![]() Paintings do this entirely through tone alone, allowing the reader to register the form with their own eye’s ability. The real beauty of these lithographic masterworks is that artistic display of the understanding of the form of an object. Inside the interior of the shadows, an artist would add the addition of cross-contour lines when necessary to add a bit more clarity to the forms as the forms become darker in tone. Another technique is having lines rounding toward the light become thinner in their application. When the form-contour lines are pulled closer together they produce a darker tone. One method is spacing the lines tighter together progressively as the form travels further from the light. There are several line contour techniques used to help create the illusion of shifting tones. Since the lines trace the forms, an additional layer of information is encoded into the image which gives the observer further clarity of the forms. This technique creates the illusion of both tone and depth. This variation of tone is almost entirely obtained through the use of line contour.įorm contour lines, being the primary foundation of lithographic prints, are lines that flow across the form. Standing at a distance, a lithographic image will produce a similar range in tones one would encounter within a photograph. Artists created a full range of tones using line alone (although eventually techniques of lithography allowed for tonal washes using a chemical process). Examining the technical feats of these 18th-century lithographic prints is awe-inspiring. Once lithographic printing took root, the art of rendering with line contour evolved to new heights. ![]() As a result, this wonderfully constructed rendering technique, previously a mere scaffolding, became the beautiful visage of the masterwork itself. For the most part, lithographic lines borrowed from previously developed methods used in sketch studies. This groundbreaking method of reproduction demanded the application of complex line techniques. The image was transferred to paper by being sent through a machine that would press the ink onto the page. Lithography involved carving lines into a plate which would hold ink. Lithographs were first created as a cheaper means of producing literature however, it didn’t take long for the process to evolve and become a tool for artists to produce and distribute artwork. This advanced style of form-contour line rendering was not witnessed in ‘masterworks’ until the invention of lithographic printing. The technique evolved as a process used to study forms these drawn studies would ultimately be used as elemental tools to assist the creation of painted masterworks. It is unfortunate that during its inception, this method of rendering was rarely seen by the contemporary general public. Form-contour line rendering has a long history of artistic use (as can be seen in the examples above showing classical figure studies).
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