Valuable Implied Lines

Whenever possible, any problematic implied lines should be reworked into melodic lines, graceful lines or interrupted lines, and should be exploited to the utmost. They are vital compositional tools. These lines will result in pleasing eye movement.

The Most valuable Compositional Lines

This image illustrates the three most attractive ways to move the viewer’s eye through a painting. Think of an orchestra director when he is waving his baton. This will be moved in a graceful way. You can substitute the fast moving lines for these slower ones that are more pleasing to viewers. With this, you create your visual melody. A melodic line has a staircase effect to it, whereas a graceful line has a roller coaster effect with prominent protrusions and deep entrances. An interrupted line is a line that would otherwise be straight but is broken up into shorter segments. Its purpose is to slow down the visual pace. The gaps would be the speed bumps. (You could also call it a Morse-Code line or a connect-the-dots line.)

Where to Place Lines

So where do we create all these compositional lines?

Melodic Lines

• where water meets land, rocks, grass, clumps and floating tree trunks are handy tools
• where trees meet grass
• the bottom of cumulous clouds
• contours of rocks and rocky mountains
• contours of artistically designed evergreens
• to offset straight lines on buildings and tree trunks

Graceful Lines

• contours of cumulous clouds
• contours of crashing waves and waterfalls
• deciduous trees (in a group or singular)
• visual paths, such as streams or rivers
• Interrupted Lines
• portions of roads peeking through the snow
• accents on bushes, grass, trees and under rocks
• cracks in stone walls
• to connect the dots for stones, bushes and wild flowers near each other
• rocks peeking through snow

Melodic Lines

You can identify melodic lines by their “staircase” look. The reference photo shows an exquisite melodic line formed by the rocks against the water. Melodic lines are key to a successful landscape painting.

Graceful Lines

I would say there are deep enough dips in the contour of the autumn trees in this photo to classify this as a roller-coaster graceful line. Also the tops of the trees vary in height. When you see lines like these in nature, by all means—exploit them.

Melodic Line Shoreline

This is a good example of a designed melodic line. The eye enjoys “reading” the visual sentence until it reaches the crashing wave.

Graceful Line Stream

The stream forms a pleasant graceful line that ushers the viewer to the sunlit area.

Interrupted Line with Stones

The stones peeking through the snow form a Morse-Code pattern that slows down the visual speed.

Seascapes

Seascapes are very attractive because the contour of a wave can be designed into a graceful line. The rocks against the water form a melodic line.

Here you can see the application of all the concepts you’ve just learned in one painting.