LINE EXERCISE
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PURPOSE
To EXPERIMENT with making marks
To improve your COMFORT using media
To help you UNDERSTAND others’ use of media
THE EXERCISE
On a piece of light paper, use dark charcoal or graphite pencil or pen or marker to create a variety of lines
INSTRUCTIONS
Create many KINDS of lines > Use LEFT & RIGHT hand > Vary the PRESSURE
Create different energies in the lines: straight / curved calm / agitated
light / medium / thick sad / bright busy / sparse hopeful / disappointed
short / long fearful / confident continuous / dashed flowing / abrupt
NOTice
The lines don’t have to ‘be’, ‘look like’, any ‘real’ thing
The lines are the result of the energy or intention they represent
A line can be ‘the tangible remains of an abstract intention’
A line can be ‘the physical relic of an intentional or accidental movement’
YOU are the VEHICLE, the CARRIER, the MESSENGER, the ACTOR
YOU decide the CHARACTER of the lines you make !
IMAGINE you are looking down on a garden from the second floor.
What kind of knotted, swirly, twisted, tangled lines might you see that show the leaves, vegetables, watering can, or rows?
IMAGINE you are looking down on the land from your airplane window.
What kind of squiggly, straight or curved lines would you see that show the trees, buildings, rivers, highways, crops and homes?
(if you need something literal to give you a start - use these suggestions, then break away)
materials
Newsprint or light gray, medium textured paper, size 8.5 x 11” (approximate).
Charcoal: soft vine charcoal with hard, pressed charcoal -or-
Thin pencil and thick soft graphite -or-
Thin pen and medium marker -or- a black or gray tool of your choice
THEMES
This exercise explores line weight, direction, pressure, pattern and line character.