(**MINOR WARNING: This post contains what some might consider to be adult content. Though these are classical master works of art, I felt obligated to put this up. The pieces in question are Titian’s Venus of Urbino, and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, both depicting nude women. Thank you!**)
As was explored in my previous post (sorry for the delay, by the way), line is an extremely important part of any modern graphic designer’s repertoire. The line, however, is not a new invention. Ever since the renaissance, the utilization of line to determine subject, proportion, and space has been imperative.
The primary function of line in any art, and any line, is to lead the eye. Whether it be around the contour of the subject, or more discreetly, to point the eye toward a company’s logo, the line moves the eye. The easiest way to show how to use this marvelous tool is to actually demonstrate with some of the great works in history.
First up is Leonardo’s Last Supper, painted between 1495 and 1498 as a fresco. The painting depicts the Christian Last supper as depicted in the bible, as Jesus sits at the table alongside his disciples. The Christ figure sits serenely in the center of the piece while his followers look taken aback at the news that one of them will betray him. One of the things that makes this piece interesting is the utilization of linear perspective to make a broken psychic line to the head of Christ (as shown in blue). Almost every architectural line converges within a very, very small area around the head. Additionally, when a line is drawn through the hands of the disciples (in yellow), they form an irregular, but distinct line, again to the head of Jesus. One thing of note, nearly all detailing that is not directly pointed at the head of the Christ figure, are horizontal, as not to distract from the center of attention. For those who haven’t read my last post, the horizontal line is less energetic than the diagonal, creating less desire for the eye to follow that line. In this case, the horizontal is outweighed by a myriad of convergent diagonals that draw the eye further back. There are many more elements to this piece, but mostly they fall out of the scope of this particular post.
The next example is from the great painter Caravaggio painted over a hundred years after Leonardo, in 1599-1600 (this is technically a baroque piece) known as The Calling of St. Matthew. The first thing you’ll notice is the number of lines in this piece that I’ve added, the second thing you’ll notice is the sharp glares and points that are so striking in this image. This painting depicts Jesus (yes, I know, they painted him a lot) as he beckons St. Matthew, who was previously a tax collector. The light of the divine fills the room, despite there being only clouded, dark windows, contrasting the divine with the mundane. One of the most striking elements is the extremely dark background illuminated by the bright light behind Jesus (a technique known as tenebrism, widely credited as developed by Caravaggio). The light falls in strong diagonals (shown in blue), penetrating the scene, and highlighting the surprised face of St. Matthew. The background is also bisected by the grungy window, further dividing the scene into the sinners and the divine. Multiple lines point to St. Matthew (shown in red), including the points of Jesus, and St. Paul. Jesus’ gaze is hard and fast on Matthew’s figure, strong and fierce, but also with a subtle hint of compassion. Three men in the room return the gaze of Jesus (in green), showing surprise and intrigue. The looks from the tax collectors are the primary vehicle through which Christ is seen. Though he is obscured in shadow, and clearly not the main subject of the piece, Jesus gets a fair amount of attention by the strength of the psychic lines from the tax collectors, as well as being on the right side of the image (more on this in a later post). At last, to complete the sense of divine symmetry, the two men on the left side of the painting look down, counting their earnings (orange), possibly referencing the teaching ‘…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’
Moving away from Jesus, The Birth of Venus painted by Sandro Botticelli around 1486. The painting lacks many of the more modern elements like linear perspective that were apparent in the last two images, but does include some atmospheric perspective as the shoreline fades away. The method of movement in this piece is through the use of sectioning and linear movement. All of the figures besides Venus appear to be flowing on the wind, with an almost weightless quality, with all lines from the figures converging somewhere on the nude goddess. Few straight hard lines can be found in this image (besides the horizon and the trees), giving a sense of flowing sensuality and beauty in all of the figures. The midline of Venus is soft and composed (in purple) with her hips tilted in a classic contrapposto (you can see the ‘s’ shape from her foot through her hips and to her shoulders). The maidservant on the right frames the image with her arms (in blue, complimented by the heads of the wind-spirits to the left. The eye is immediately drawn directly into the center, specifically to the face of Venus, and then studies the simple beauty of the figure.
Titian’s Venus of Urbino was quite the risque work at the time of its painting in 1538, the nude Venus reclining in front of a pair of maids. One of the most important elements in this piece is the stark field of black behind the goddess, nearly bisecting the image. The Architectural linear perspective (purple) converges just left of center, within the large black field. From there the eye moves into the sensuous body and face of the Venus. A contour is made between the white of the nude’s flesh and the dark of the background, accentuating the elegant curves of the body. The centerline (red) of the nude figure is twisted just slightly out of reclining toward the viewer to make a more intimate feel, and give better depth to the curves. The fabrics covering the bed are made up of soft, textured curves and angles, giving it a comfortable feel. The maids in the background’s heads form a line (not shown) back into the center of the piece, drawing the eye once again along the body. Titian uses the curved form, and convergent linearity to give a distinct sense of eroticism and beauty, giving the form life, setting, and feel.
Ok, I know I covered a lot of ground, but I hope you’re still with me. The elements of line that these great masters have used to create the paintings looked at aren’t that hard to use on your own, especially when reduced down into their most simple form. The next work (and final work) that I’m going to cover is extremely different than all the previous ones, but I think gets my point across very effectively.
This work by Paul Rand for a lecture at the MIT Media Lab made in 1996 is simplicity itself. The work has little ornamental content, and every element is added out of necessity. The primary subject is just a row of multicolored lines thrown diagonally across the mid-section of the piece. The major diagonal (with a black line in it) is divided into smaller sections running perpendicular (the red lines), pointing to two blocks of white text on a black background. The piece is unified, and complete in composition, yet shows a tremendous mastery of the craft of design. The elements in this piece both allow our eye to freely roam the picture plane, but also guides us to where the relevant information is.
Well I hope that I’ve given some clarity to my previous post, helped some, and inspired others. Stay tuned in the near future (I promise) for ‘Elements of Design Part 2: Shape’.
*All images taken from MediaWiki with the exception of the Paul Rand poster, taken from the MIT Media Lab web page.
