Gallery 01:19

Lines and Shadows A few curved lines can capture an entire person. That’s all you need to see the body stretched out across the paper. Our brain, striving to create coherence and context, usually completes the rest of the picture itself. Using past experience and our ability to fill in lines and create patterns, simple strokes are interpreted into something that makes sense to you. A drawing consists mainly of lines, contours and shadows. Together they create depth and movement in an image. Line by line, new surfaces of varying colour emerge, from the white base of the paper to the velvety black of the charcoal. Shadow can define shape and surface, create contrast, and give the illusion of distance and depth. It can make a drawing more realistic by mimicking natural light conditions, but it can also be used symbolically, without any connection to the actual light. In this case, shadow becomes a conveyor of emotion, creating mood and atmosphere. Putting thoughts and ideas on paper with pencil, crayon or charcoal is often a quick process – but sometimes it can be a painstaking and methodical endeavour. In this room there are examples of drawings that range from abstraction to realism, from factual documentation to emotionally charged interpretations.