Elements of design: Project - Using lines in composition

Exercise: Implied lines

Aim:  The aim of this exercise is to identify and create implied lines in images.

The first part of this exercise is to identify the implied lines in the following two images.  I found the second image more obvious than the first.  There is an obvious eye line from the horses to the trainer.  In the first image I think the line is that of the direction of the bull moving through the bull fighters cape.  As you cannot see the faces of either the bull or the bull fighter you cannot identify any eye line even though there will be one.  The clearest and strongest line is that of motion of the bull and cape. 

The second part of this exercise is to identify implied lines in three of my own images.  This first image is of the roof of a motor museum.  A line of vintage motorcycles had been mounted on the roof, all pointing in the same direction creating an implied line.  There is also the real line of the roof but this is overshadowed in this image by the motorcycles.

In this second image there is an eye-line that extends along the line of the glass from left to right.

In this third image there is direction and movement and an implied line from left to right following the subject as they travel along the zip line.

The third part of this exercise is to plan and take two images that use the following implied lines;

• an eye-line
• the extention of a line, or lines that point.

This first image was taken in the props room of a local theatre.  the two faces on sticks were stacked in a packing case with a number of other props and they were staring at each other.  A minor bit of rearranging took place to give me this shot.  There is still a lot going on in this image but the strength of the implied line created by the eye-line immediately focuses the viewer to the point where it is difficult to look at anything else. 

In this second image I wanted to create the extension of a line.  The implied line runs from the stalk, down the leaf pointing to the conker making the leaf look like a hand stretching out to grab the conker.

Learning points:

Implied lines in an image give it context and a sense of deliberate purpose.  These images are much stronger for this reason.

There are many ways to include implied lines in an image.