The Swiss artist Paul Klee famously compared drawing to “taking a line for a walk”.

Sometimes line is called the “trace of a moving point”. A line is a thread-like mark, which might be made with a pencil or pen or piece of chalk or charcoal. It could also be an outline, a contour, or an edge; in other words, a border between two colours, shapes or tones. (Look around you. Do you see any lines in
the room?) 

Lines can express ideas: they may be “meandering”, “playful”, “energetic” or “aggressive”. They can be delicate, or heavy, or somewhere in between. 

Artists use the art elements we’ve discussed so far in many ways and combinations to create meaning and express something. 

We will try this out ourselves, using just the element of LINE. Use our search keywords on the site to explore texture, colour and tone.

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Look at the artwork on these and the gallery below. 

What are these lines doing, or saying?

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