Showing Curves with Lines - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Showing Curves with Lines

When drawing, how do straight lines become curved lines?

Designed for DVI by Camilla S. HanebergSlide2

What is a line anyway?

Line has MANY different meanings: you can wait in line, there is a line of scrimmage in football, line is used in math all the time, it can be a fabricated thought…”can you believe the line that guy used?”

In the art context line can be thought of as a moving point. Also in the art context, there are curvilinear lines, rectilinear lines, thick, thin, dashed, dotted, implied, and calligraphic lines. It goes on and on.Slide3

For the purposes of this presentation we will stick with line being a moving point, drawn on a surfaceSlide4

Lets start with straight lines. Lots of things we draw are made of straight lines:

Its easy to see where one straight line starts and ends when looking at a cubeSlide5

But what happens when we draw curved lines?Slide6

Looking at this simple dot-to dot coloring book picture, you can see that the wings are curved. The curves are made of short line segments linked together to form a curve.Slide7
Slide8

Check out this complex dot-to-dot…its hard to tell these curves are made from straight short segments, right?Slide9

Here is a curved circle made from stitches on a sewing machine. Each stitch is straight, but when they combine together they make a curve that meets itself to form a circle.Slide10

This train is rounding the curve…but each train car is a straight line.Slide11
Slide12

Look at the curves created with straight portions of straws for this colorful jewelry.Slide13

If you look closely at this design you will see MANY curves formed by straight line segments. Its hard not to think of them as curves, but, of course, they have become curves!Slide14
Slide15

This design is made from varying lengths of straight lines…look closely…

Long line

Medium line

Short lineSlide16

This

beautiful curvy line

highlighted

in orange

is all formed with very short line segments.Slide17

This sphere is formed with geometric shapes that fit together

to create a curved form.Slide18

The surface of digital animated figures is made from a network of geometric shapes with straight sides…look closely at Woody and you can see them.Slide19

When played these notes are scales. You may be able to imagine how they sound by looking at them. The notes will blend together to make a sound that might be described as climbing up and going back down…like a curved line.Slide20
Slide21

I bet when they built the Gateway Arch in St. Louis they used straight building materials to make the curve…

what do you think?Slide22

In this time lapsed photo of a jumping frog,

it’s path becomes an arc.Slide23
Slide24

Point of Apogee Point of

Origin InsertionSlide25

So what does all of this have to do with drawing?Slide26

Capriccio: Ruins and Classic Buildings

, 1730, CanalettoSlide27

How does Canaletto begin to make such an incredible painting of such a beautiful structure?Slide28

With Lines!Slide29

Straight lines first, and as the lines overlap and cross one another, they become accurate curves.Slide30

The blue lines form an envelope.Slide31
Slide32

The orange lines are subdividing the envelope into smaller shapes.Slide33
Slide34

The green lines are finding the angles of the curves within the structure.Slide35
Slide36

The purple lines show, that with further refinement, the curves accurately represent the structure.Slide37
Slide38

Look at the painting and see how many curves you can find…Slide39
Slide40
Slide41

These have all been made with a series of short straight lines that form curves.Slide42
Slide43