Lesson 1: Implied-Line Landscape

Objective: To have children create an original landscape using implied lines.

Vocabulary:

actual line - A continuous line without breaks that has a beginning and ending.

composition - The way the parts of an artwork are put together or arranged.

drawing - A picture made with a pencil, pen, crayon, marker, or pastel.

implied line - A line that is broken or has spaces, such as a dotted line or dashed line. An implied line can also be a repeated shape, repeated form, or the edge of a shape or form.

landscape - An artwork that shows an outdoor setting typically displaying the beauty of nature with things like plants, trees, fields, hills, and mountains.

line properties - The physical characteristics of a line are length, direction, weight, color, continuous or implied (broken), and have focus (clear or blurry).

line style - The common names we give to lines, such as straight, angled, zigzag, jagged, curved, curvy, curly, bumpy, wavy, scalloped, spiral, etc...

variety - A design principle used to add interest to an artwork by using many different objects and art elements (line, shape, color, form, etc...).

Windy Day in England by Maureen Golding
1991, gouache on paper
12 1/2" x 16"
Private collection

Lines in Landscapes

Artists often get ideas from nature. They may paint landscapes, or paintings of outdoor settings.

Kinds of Lines
Artists use many kinds of lines to create landscapes. Look at Windy Day in England by Maureen Golding. The artist painted this outdoor setting in a way that does not look realistic, or look like the actual setting. She used many different kinds of lines. What kind of lines do you see? Where do you see thin, thick, long, short, or curvy lines? Point out some horizontal lines, horizontal lines go from side to side. How did the artist use lines to show a windy day?

Actual and Implied Lines
In Landscape of Murnau by Alexej von Jawlensky the artist used thick, bold lines to outline the objects in his painting. Lines that outline objects are called actual lines.

Landscape of Marnau by Alexej von Jawlensky
1912, oil on canvas
48.05 cm x 53.5 cm
Private collection

Now compare Landscape of Murnau to A Small Volcano in Mexican Countryside by Jose Maria Velasco. What is the subject of both paintings? Do you see actual lines in A Small Volcano in Mexican Countryside? The edges of the objects in A Small Volcano in Mexican Countryside are suggested by implied lines.

A Small Volcano in Mexican Country Side by Jose Maria Velasco
1987, oil on canvas
Narodni Galerie, Prague, Czech Republic

If the artist had used actual lines to outline the objects in A Small Volcano in Mexican Countryside, would the painting look more realistic or less realistic?

Sprial Jetty by Robert Smithson
1970, black rock, salt crystals, earth, red water (algae)
3' x 15' x 1,500'
Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Environmental Artwork
Have you ever seen anything in nature like the object in Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson? The artist used nature itself to create this environmental artwork. Environmental art is made from materials found in nature and placed in a natural setting. What materials did the artist use? How did he show actual lines?

Think Critically - Tell what you have learned.

Studio Time: Implied-Line Landscape

Materials:

magazines or a computer (used to view various landscapes), sketchbook, pencils, white paper, colored pencils or markers

Plan

Find a picture of an outdoor place. Identify implied lines in the picture, think about how the edge of one shape touches another shape. Brainstorm the kinds of shapes and values you will use to create implied lines. Plan the details in your drawing. Make some sketches for a landscape.
Check list:
- Original means "your own idea."
- I made a landscape. A picture all about land and the beauty of nature
- I used implied lines to create artwork.

Create

Select the sketch you like the best. Lightly sketch or copy it onto white paper.

2. Use colored pencils or markers to complete your landscape.
3. Include implied lines in your drawing.

Reflect - Tell about your artwork.

Photograph and Submit your work on Google Classroom.

Photograph sketches as well as completed artwork.
"Add" (attach) to Google Classroom assignment.
"Mark as done" to submit your work for a grade.

Challenge: Foil Landscape Drawing

Create a landscape on foil by transferring a drawing onto foil, trace lines on foil with glue and yarn then complete with markers.

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