Drawing Animal Eyes Assignment
The Alphabet of Art:
Line Direction
The main line direction of each individual work has an effect on the viewer in such a way that by placing the images as shown above, the eye is encouraged to move toward the middle and work its way down the collection of images as a whole. Thoughtful placement of images creates a good strong layout and is an art in itself. To see larger size of each image in the gallery with a caption, click on it; for links and more information keep reading below.
Clockwise from upper left:"1944 Royal New Zealand Air Force" Propaganda poster, points upper left to lower right. "Kitty Kat Pinup, aka Lil' Blue by *zairia on deviantART" points from upper right to lower left. "1939 Cadillac Lasalle" (photograph) from ConceptCarz.com points from right to left. "The New Novel” (detail), Winslow Homer, 1877 (American) points mainly from right to left, with some other direction as well; the book itself has interesting lines pointing diagonally from upper right to lower middle and her arm and hand points from lower right to her face. Even the red lines of her pillow provide various directions and add visual interest. "Starry Night Over the Rhone" was painted in Arles in 1888 by Vincent van Gogh. It has sweeping and vertical lines pointing from left, right and below to the middle. In addition to the lines there is an effect with the light and dark, orange and blue that moves the eye from the bottom to the top, so you find yourself looking at the stars and not even noticing the figures at lower right. Above that at center left is "Three Dancers in a Diagonal Line on the Stage," c.1882 by Edgar Degas. This overall line moves from upper left to lower right and is the strong theme of a masterful classic painting with a great deal of movement and visual interest.
Commentary ©2014 by David V. Pierik