DESCRIPTION: Students identify and interact with different qualities of lines used in artwork, then create two cities using lines.

OBJECTIVES: To learn how one of the most basic art elements, the line, can be used in all sizes and forms and explore the ways artists use lines in their work. In addition to identifying different types of lines in artwork, this online activity provides a hands-on approach to drawing with lines.

PROCEDURE: This activity includes a tour about different kinds of lines and presents examples of how they are used in artworks from the Walker Art Center's collection. in addition to the tour, an interactive canvas is provided for drawing two cities made with straight and curvy lines.

Here are some suggested ideas to help you think about ways to approach this activity:
If you start with a dot, then make a mark across a surface and end with another dot, you have a line. A line can be straight or curved, thick or thin, wavy or zig-zag. A line can coil around and around, be brushed, carved, revealed, or grouped together with other elements to create a lively pattern. Lines can be long or short and may show direction or movement. Lines are used by artists to make patterns, shapes, and symbols and by writers to form letters, words, and numbers.

Artworks from the Walker Art Center's collection that bring to mind these types of lines are identified. Any other artwork that makes use of a variety of lines may also be used as part of this activity.

GO TO THE INTERACTIVE ACTIVITY

MINNESOTA GRADUATION STANDARDS:
(1) Read, View, Listen
(2) Write and Speak
(3) Literature and the Arts

Age level: Appropriate for the youngest visitors.
Artworks used:

• Anthony Caro, Sculpture Three, 1962
• Jan Dibbets, Horizon 1-10 Land, 1973
• Burgoyne Diller, First Theme, 1963-1964
• Jean Dubuffet, Les perequations (The Levelings), 1971
• Adolph Gottlieb, Blue at Noon, 1955
• Sol Lewitt, Three x Four x Three, 1984
• Elizabeth Murray, Sail Baby, 1983
• Mark Rothko, untitled (#2), 1963
• Frank Stella, Damascus Gate Stretch Variation, 1968