A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Elements of Design: Line and Shape

A2.1 C1.1 C2.1About 65 minutes

Learning goals

I can name the seven elements of design and the main principles of design.
I can describe lines by type, direction and quality, and use them to express feeling.
I can tell geometric shapes from organic shapes, and positive shapes from negative space.
I can use contour, blind contour, cross-contour and gesture drawing on purpose.

Words to know

elements of design
The basic visual parts artists use to build an art work: line, shape, form, space, colour, texture and value.

principles of design
The ways artists arrange the elements: for example balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, proportion, rhythm and repetition, unity and harmony, and variety.

line
A mark made by a moving point, longer than it is wide. Lines can be actual (drawn) or implied (suggested).

implied line
A line the viewer's eye "connects" even though it is not drawn, such as the direction of a pointing finger or a row of dots.

line weight
How thick, thin, dark or light a line is. Varying the weight makes a drawing more lively.

shape
A flat, two-dimensional area with height and width, made by a line or a change in colour, value or texture.

geometric shape
A regular, measurable shape such as a circle, square or triangle.

organic shape
An irregular, free-flowing shape like a leaf, a puddle or a cloud.

negative space
The empty space around and between the subjects of an art work; the subjects are the positive shapes.

contour drawing
A drawing that follows the outer and inner edges of a subject with a slow, continuous line.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you used contour, blind contour and gesture drawing for figures, and studied movement with directional lines. In Grade 9 you will organize everything you know into the full vocabulary of elements and principles of design, the "grammar" of visual art.

The grammar of art

Writers build stories from words and grammar. Artists build images from elements (the parts) and principles (the ways the parts are arranged).

Elements of design: line, shape, form, space, colour, texture, value.
Principles of design: balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, proportion, rhythm and repetition, unity and harmony, variety.

This lesson starts with the two most basic elements: line and shape. The following lessons cover value and form, colour, texture and space, and then the principles.

Line

A line is the path of a moving point. Describe a line by its:

Type: contour (edges), gesture (quick lines that catch movement), hatching (repeated lines that build value), implied (not drawn but seen, like the direction someone is looking).
Direction: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved, zigzag.
Quality: thick or thin, smooth or rough, continuous or broken, light or heavy. Line weight is the thickness and darkness.

Lines are also expressive. Because our bodies know what it means to lie down (horizontal), stand tall (vertical) or fall (diagonal), lines in a picture carry those feelings.

Line direction and quality carry feeling. Horizontal lines feel calm, verticals feel strong, diagonals feel active, curves feel gentle, and zigzags feel agitated. A line that changes from thick to thin (line weight) looks lively and suggests light and depth.

Ways to draw with line

Contour drawing: your eye follows the edge of the subject slowly while your pencil records it in one continuous line. Include inner contours too (the edge of a sleeve, the line where a lip meets the cheek).
Blind contour: the same, but you do not look at the paper. The result looks strange, but it trains your eye to really see.
Modified contour: mostly look at the subject, with quick glances at the paper to place lines.
Cross-contour: lines that travel across a form to show its surface, like latitude lines on a globe.
Gesture drawing: 30 seconds to 2 minutes of loose, fast lines to capture action and weight.

A contour line traces the outer and inner edges of a form. Cross-contour lines travel across the surface like bands around a can, which shows that the form is round. You saw contour hatching in Grade 8; this is the same idea.

Shape

A shape is a flat area with height and width. Shapes are made by an outline or by a change in colour, value or texture.

Geometric shapes are regular and measurable: circles, squares, triangles. They feel ordered, built, human-made.
Organic shapes are irregular and free-flowing: leaves, puddles, clouds, the outline of a cat. They feel natural and alive.
Positive shapes are the subjects. Negative space is the area around and between them. Strong compositions make the negative space interesting too.

Some designs play with figure-ground reversal, where the positive and negative shapes can swap. The famous example is a vase that becomes two faces in profile.

The same mug drawn two ways. On the left the positive shape (the object) is filled. On the right the negative space (the space around it, including the gap inside the handle) is filled. Drawing the negative space is a trick for getting tricky shapes right.

Worked example

Let's analyse lines and shapes in a scene

Imagine an art work: a tall, thin black spruce standing alone on a frozen lake, with the horizon a low straight line and a few zigzag cracks in the ice in the foreground.

Name the lines. Horizon: a long horizontal line. Spruce: a vertical line with short, jagged branch lines. Cracks: zigzag lines.
Connect lines to feeling. The horizontal horizon feels calm and wide. The vertical spruce feels upright and alone. The zigzag cracks add tension: the ice might not be safe.
Name the shapes. The spruce is an organic shape. The lake and sky are large, simple shapes.
Look at negative space. The huge empty sky and ice around the single tree are negative space; their emptiness makes the tree feel isolated.
Sum up. The artist used mostly calm horizontal lines and lots of negative space for stillness and loneliness, then added zigzag lines to create tension.

Calm horizontals plus one strong vertical create quiet isolation; the zigzag cracks add unease. Line direction and negative space carry the meaning.

Draw what you see, not what you know

Your brain has symbols for things (an eye is an almond shape). Contour and negative-space drawing switch off the symbol and make you look. If a drawing looks wrong, turn the subject and the paper upside down and draw the shapes you see.

Hands-on activity

Line and shape studio

You need: sketchbook, an HB or 2B pencil, a black marker or pen, a chair or a houseplant, a timer.

Line sampler (10 min): draw a 3 × 4 grid of boxes. In each box draw a different line: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved, zigzag, broken, thick-to-thin, rough, spiral, hatched, cross-contour, implied (a row of dots). Label each.
Emotion lines (5 min): in four new boxes, use only lines to show calm, angry, joyful and tired. No faces or symbols.
Blind contour (5 min): draw your non-drawing hand without looking at the paper.
Modified contour (10 min): draw a houseplant or a kitchen chair with one slow line. Vary line weight: press harder where edges are in shadow or closer to you.
Negative space (10 min): draw only the spaces between the rungs and legs of the chair (or between leaves) and shade them in. The chair will appear.
Write two sentences: which drawing surprised you, and why?

What to look for: the emotion boxes should feel different from each other; the negative-space drawing should show the chair even though you never drew the chair itself.

Just for fun

The artist Paul Klee is often quoted as saying that a line is a dot that went for a walk. In a blind contour drawing, the dot goes for its walk without a map.

Your turn

List the seven elements of design.

What feeling do diagonal lines usually suggest, and why?

Classify each as geometric or organic: a stop sign, a maple leaf, a brick, a puddle.

What is negative space?

Explain the difference between contour and gesture drawing.

Give an example of an implied line.

Why vary line weight in a drawing?

More practice: warm-up

Which line direction usually feels calm?

Is a circle a geometric or organic shape?

What do you call drawing without looking at the paper?

What does line weight mean?

Name two principles of design.

More practice: on your own

A poster for a calm yoga class uses jagged zigzag lines. Explain the problem and suggest a fix.

How can drawing negative space help you draw a bicycle correctly?

Describe how cross-contour lines would look on a drawing of an egg lying on its side.

Choose a line type and direction for each mood: excitement at a hockey game; a peaceful snowy field; a towering office building.

Why might an artist choose organic shapes for a poster about a provincial park, and geometric shapes for a poster about a new subway line?

Challenge

Plan a small art work that uses only line (no shading or colour) to show the difference between a busy city morning and a quiet cottage evening. Describe your lines.

Explain figure-ground reversal and why it can be powerful in a design such as a logo.

Why do art teachers often assign blind contour drawings even though the results look odd?

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which list contains only elements of design?

Which line direction is most likely to suggest action?

A puddle is an example of...

The empty area around a subject is called...

Lines that wrap across the surface of a form to show it is round are...

What does "line weight" describe?

For parents and teachers

This lesson introduces the full vocabulary of elements and principles of design that will be used for the rest of the course; flashcards help. Students often find blind contour drawing silly or frustrating: reassure them that the odd-looking result is expected, and that the goal is looking, not a pretty picture. Negative-space drawing is a powerful trick; let them try it on a chair or a bicycle. Ask them to explain how a line feels ("Why does this zigzag look angry?") to practise using art vocabulary.