Seeing between the lines

Drawing a straight line is a major cognitive developmental milestone. I should know. I've been working strenuously with my 18-month old son to accomplish this task for the past two months, leaving a path of demolished crayons and ripped paper as collateral damage in our wake. However, thinking positively, this apparently pointless motherly effort may just be worth it, because it turns out the line is truly a powerful artistic tool. It represents the first step in abstractly portraying the chaos around us known as reality. No painting would exist without the intricate layers of lines composing them, and often the simplicity of the line becomes lost in the artistic vision portrayed by the artist. Stewart (2012) asserts that "simply by drawing a line, we can activate a space, define a shape, or create a compositional bridge." (pg.2) I didn't really consider the importance of lines prior to reading this chapter, but I think I can rightly say they deserve a little more credit than we give them. I think my 18-month old would agree.