Introduction to
Line Drawing
Based on the archaeological evidence, it appears that approximately 25,000 to 30,000 years ago,
line drawing was one of the visual ways our earliest ancestors employed to record aspects of the
world that they inhabited. To anyone who has seen images of cave drawings, in books or in the
actual caves in southern France and Spain, it is clear that these individuals were skilled. These line
drawings are pure examples of artistic expression.Humans perceive reality in terms of relationships between
shapes of tone. The junction where one shape of tone
meets another is evident as the edge of an object meeting
another edge. Early humans perceived this and in their
desire to give representation to this phenomenon of the
edge of one object meeting another edge, visually, they
drew a line. With a leap of creativity, early humans invented
a language for a visual shorthand, which to this day is still
practiced by artists in a multitude of ways. It remains one of
the most expressive, varied, and disciplined ways of drawing.
There are so many ways that artists have used line drawing
that an entire book could be devoted to displaying examples
of them, yet the book would only scratch the surface of the
subject. In this chapter, you will find a number of examples
that are quite different from each other and that are
intended to start you working with and thinking about line
drawing.
The more you practice to develop your skills and experiment
with different methods of line drawing as an artist, the more
you will be able to see your own personal drawing “signa-
ture” begin to emerge in your drawing. This is a natural
process and shouldn’t be forced; otherwise, you run the risk
of hindering the learning process and developing a contrived
style in your work. If you work diligently, with an open mind
and a spirit of exploration of study, you will find that new
surprises will materialize in your work as you evolve techni-
cally and artistically. This is what it means to work as an
artist.
Leonardo da Vinci’s great technical skills are evident in this
copy of “The Head of Saint Philip”. He has achieved the illu-
sion of a human head in profile with sparse shading and
one dominant line. The majority of the drawing consists of
this single line of varying thickness that describes the profile
of the young man. The minimal amount of shading gives
volume to the head, but the accuracy and control of line are
responsible for this very natural and lifelike portrait.
Practice to Develop Your Style
Copy after Leonardo da Vinci’s
Head of Saint Philip,by Dean Fisher