LINE VOCABULARY – 7TH GRADE

LINEis a path traced by a moving point; a mark that goes somewhere

ACTUAL LINESaremarks or objects that are real lines; they exist physically; examples are: lines painted on a highway, tree branches, telephone poles, neon signs, words on a page.

CONTOUR LINESdefine the edges of objects, like the sides of a bookcase, the edges of a table, a boulder, a window; they define both the edges of the object AND the negative space between them, such as the spaces between the rungs of a ladder.

IMPLIED LINESare lines that we see in our mind’s eye that fill the spaces between objects, but are not really there. Examples are: a line of lights in the ceiling is connected as a line in our brains, as are rows of windows in an office building, or footprints in the sand.

GEOMETRIC LINESare 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 calmness, conformity, reliability, and a sense of order. Examples are:

circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, parallelograms, etc.

ORGANIC LINESare the types of lines found in nature. They are irregular and curved. They seem graceful, spontaneous, fluid.

LINE DIRECTION

HORIZONTAL LINESmove across a work from left to right and suggest landscapes and the horizon. They convey calmness and a vast sense of space.

VERTICAL LINESmove up and down and suggest alertness, strength, power, and authority.

DIAGONAL LINESmove in a slanted direction and suggest movement and action.

DESCRIPTIVE LINESgive us information. Examples include: handwriting, fonts, charts, and diagrams. They are also used as shading (crosshatching) and texture.

EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES OF LINELines can be short, long, thick, thin, thickandthin, smooth, textured, broken, flowing, erratic, dark, light, darkandlight, heavy, soft, hard, playful, ordered, even, variable, calligraphic, authoritative, tentative, irregular, smudged, uneven, straight, crooked, choppy, ghostly, graceful; the variety is endlessExpressivelines impart emotional qualities to lines.

SHARPLY ANGLED LINESsuggest excitement, anger, danger, chaos.

FLAT LINESsuggest calm.

WIDE LINESsuggest bold strength.

GENTLY CURVINGlines suggestunhurried pleasure.

GESTURAL LINES reveal the touch of the artist’s hand, arm--and sometimes the entire body—in the artwork.