Naturalism

Naturalism gives people a true picture of what something looks like, an honest visual appearance. This bird, fence and even the flowers probably look exactly like they did when they were being painted, no adjusting needed.

Lost and Found Contour

The edges of this drawing are sometimes clear, but other times are not as it fades into the dark. This is an example of lost and found contour; clear edges, and not so clear edges.

Line as Value

This picture of clearly shows value. The darker parts would be created using crosshatching, while the lighter parts would be created with either clear space, or with further spaced lines.

Gesture Line

I thought this was a great example of line gesture. Gesture drawings focus less on the shapes and more on the action or the dynamics of a pose. Lines usually are freely moving through out the drawing. You can obviously see the gestures in the pose through the lines created.

Contour Line

This is a contour line drawing. A contour drawing uses line to show the outer edges and forms of the drawing. There is no shading or anything, only the shape of the man.

Line as Direction

An important characteristic of line is direction. Different line directions imply different moods, or feelings.

Horizontal- quiet or sleepy.
Vertical- potential of activity.
Diagonal- strongly suggests motion.

This (picture above) is diagonal line. The shape of the horse is in a diagonal position (rearing). This is a good example because this horse is obviously moving. (remember diagonal line strongly suggests motion.)

This is vertical line. The cat is sitting in a vertical position, which gives it the feeling that there can be potential movement. However, since the cat is currently just sitting there, its up to you to imagine what he does next.

This picture represents horizontal line, which represents quiet and repose. This is a good example because the shape of the womans body is in a laying position (horizontal) and you can tell she is quite content, peaceful even.

Line as Shape

This is a drawing of a rose. You can tell its a rose because the lines create a shape, which in turn helps us recognize the object. We cannot recognize this flower because of color or texture, but because the lines that create the picture form the rose.