Line in portraiture

Line in portraiture is our fourth principle and we can learn the effects of line from the example below, the variety of line that we can use like the hard or sharp line on the left side of the figure's shoulder (below) and the top of her thigh. All other parts have soft edges like the right side of her body where it blends into the background, This is called a balance of hard and soft edges or lines and we need these for contrast to show certain areas of interest and to diffuse other areas of the picture.

If they were all hard edges in this figure it would look like a cardboard cutout and if the edges were all soft it would look all fuzzy and of no substance. It makes a drawing more three dimensional and more powerful to have some of the outline sharp or hard generally where you want people to look and then contrasted with softer lines or edges as in this example (left).

Some of the line needs to be soft and light and merged into the background like in this example, the right arm and the top of the right leg disappear into the light background areas. Other areas need to be sharp and dark like the left side of the figure's upper and lower torso, this is an example of the variety you can achieve by using light and dark lines. Have you noticed the differences in the drawing above in contrast to the drawing on the left, in the light areas of the figure above the outline is sharp and in the light areas in the figure on the left there is hardly no outline at all, the light blends into the light background. The dark areas in the figure above merge into the background and in the darks on the figure on the left they are hard edged against a light background. Two different ways of producing a variety of line.

This drawing has a variety of line both in light and dark, hard and soft, and with thick and thin lines. See the variety you can achieve in this drawing.

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