people and animals look. For instance, because these dogs are all looking left you look left too.

dogs

Another way to show movement is to show the same person or animal over man moveand over in many positions as the person or animal moves.The man in the drawing looks like he is walking upstairs. His arms as well as his legs move and they are drawn many, many times. This drawing has rhythm, because the man is shown many times.




Lines can show emotion and express mood. Lines can express the way you feel. Look at the following examples.

line joy anger

faces