The Artist's Toolkit: Visual Elements and Principles
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Encyclopedia: Line: Types of Line
 

Line
Shape
Color
Space
Texture

Balance
Emphasis
Movement/
Rhythm

The Artist's Toolkit: Visual Elements and Principles
EncyclopediaLine

 

A line can be where a drawing starts, or lines can tie everything together in a work of art. Here youâll see many examples of the way artists have used different types of line and how expressive line can be. Youâll also see works of art that reveal the lines in the world all around us, and pattern and texture created by line.

Line diagram  

 

In this painting there are straight and curved lines which are both thick and thin.

Detail of Area Code

James Rosenquist, Area Code, 1970, oil on canvas, mylar, Walker Art Center, Gift of the T. B. Walker Foundation

James Rosenquist
Area Code, 1970
oil on canvas, mylar
Walker Art Center
Gift of the T. B. Walker Foundation
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The decoration of this New Guinea eating pot is mainly made of curved lines.

artist unknown, Eating Pot, about 1980-1988, earthenware, pigment, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Chrisina N. and Swan J. Turnblad Memorial Fund

artist unknown
Eating Pot, about 1980-1988
earthenware, pigment
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Chrisina N. and Swan J. Turnblad Memorial Fund
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All of the lines in this print are curved lines.

Jane Kent, Untitled (Yellow and Black), 1990, color mezzotint and aquatint, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Gift of the Print and Drawing Council

Jane Kent
Untitled (Yellow and Black), 1990
color mezzotint and aquatint
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Gift of the Print and Drawing Council
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All of the black lines in this painting are straight lines of equal thickness.

Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue, 1922, oil on canvas, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. Bruce Dayton

Piet Mondrian
Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue, 1922
oil on canvas
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Gift of Mr. Bruce Dayton
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Types of Line  |  Edge and Outline  |  Expressive Line  |  Implied Line  |  Texture and Pattern

 
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