An exploration of line

Some pages from my art journal

How has working with LINE been and what sorts of creative practices has it inspired for you?

I enjoyed experimenting with Shantell Martin’s idea of following the line in my daily memory journal. Combining lines with words was an interesting experiment that I will probably explore some more. I’m not going to share these particular experiments because the writing is very personal, but I’ve gathered together some quotes and pages from my art journals {and a short process video at the end} where I worked with this theme.

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An exploration of texture and line

“If art is translation of the ephemeral into observable form, then always remember that it is the translation that is the craft. The craft is that which can always be improved. But the ephemeral is that which only you have been able to observe, and that which only you have chosen to translate, and so in a way, the ephemeral is you, and it is already beautiful.” ― Jomny Sun

I love modeling paste and the incredible texture it leaves on the page. I use it mainly in my sketchbooks, but I’m planning to experiment with it in my junk journals too; to see how kraft paper and book paper reacts to the weight of the medium.

I also love the way that colors can be laid down so softly on the surface on its dry, and the way you can dig in to the surface and create marks and lines. In this particular piece, I just let the lines in the texture and a few simple pencil lines tell a story.

The varying line

Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us. — Mary Oliver

What happens when you make the line the hero? An experiment with different line weights and values in a simple, spare piece that I did a while ago, that allows the line to be the hero.

Lines in abstraction

I am convinced that abstract form, imagery, color, texture, and material convey meaning equal to or greater than words. — Katherine McCoy

More experiments with modeling paste and abstraction. The lines, again, do most of the talking. I see something different almost every time I look at this painting. It’s fascinating, the way the eyes and the mind interpret patterns, isn’t it?

Line as shape

“Stop worrying about your identity and concern yourself with the people you care about, ideas that matter to you, beliefs you can stand by, tickets you can run on. Intelligent humans make those choices with their brain and hearts and they make them alone. The world does not deliver meaning to you. You have to make it meaningful...and decide what you want and need and must do. It’s a tough, unimaginably lonely and complicated way to be in the world. But that’s the deal: you have to live; you can’t live by slogans, dead ideas, clichés, or national flags. Finding an identity is easy. It’s the easy way out.” — Zadie Smith

A slightly more playful, bolder piece, transforming the line into shape. Again, I used a lot of variation in the style and weight of the lines.

The line is a map

We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art — we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones. — Anais Nin

With all of these experiments, I looked at different ways to manipulate the line. But it suddenly struck me, maps are made of lines! Here’s a little peek at the painting process for this piece.

Such a humble element — a line — and yet it can be manipulated in so many different ways with such varying effects!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my journals, and that you spent some time experimenting with LINE in your own sketchbook!

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