exploring contour and line

Contouring between the lines

From the definition of a line being a silhouette, a mere 2 dimensional image, it appears that the writings of literary characters are just that. Yet, they sculpt a much more complicated picture.

Not only do I find contour within the thought process triggered by these written lines, I find contour as an idea created within the visual reading process, one starting with the visual recognition of the characters themselves.

 As we read the various familiar signs and symbols on the page, the data is processed by connecting the vowels with the consonants, the adjectives with the nouns. This is creating a contour between these shapes, the fluidity of the speech itself. Meaning is pulled and formed between the spacial relations of the characters. Networking these words and processing them, triggering visuals, emotions and even physiological reactions.

Second, The story unfolds within the mind of the reader, it can be thought of as a landscape, particularly while reading fiction. While non-fiction tells us what has happened, fiction tells us what can happen. It opens us to multiple worlds containing multiple selfs enriching the imagination. We can exist as ourselves emotionally at the same time as empathizing with a character, and pushing our boundaries of morality. The contours of this landscape of ever-expanding ideas and images wait to be explored further. We run around the vast planes of these existences picking up things here and there perhaps to categorize, label, then document it for later reference. A whole interpretational existence brought about by some representational lines written on paper.

Non-fiction of course has it’s owns recognitions, ones of enriching a way for us to analyze, deduct and conclude. 

 Perhaps to “read between the lines” means something to the effect of instead feeling the contour between the lines.

Contour drawings




photos exploring contour and line