Line and Shape

Organic, naturalistic lines done with a graphite pencil (Charles Burchfield, 1940’s)

Geometrical lines of varying widths done with pen, ink, and a ruler.

What kinds of lines?

What medium here?

Richard Diebenkorn 1950’s

What kinds of lines?

What medium here?

Georgia O’Keefe

1920’s

Geometrical lines done with oil paint

(Diagonal lines imply movement in a design.)

Tomma Abts

2000’s

Organic and curvilinear lines:

What kind of motion in these types of lines?

What kind of motion do these lines create?

Piet Mondrian

1940’s

The types of motion inherent to diagonal lines

(Tomma Abts)

Another example by Tomma Abts:

Lines are certainly not limited to two-dimensional art forms:

Bill Smith, 2006

Nor are lines limited to drawing, painting, or sculpture:

New York City’s High Line

Built in the 1930’s, it carried freight trains into the industrialized west side of Manhattan.

Lines can create shapes, volumes, and space. (Kevin Appel, 2005)

Geometrical shapes (Ad Reinhardt, 1960’s)

Differences between the two?

Organic Shapes (Elizabeth Murray, 1990’s)

Differences?

Organic and Geometric shapes. (Greek ceramics, 7th C BC)

Naturalistic shapes: the kind we are most familiar with.

These kinds of shapes are also known as representational.

(Gerhard Richter,1980’s)

Abstracted shapes:

(Elizabeth Murray, 1990’s)

Non-objective shapes:

(Gerhard Richter, 1980’s)

What does Non-Objective mean?

How are non-objective shapes different for abstracted shapes?

What kinds of shapes are present here?

What kinds of shapes are present here?

Just what makes a shape abstract, anyway?

Just how do you create volume in a shape, anyway? How do you make a shape flat?

Julie Mehretu, 2004

Implied Lines

Implied shapes and lines:

Another example of an implied shape:

What do the curvilinear lines (as well as the implied lines) suggest about the power structures illustrated in this chart? What do the horizontal and vertical lines suggest?

Project Number One: Power Relations Flow Chart You are going to make a flow chart that describes the power relationships between yourself and 9 other people you know. Designate a different shape for every person, including one for yourself. Be sure to include at least one of each of the following shapes in your design: A flat shapeA volumetric shapeAn abstracted shapeA non-objective shapeA naturalistic (or representational shape)An organic shapeA geometric shapeAn implied shape First, make sketches in your sketch-pad to brainstorm about possible shapes and compositional designs. Where do you place the shape that represents you in this design? What does this placement say about the power relations you have with the other people you’ve chosen? How do you invent and assign the various shapes to your 10 individuals, and what size should you make each shape? (Hint: keep these shapes small, as you will need plenty of compositional space for your connecting lines.) Think also about what types of lines you will use to symbolically structure your relationships to your 9 other people. The lines that link the 10 total shapes need to include at least one type of: Straight lineCurvilinear lineSoft-edge lineImplied line Once you are ready with your idea (meaning that you are satisfied with your shapes, lines, and overall composition) pencil in your flow chart design on your 15”x20” illustration board. You can then complete your project using the varied mediums of your choice.

Student work:

OK: Now for our first project. Using a variety of line and shape types, we are going to create a Flow Chart/Diagram that describes the power relationships between ourselves and 10 other people we know.

Before we look at a few student examples, though, I want to show you an artist who has worked with this “Power Relations Flow Chart” idea: Mark Lombardi