Basic Art: Lesson 2: Line Weight

The line is a very important aspect of any drawing. The definition of a line is: "A mark that defines the contours of a shape." It defines the edge of a shape. This becomes important in making objects pop out of a drawing or separates two objects in space. The line seems to be a tool to define characters, shapes, objects etc. in art. While the last statement is true, that is not all it is used for. Lines also have personality, when they are given some weight.

This second lesson is about how line weight can be used to fool the eye into seeing depth, or giving an inanimate object life and personality. Lines in art can have differing thicknesses, or weight. Try drawing a line across a page with very little pressure on one end, very hard pressure in the middle, and medium pressure at the other end. When this technique is used in conjuction with drawing, a whole new way of conveying feeling or personality is opened up to the artist.

For this next Lesson we will need drawing utensils (I prefer pencils), paper, and Dried Leaves or something non-static in shape with a 3 dimensional feel. Try using pencils with differing hardness or softness. (B is soft and H is hard. The higher the number the softer or harder the lead is. For example: 6B is very soft, 6H is very hard and HB is right in the middle)

OK! Lets begin!

Step 1: grab a piece of paper and a drawing utensil

Step 2: find an object (strap it down so it doesn't move)

Step 3: Use the contour line method from Lesson 1 to draw the outline of the object. Whenever the object gets closer to the eye, apply more pressure to the line. (Try rotating the utensil as well to get more surface area of the ink or lead onto the paper)

Step 4: Make sure that the lines of the objects are consistent, the furthest part of the object from you should have the thinnest line on the paper. Conversely, the closest part of the object should have the thickest line.

Step 5: As you work on this (slowly) you should take a step back and look at the picture. Can you see depth? Does the object look like its coming out of the page towards you?

The technique above does accomplishes several things. First, it builds off of lesson 1 and continues to train your eye and hand coordination. Later on, if you feel like it, you can just use a super fine lead and go back to a picture and manually add line weight. Secondly, This gives you the ability to start to fool the eye in seeing 3 dimensional shapes. I will not go into how to use this in conveying personality, except to say: " Experiment with it, try sharp, dark lines and flowing curving lines. Go nuts!". I say this because I personally feel that there is no right or wrong way to add personality to your art. You have to add your personality in your way. If you want to emulate something you've seen, then study it and try to see how they have applied line weight to their work.

Well thats it for this episode of Basic Art.. remember to rest your eyes every once in a while. Take a moment and step back and look at your work from afar as well.