Line Art

The same plugin that allows me to do the impressionist paintings has the ability to convert any photo into line art as well. This is far less impressive, especially considering that of the 50+ images I tried, only these four were still recognizable as images. Most were just a jumble of lines. Here is the interesting thing though, the images that made the best line drawings, were images from my "Best of 2007" edit. This is what I enjoy so much about the plugin. It has really helped illuminate what makes a great image. If an image can convert well into a line drawing, that means the image has a universal gesture at its core. The impressionist paintings work on the same level. If a photo will convert into a painting well, that means it has good use of light. Though this plugin may seem like a gimmick, it is actually a very powerful tool for understanding the visual image. Which is not all that surprising, because the impressionist and minimalist movements that the plugin is mimicking, were both attempts at understanding the visual image.