PRINCIPAL LINES

  One aspect of a line is the direction it takes as it travels through space. The direction may be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. It may be straight or curved or angular, but because the eye follows it along, a sense of movement results. These directional movements can be used to draw together and unify the composition of pictorial spaces. The major lines used in this manner we call principal lines-those directional lines used to organize a composition. They can be formed by the actual edges of shapes in the painting, but they can also be created by a group of forms arranged along an imaginary axis. A third source of principal lines are the long axes of the shapes in the picture. It is almost instinctive to recognize some basic relationships between the principal lines in the composition and the long axis of the pictorial field. One example of this is that the traditional portrait composition of the sitter's head and shoulders is almost invariably placed in a vertically-oriented rectangle. It just seems to fit better that way. Likewise, a landscape painting's major direction is often horizontal because one of the longest principle lines in a landscape is the horizon, where the sky and the land meet. A horizontally-oriented canvas naturally fits this sort of subject. These examples are not to be taken as rigid rules, but they do make a lot of sense, and a painter who departs from these obvious connections needs to know why he or she is doing so, and how to compose effectively in such unconventional circumstances to bring off the painting well.
   Greater unity in composition is likely to result if you are not trying to incorporate many types of principal lines in one picture. Master painters often select one kind of principal line to organize their whole composition. If they choose more than one kind, they often use one as the major organizational structure while the other serves as a secondary accent or contrast. Horizontal and vertical lines repeat the horizontal and vertical edges of the typical rectangular format. These are very stable lines. They repeat the stability of the horizon in landscape or the vertical axis of a still standing human figure. Such principal lines lend a feeling of calm and stability to a composition.
   Diagonally-oriented principal lines resist the stability of the containing rectangle, slicing the pictorial field into irregular triangular segments. These lines create a vibrant energetic feeling to forms and shapes that we call dynamic. They are especially good in compositions where agitation or movement is desired.
   Movement is also a characteristic of compositions based on curving principal lines. If the principal lines are centered and aligned to the pictorial field's axis, they can produce calm within motion. If more irregularly placed, they can lend a flowing, rhythmical energy to the image.
   It is a great learning experience to try consciously to develop compositions using only one type of principle line organization-horizontal and vertical, diagonals or curves. In doing so, you may discover that you have a distinct preference for one kind of principal line organization. Such self-awareness can be a great asset to a painter; it becomes one factor in your developing a sense of your own taste and style. At the same time, experimenting with principal lines and observing them in the work of others makes you more aware of the feelings generated by certain formal/structural organizational schemes. Oftentimes, when a painting feels disjointed, when objects just seem "plopped down" in position with little sense of relationship to the others in the painting, it may be because no principal lines exist to tie the objects together. Usually, there must be several such lines to create the sense of an organized structure. Repetition of principal lines helps make the structure clear to the viewer. In fact, repetition of elements in composition is so important in creating compositional unity, it will be discussed more fully.

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