20 Lines Response

For class on Tuesday, February 17th, we completed our 20 lines project. For this project we were each asked to use Photoshop to create an image of 20 individual lines, each on a separate layer. For each line we hid all the other layers, so that only the line we were currently drawing was visible. Finally, when we were finished with all 20 layers we had a single image of all of our lines overlapping and intertwining with one another. Our objective was to contemplate the meaning of lines and the expressive potential they possess. For example, is it possible to give a line a particular emotion or state of mind? Can you make a line that is happy? depressed? frenzied? or relaxed? Different moods can be achieved depending on the method by which the line is drawn. Is the line thick and heavy, or thin and light? Is the line static or does it create movement? Is the line choppy and abrupt or long and flowing? Is the line rough or smooth? A line can possess all of these different characteristics and more. 

I agree with Kendall Buster and Paula Crawford's point in their article On Form and Content, that "Line is considered by many artists to embody the direct channel between the brain and the hand, a means itself of thought." Line is a very important aspect in the world of art because it is the artist's mark in it's rawest form. Line is the building block of everything, it is where everything starts. Line such as an artist's brushstroke allows the viewer to see the artist's hand, the looseness or tightness of their grip. Line can even be used as a tool to help communicate emotion and gesture both in a work of art and in the artist himself. "Line is content." 

On Form and Content