What does implied lines mean in art

The angel also is an implied line because her hand leads us towards the book that is being shared between her and the figure on the left of her. The implied lines for this painting would be the curves of the clouds which leads us to our focal point; the dragon. The implied lines in this painting would be the movement of the plants on the left side which leads us to our focal point, the small animal.

The figures from the far right and far left would be the implied lines. Theses figures body direction leads us to the figure in the middle which is the focal point. Considering only the photo on the left, the implied lines would be the corners and creases of the wall that leads to the focal point which is the lady sitting down. The implied lines in this photograph would be the movement and and eye direction of the people standing above the cliff. Below is another painting by John Singer Sargent which demonstrates clever use of lines of vision.

The male subject is looking at the painting and the female subject is looking off into the distance, seemingly uninterested. If you draw lines around these subjects, you can see the area where your attention is focused. In the painting below, notice how easily you can join all the tops and bottoms of the boats with implied lines.

It contains your attention within this tight area. This is a great example of taking what is already there and simply arranging the objects in a way which is beneficial to your composition. You might be interested in my Painting Academy course. I go into more detail on how to design interesting compositions for painting. Feel free to share with friends. If you want more painting tips, check out my fundamentals course. Great post, Dan!

The mother and the daughter sitting staring at something out of the scene creating some mystery, the daughter standing looking at the viewer, and the father looking toward his family. It alk keeps your eye moving around throughout the painting without the viewer realizing what Degas has done. There are so many other things going on in this work as well. Really useful…something most of us probably use unconsciously …I found this very helpful and will work on more implied line…..

Thanks for the information. Thanks Honor. But I think other people use different terms for it. Thanks Dan for this very interesting post. It was all rather new to me! I am told many times that I am a natural talent, and although that sounds great, painting is still hard work with lots of learning involved.

For that very reason: thank you so much! Pls keep going and a Happy and fruitful New Year! Thank you for this very informative post.

It is exactly what I need as far as information and lessons to progress in my painting. It also shows me what I never see in all the examples you give. I hope I can apply it to my wildlife paintings. Very grateful , Zina. Glad you like the examples. You will certainly be able to apply this to your wildlife paintings.

Thanks for the great insights, Dan. Your suggestions are so useful and can be put into practice immediately. There is always some great ideas in every blog. Thanks Dan, I find myself looking for implied lines in every painting I have done, I may have to tweek some now with my new found knowedge.

Thanks, Dan. Your techniques and methods are very pertinent. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. One of the greatest parts of art is that everyone understands and sees it in their own unique way.

So the examples of implied lines, after all, are just examples to show you what they can look like and how they can be used. When you decide to use implied lines in your own work, use them however you want and emphasize the things that matter to you. You will get it in a couple of minutes!

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Facebook 2 Pinterest Twitter 1 Share shares. The combination of lines leads your eye from one edge of the photograph to the other and back again. It is a very simple composition, but the bold changes in colour and texture in each section of the photograph help to create a sense of the scale of this desert landscape.