Visual Elements

Implied Line

 Implied lines can be discontinuous lines that the viewer perceives as being continuous; they can be suggested by series of points, slashes or by the nearby endpoints of series of lines; they can be implied by the movements and glances of the figures in a composition Implied lines are lines that are not necessary drawn in an image, but are lines created by values, colors, or textures  that guide the eye though the piece of artwork.  It can also ber a line that is completed by the viewer, as in this 1990 print by Suzanne Caporael called Seeing Things: Rain.






Visual Overlapping

Edward Hopper uses overlapping in his 1930 watercolor painting the "Methodist Church, Provincetown".  He uses the roof tops of the churches covering each other to give the illusion of depth.  He paints one church top over the other.


Foreshortening

Foreshortening occurs when an object appears compressed when seen from a particular viewpoint, and the effect of perspective causes distortion.
The term foreshortening refers to the artistic effect of shortening lines in a drawing  to create an illusion of depth as in the Peter Paul Rubens painting called Hermit and Sleeping Angelica (1926-1928).  


One Point Linear Perspective 

 

One point linear perspective is when parallel lines converge at a single vanishing point on the horizon.  In Albrecht Durer's woodcut The Adoration of the Magi (1919) the veiwer is given the sense of communicating with the figures because his vanishing point is at their eye levels.



Horizontal/Vertical Compostion

Horizontal lines give a suggested  feeling of rest In Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House(1909) his architectural style uses of strong horizontal elements which stress the relationship of the structure to the land.

 Vertical lines

 Vertical lines communicate a feeling of loftiness and spirituality. Peit Mondrain uses horizonal and vertical lines in their simplest forms.