Hello, artenauta! Do you know the line art? Would you like to master this drawing technique? In this post we tell you everything you need to know about how to make line art.
What is line art?
Line art is a drawing technique that consists of using straight and curved lines with different thicknesses, angles and directions to create the figure and give it shape and volume.
Line art is monochromatic (usually black and white). One color ink (usually black) is used, degrading the tone in case you want to apply shadows or other effects.
The backing should be a solid color, usually white, but can be any other color.
With this technique you can make from simple drawings or mandalas to color, to real works of art to hang in your living room or any room in the house or office.
Line art is used for comic book illustration and character design.
Some tips to get good results with line art
- Plan the design, delimiting each area of the drawing with the different lines. Cleanliness is very important, so avoid going over and over the strokes again and again.
- Use gradients to generate volume, give depth and highlight certain areas. You will achieve greater realism in your results.
- Use different thicknesses in the line, for the same reason as in the previous point. You will give more expressiveness to your work.
- If you find it difficult to make certain strokes because of the angle from which you are looking at the drawing, move the support until you find the correct perspective to make it easily.
- Practice a lot. It is the basis for achieving mastery in any art: practice and perseverance.
- Don’t despair if you don’t get results the first time. Observe and analyze your mistakes to learn from them and grow as an artist.
- Start with simple exercises and increase the level of complexity as you gain practice and fluency. If you start with drawings with a lot of lines and details it is easy to get frustrated if you don’t get the results you expect the first time.
Now, you just have to choose a design (remember to do it in a way that the level of difficulty matches your experience) and start working. Practice over and over again until you get the results you expect.
To learn everything you need to know to control the drawing, learning to master the proportions and perspective, visit our Painting and Drawing Course, where we teach you all the techniques and materials you need to know for your work to have a professional finish.