Getting Creative with Line Art: Everything You Need to Know

Everything you ever wanted to know about line art, and how to get started creating your own.

Line in art is a primitive but powerful form of artistic expression. It’s a dynamic technique that captivates viewers and creates impact regardless of the format or media type—making it foundational to all great design.

Whether you create analog or digital line art, the impact of the art form is unmistakable. Learning about line art, including how and why to practice it, will help you become a better, more effective, and more dynamic artist. But first, let’s start with the basics.

What is Line Art?

The art of line drawing has quite a legacy. In fact, the earliest line art drawing known to date is more than 73,000 years old. As the craft has evolved considerably since then, our depth of knowledge of line art and its application for it has deepened considerably as well. So much so that many of the world’s best-known artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Pablo Picasso—as well as contemporary icons like Jackson Pollock, Bridget Riley and Keith Haring—have created powerful art by wielding simple lines with purpose and expertise.

According to art scholars, there are five types of line in art:

• Curved
• Diagonal
• Horizontal
• Vertical
• Zigzag

The line art definition we use at Skill share is an active one: to create an illustration using basic strokes of varying weights and angles that demonstrate form and depth.

The Types of Line Art

Traditional, Analog Line Art

One of the most attractive aspects of using line in art is that it’s a technique that works across nearly every media. The subjects and applications of your line art drawings—whether they are still lifes, portraits, cartoons, or landscapes—can be as varied as your imagination allows.

If you feel comfortable drawing in any capacity, you can create great line art. Here are the tools you’ll need to get started:

• Drawing utensils. For a deep dive on proven products for you to consider, check out these guides on pencils and markers by artist Jessica Stewart.
• Paper. A larger surface is better because it allows you more range of motion to create higher quality lines. Make sure that your paper type matches your drawing utensil.
• Bold lines will help you translate your analog work into the digital realm (image source)

1. Start light and focus on quality of your lines. Draw slowly, softly, and with your whole arm. Get the sketch right without applying too much weight. Take your time, erase and redraw as needed. The goal is to get the drawing to a place you can be happy with before you start adding lines with significant weight.
2. Increase the weight of your lines and trace over your best. Once your drawing is lightly sketched, you can redraw them with increased weight. Go back over the lines that are most critical to your drawing—not every single line. If you decide to scan your work later, the lighter lines won’t be picked up as easily, so creating bolder lines from the outset will keep your art looking dynamic, even in Photoshop or Illustrator.

If you want to create line art that is less orthodox, consider using other drawing materials. Historically, most line art has been created using a pen, pencil, marker or brush, but there are exceptions–not all line art is hand-drawn. In fact, many of the earliest and most enduring examples of line art were created using woodblock carvings and metal engravings.

Woodblock

Woodblock line art involves making relief cuts into wood. The artist carves away the areas of the image that they don’t want to print. What’s left are the raised lines that are pressed into ink and onto the surface being printed—like a rubber stamp.

The Diamond Sutra, an ancient book discovered in a hidden cave in China by Sir Marc Aurel Stein in 1907, is the earliest known example of woodblock printing. Experts say a single wooden block was used to create this line art tome in 868—long before the printing techniques popularized in the West by Johann Gutenberg in the 15th century.

Engraving

Engraving is a line art technique that operates based on the inverse principles of woodblock printing. With engraving, lines are etched into metal to form the desired image. Then, ink is applied to fill the grooves, and the metal plate is pressed to create a print. Many of the Old Master Prints—the term that refers to the collective printed works created between the 14th and early 19th centuries—were created using engravings to produce intricate textures, patterns and designs.

Digital Line Art

Although some artists continue to work with only analog materials, modern technology has expanded the ways that others practice line art. Those individuals either physically draw their line art and then scan it, as noted above, or digitally draw it using an electronic toolkit.

If you’re comfortable using a stylus and tablet, drawing digitally may be the fastest and best method for you. There are three things you’ll need to consider when it comes to digitally drawing line art: Hardware, Software and Technique.

Hardware

Tablets and stylus’ pens and brushes are the go-to tools for anyone who wants to dabble in digital line art. There are dozens of models on the market – from the very high-price point, to tools that are much more affordable. Looking for the latest and great stylus pen or brush? This list will help you sort through your options. Ready to to purchase a drawing surface? If you like working directly on a screen, there are plenty of digital surface products to choose from, or if you’d prefer to work detached from your monitor, check out the wide range professional-level graphics tablets on the market today.

No matter what equipment you aim to purchase, its critical to give it a test run (or at least hold it in your hands) before you make your final decision. Every artist is different, and you may find that after testing different devices for weight and mobility you end the buying process with a different preference than when you began.

Creating Your Own Line Art

One of the most freeing things about line art is that there is no “right way” to do it. The artist can use pens, pencils, brushes, wooden blocks, metal slabs, computers, spray paint or digital surfaces to create their work. The key to creating great line art, though, is to define what matters to you before you get started.

A Free Form Approach

Are you someone who uses art as an outlet? If so, it may make sense to throw preparation to the wind and get down to sketching and crafting whatever comes to you in the moment.

Find an inspiring location where you can work undisturbed for a long period of time, get your materials together, and surrender yourself to emotion as you enjoy expressing yourself.

A Structured Approach

If you are someone who prefers to follow a process when creating your art, take your time to determine how you want to develop any new piece of work.

Do you want to be lighthearted? Soft, sweeping lines can help you achieve that. Or are you going for something more solemn and serious? Thick, tightly notched lines can evoke that feeling instead. If you are intentional about the subject or object that you’re drawing, and the emotion you plan to evoke, line art can help you achieve your artistic vision.