44 Artists Magazine October 2019
Build WORKSHOP
LINEAR TENSION DEMO
1
I photographed the Nike statue in full light, avoiding
heavy shadows. This is the same lighting I used for
my observational drawing (see My Model, page 43).
After printing the image on office copier paper, I taped
the photocopy onto a firm, flat surface and then taped
a sheet of tracing paper over the photocopy.4
As I worked my way down the form, I let the lines
move in and out of each fold of cloth. As I got to
the form’s edge, I “tucked” the line slightly around the
contour, making a slightly hooked point. These hooks
visually blend at the edges, helping to create the illusion
of volume. To check whether the illusion was working,
I slipped a sheet of white paper under the tracing.which wasn’t needed, since I’d turned the statue to face
the window, thus avoiding shadows. My aim was simply to
transcribe the statue from a three-dimensional object to
a two-dimensional surface in a traditional manner.LINEAR TENSION
Linear tension is a cross-contour technique. Instead of
the line following the edge of a form, the artist draws
a continuous line that moves back and forth across a form,
describing its volume without shading. The line appears to
wrap tightly around the form in curved or angled strokes
that move closer or farther from one another, but never
cross. Unlike shading, where lines are layered to create
darks, this line suggests a bas-relief form, with the draw-
ing appearing to project from the page much as George
Washington’s profile projects from a quarter (See Linear
Tension Demo, at right).OUTLINE PHOTOGRAPHY
A third way to use line is the outline photography method.
This approach isolates and then fills in shadows, producing
a polarized image that suggests three-dimensional form
with only two values: dark and light. A drawing of this
type demonstrates how the brain can organize shape, fill-
ing out the illusion of a three-dimensional object in spite
of gaps in the imagery. This effect is known as a closure
illusion—a component of Gestalt psychological theory.
(See Outline Photography Demo, pages 46–47).
These three ways of conveying form with line can be
used in isolation, but many artists combine more than one
in a single drawing. For example, crosshatched lines can
both shade and move cross-contour, thereby enhancing the
illusion of form with twice the impact.Andrew S. Conklin is an award-winning painter as well as an
art instructor at Tribeca Flashpoint College. He has also taught
at the New York Academy of Art, Parsons School of Design and
Harrington College of Design. For more information, visit
cargocollective.com/andrewsconklin.Materials (for all drawings)
MEDIA
·graphite pencil
·ink
·colored pencil
·fine-point marker (optional)
SURFACES
·translucent marker paper
·tracing paper
EXTRA ITEMS
·photo/photocopy of subject
·low-tack tape
·pencil sharpener