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About this quote

What does it mean?
The vertical line grounds the artist's vision, providing a reference for curves and direction.
In plain terms
Vertical lines help me keep curves and directions in check.
What can you take from it?
Use a stable reference like the vertical to guide your compositions.

Where it applies

  • sketching
  • drawing
  • landscape

Putting it to work

  • establish verticals
  • check relationships
  • draw with purpose

Questions to consider

  • What guides your lines?
  • How do you find structure?

Another view

Strict adherence to verticals might limit organic or chaotic styles.

More from Henri Matisse

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  2. A musician once said: In art, truth and reality begin when one no longer understands what one is doing or what one knows, and when there remains an energy that…

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  3. What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or disturbing subject matter, an art which could be for every mental worker, …

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