Abstract Line Art

Line art is one of the simplest yet most beautiful art styles an artist can do on a blank background. It uses the most basic shapes to create all types of beautiful ideas and emotions.

This type of art used to be exclusively monochromatic, but artists decided to include any element they wanted and claim their freedom through their artwork. That’s how this genre evolved into colorful paintings that revolutionized the concept of line art.

Moreover, line art is one of the oldest types of art, as it can be dated up to 73,000 years back. Nevertheless, it has never stopped evolving, as artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Pablo Picasso kept creating new exciting pieces.

What Is Abstract Line Art?

Abstract art has two main categories. On the one hand, figurative line art uses lines to represent the real world. Meanwhile, abstract line art uses lines to create shapes that can’t be found in the outer world and convey the artist’s thoughts and emotions. One of the first people to do this was Wassily Kandinsky.

Another great abstract line artist was Paul Klee, who created a guide on how to properly use the line in art. Moreover, Gene David decided to break all rules and use all shapes and colors to create magnificent works of art full of rhythm and emotion.

How Is Line Used in Abstract Art?

The two most popular ways of using lines in abstract art are the Matisse and the Cézanne way. On the one hand, the Matisse way consists of defining and filling fields with color so that the paint looks still, like taking photographs. Meanwhile, Cézanne’s lines are much more dynamic, as it barely delineates the forms and makes it look like the painting is moving.

Although these are the two most popular styles, they aren’t the only ways an artist can do line art. Cy Twombly and Pollock also created fantastic ways of using lines in their abstract paintings. Moreover, this is extremely important for abstract art, as painters tend to challenge the limits of their craft and create new ways of expressing emotion.

In abstract art, the line isn’t only another element of the painting. It also is a way of creating new worlds and representing thoughts that have never been seen before.

Abstract Line Art Examples

The best way of understanding abstract line art is by showing some examples. Moreover, the following art pieces are some of the most famous abstract line art artworks ever made, and they can help anyone get a better understanding of this beautiful art style.

The Master of Nightmares

The Master of Nightmares was created by the famous Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya. Printmaking pieces were the start of abstract line art, which is why many remarkable pieces were made in this art style. This particular piece belongs to Goya’s series Los Caprichos, an artistic experiment that portrays Spanish society and its several flaws.

Moreover, this art style allowed Goya to display rich lines and surfaces in a monochromatic scheme, which was highly groundbreaking for 1799, and it is still viewed as one of the most disturbing images ever printed.

The Beauty of the Love Between Science and Art

This famous painting was made by the renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci. He is one of the most remarkable minds of human history and is known for detailing anatomically correct line drawings, which were later used to teach about the human body.

He was highly skilled with his hands, and this drawing shows how the correct use of lines can display all kinds of emotions with a simple contrast between light and darkness.

Da Vinci had a scientific approach to art, so he had to investigate his surroundings to create those mesmerizing images he is known for, which is why he is still a highly appreciated artist.

The Drawings of a Modern Figure

Egon Schiele is another fantastic artist that many people love due to his multiple erotic line art portraits that are meant to display the beauty of the female body. He is known for his remarkable black lines that turned him into one of the most famous line artists of this century.

His paintings display a mix of raw emotion and psychological portraits that can be seen both as sketches and finished art pieces.

The Mistress of Unsolicited Confessions

These pieces may look weird in plain sight, as it seems like they’re not finished, but this characteristic makes them express the uncountable hidden emotions of the painter. Tracey Emin was the creator of these pieces, and she managed to capture the essence of our world in these fantastic drawings that resemble scribbles on the back of a diary.

This is the perfect example of how some simple lines can cut deep into an artist’s piece and express all the scars and bruises they’ve gone through.

Bottom Line

Abstract line art is a fantastic way of displaying emotion and beauty through the simplest element that can be used on an art piece. Therefore, many artists have included it in their artworks, and one of them is Yoel Benharrouche, who is known for his colorful abstract pieces that connect to his audience on a spiritual level.

The rest of this site is filled with a lot of information and many articles about art and Yoel Benharrouche’s pieces, so anyone is free to visit them whenever they please.