Portraits in a Line

Luke Button

Year: 11

School: Eastern Hills Senior High School

Medium: Digital prints of pen drawings

Artist statement: Portraits in a Line is essentially my way of telling a story through the use of simple single-line drawings. Most of the people I draw are connected to me in some way or another – often family members or friends – and as such it is fitting to connect them all together in a book: a ‘story of my life’ if you will.
The line drawings are equal – they do not portray some in worse or better lights than others. Yes, you can still achieve the detail, but in my drawings everyone is similar; same bust shots and same style of line, and roughly the same amount of time spent on each one.
The progression through the book is not chronological – however, they are ordered in a way that makes sense to me; in a subconscious fashion.
Furthermore, I have used this artwork to study how many features; gender, ethnicity, age etc., can be determined from just one simple line. It is inspiring to create artworks using a simple guide: a portrait, a bust, one line, just paper and a marker, and then minutes of focused drawing. For example, my mother, whom I drew twice, appeared very different each time yet managed to still retain that slice of ‘mum.’
Art continues to amaze me. Sometimes I feel like it’s not me who draws but something else, something inside. These lines are my inner thoughts.”