Line Drawing – A drawing in which there are only lines and no shading

To remember what line drawing is, recall the following mnemonic:

Only lines have been used for this drawing (line drawing) - where is the shading?

Below are two very famous line drawings. Although Giacometti is known for his thin, flat and tall sculptures he has produced some of the most emotionally moving line drawings. Matisse, who's picture follows Giacometti's, could also produce striking line drawings.

"Giacometti, Museo Botero, Bogota, Colombia" by Marc_Smith is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"Portrait de femme, Henri Matisse (musée Maillol)" by dalbera is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Line Drawing Project 1

For this project, you will only need a pencil and paper.

Alberto Giacometti was most famous for his sculptures, but he also created dramatic and expressive line drawings. He used lines to create shading and form by building up lines in darker areas and having fewer lines in lighter areas.

Find a reference picture of a face with good contrast between light and dark and interesting features, as this one below:

You don't have to stick to the same style as Giacometti, but we are going to use a similar technique. Start with a basic sketch. We aren't going to erase any lines as your construction lines will add to the texture of the final piece.

Only use lines to build up the darker areas, don't blend the lines into shading. 

Keep building up the lines, until you're happy with your piece.

Line Drawing Project 2

For this project, all you'll need is a pen and paper but also reference images of prehistoric animal skulls.

We are going to create a continuous line drawing. This means drawing your entire picture without taking the pen off the paper. It is usually wise to start your drawings with a sketch, but in this case we're going to go straight in with the pen. It doesn't matter where you start, but once you start your line, keep going! You can intersect lines, use loops to change directions and draw lines parallel to lines you've already drawn.

Try several different skulls from different angles and see what designs you can come up with!

Line drawing.