A line is a dot that goes for a walk!

Artists use their imagination when they work: before they start creating a work of art, they plan what they have in mind. They work with a few basic components or elements of art: putting together these elements is like putting together letters to make words.
Today we are going to discover one of the main elements of art: the line! Lines can be found in nature: the veins of a leaf, the branches of a tree, the sands of the desert. They are everywhere in the world around us. Art has as many kinds of lines as the lines you find in nature. An artist called Paul Klee said:”A line is a dot that goes for a walk”, a record of real movement. Lines can even acquire a personality! Straight lines may seem rigid, curved lines seem relaxed, jagged lines seem nervous. If a line has movement, it also has direction. Lines that move in vertical directions seem strong; horizontal lines seem calm and diagonal lines seem unstable. The personality of a line may be due to its shape, movement and direction.

As an example of the use of lines we studied the “man-line” of Osvaldo Cavandoli. My students tried to create their own comic strip following his example … enjoy the artworks created by our artists of the week!