Primary Elements

"Let's start at the very beginning.  A very good place to start.  When you read you begin with ABC."  When you draw you begin with a POINT!

POINT:  A position is space.  It’s not thick or thin.  It’s not long or short.  It just is.  It could be the beginning of something or the end.  A point signifies relationship.  You’re either on the point or not.  If you’re not on it, you’re either in front of it, behind it, under it, above it or beside it.  A point sets time in motion.  Without something, there is nothing.  Time stands still.  With a point you can say, "It's been 3 days since we got the point."  Without a point, space has no gravity.  Space is weightless.  A point gives a white piece of paper some weight.  A conversation piece.  A place to start.

Now you have a starting point...go somewhere.  Extending your point makes a line.  In mathematics, a line is an un-countable number of points.  A line has direction.  It starts and ends with a point, unless it has arrows (which should be very dark at the end of a fine line;-).  A line marks a position in space.  Lines and points make up the language of architecture.  A bold line has a certain meaning.  A very fine line has another meaning.  Lines can be dotted or dashed.  Lines are also part of the American idoms like;  "He just crossed the line!"  or  "He drew a line in the sand."  

Extending your line gives you a plane.

A plane has length and width, but no depth.  It has shape and provides a surface.  Have you ever noticed that every horizontal plane around you has something on it while you are working on a drawing?  We need more planes.

A plane provides an orientation for a drawing or picture.  It has a position in space and is made up of several lines.  The orientation of a plane gives us a clue to it's use.  A horizontal plane can be a floor, a ceiling or a table top.  A vertical plane can be a window, a door or a picture on a wall.   It could be a wall!    

Extending your plane gives you endless possibilities.  Suddenly, your plane is a place...a space with form and volume.  You can walk inside and look around OR you can walk around it and admire your handiwork.  Volume happens in a statue or a building or a car or an apple...  it has length, width and depth.   It also has planes, lines and lots and lots of POINTS!