We challenge you to:

Design something with only* lines

* Intended loosely. You may use shapes for backgrounds and you can use path effects, shading, clips and... well whatever really - the main part of your artwork should be line-based. Keep the standard high and let this restriction fuel your creativity!

Let's see what you come up with!

While we know we are going to get some stunning artwork, we also want to encourage beginners. If you are new to Inkscape, feel free to keep it simple.

Multiple entries are welcome, and please do stick around for the chat!

All abilities are invited to get involved. The complexity of your entry is down to you.

Please post your finished artwork below. 

IMPORTANT: If you would like to know what you could do to improve your artwork, add the phrase to your comment: "Brutal Feedback" --- only for those with nerves of steel! (Please include a brief description of your process, difficulties you have experienced and your desired outcome).

All entries to be submitted by 31 August 2023.

Please spread the word!
#inkscapechallenge

Please see CHALLENGE RULES before submitting your artwork

Instructions/Information

• To submit your artwork, scroll to the bottom of the page and while logged in, click the paperclip (bottom-left) to upload your image, add a description in the text box (optional) and click "Submit Reply".
• If you'd like to post work-in-progress artwork, create a thread in the "Work in Progress" section of the forum, and post your images there, with the title "August 2023 Lines Only WIP - [your artwork title]" (you are welcome to ask for help there if you get stuck). When finished, post the final graphic to this thread.
• There are no winners (HOWEVER, YOUR ARTWORK SUBMISSIONS ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED INTO THE INKSCAPE ARTIST OF THE MONTH CONTEST). These challenges are intended to inspire, to encourage you to share your work and to build a supportive community.
• If you post your artwork here, you agree for us to share your artwork and use your artwork to create a banner (in the event that you win Artist of the Month) - to opt out, add "Please don't share" to your post.
• You're encouraged to discuss and offer feedback/constructive criticism to others, but please be respectful.
• Most importantly, be creative, give your best, and have fun!

We look forward to seeing your entries!

Challenge entries (so far)

All artwork submitted to the challenge this month will be considered for (next month's) Inkscape Artist of the Month Contest (along with other artwork submitted to the Inkscape website).

This will be a difficult but interesting challenge. While waiting for something to think of, I'm sharing this made a while ago. The image itself explains how it was made. By the way, @pacer I love that image, really interested in how you got it.

@mrks9 I'm glad you like the graphic. I used clip groups to separate the fingers. Starting from the top left, the lines become increasingly 'wiggly' toward the bottom right. I did use shapes as shadows to create some contrast. I further manipulated the lines (by eye) to give smooth(ish) and orderly edges around the hand and fingers.

The hand shape was from a previous project and can be seen in last years Valentine's challenge. I'll attach the hands illustration as it is relevant to this challenge.

I am looking forward to seeing what you produce.

Nice work as usual.

This is not my best, just an idea of flourishes (lines) that resemble a flying bird ... maybe "swooshing" around ... above and beyond.

@pacer Nice, thanks for the explanation.

Hi. This piece is a mini-pun on me, as  I have been struggling with vision issues for about 9 months.

It is a simple cartoonish idea  in black with white lines overlaid to give a cut appearance. "Open the Blinds" or "increase the wattage". Hope it brings a smile your way.

I wanted to make a penguin of lines. Ideally, standing on an iceberg in the middle of the night out at sea, full moon. Brutal Feedback wanted.

Made a simple shape to use as a source for "lines". For the animal, markings, and so on.

Then created "Don't Fence Me In".

Hoyd, this is very nice work. I like it.

Thanks @Hum

@hoyd Welcome to the challenge. Your penguin is very tidy. Its a simple design and it is well executed. If you are interested in going further, perhaps, try another animal/object and use line width or spacing to add detail. For this challenge, you could use patterns for your lines which can speed up the process. The presentation of your artwork is very good. I recommend that you maintain this high standard as you try new things.

Below is a crude example of various line patterns which can be found within the Fill and Stroke dialog. As you can see, just using black and white lines can provide contrast. I am interested to see what you come up with.

Pacer
Challenge Admin

Thanks @Pacer, that is helpful and kind of you. 

This "result" uses the same shape I shared on my previous post. From it I created the "girl" as line shapes. and then moved on to make the squiggly lines.

Someone has said a "line" is a "point" (dot) that went on a dance. Happy dancing, Inkscapers!

This was made from various lines (used to form shapes).

Perhaps it does not count for this challenge.

Look around and see ... everywhere ... "The Handiwork of God".

Hi. Maybe this one also does not qualify for this challenge.

I made a simple line and using the mouse, then  formed these individual letters.

It could spark an idea for others to use.

A few half-tone experiments that could possibly be squeezed into the definition of line art. These all start out with tiled clones overlaid on text.

@Paddy_CAD

The middle two definitely qualify.  I like the third (perspective) graphic. How did you do it?

So, that is proof of concept. I would like to see you take that technique further.

Made up of various lines. Went from inspired to frustrated, stumped, re-worked, and then hands off to consider it finished.

This may not be exactly what is looked for in this challenge.

Yet I have  got it out of my head and for potential pleasure for you.

Enjoy a great day.

100 percent from my imagination

"Lines of Power".

I don't have much time this month but I don't want to miss the monthly challenge. So I make something. A little exercise on how to make a gradient without the gradient tool.

edit: after a day, of course, i found some glitches, so I had to update the picture in the gallery.

@razr Super clean, really elegant. Thanks for sharing 💯

Thanks @mrks9. I try to move away from photorealism and create something that is more like a drawing. Now that's how it worked. 🙂

I present you my piece for this challenge! Abstract Space was designed by take inspiration from the maps contour lines. I'm super happy with the results ^^

@razr That boat is beautiful. Did you do the shading manually, with patterns or something else?

@XCANT I really like that. A nice set of colours and I like the composition too.

ok 👍

@pacer The shading is done by interpolation. This gives good and relatively easy editing options. In addition, I used other path effects at some points, although sometimes - on the lower spiro-curve, for example - only for reference.

Hello.

Hello.

Used a French lettering book from the very early 1900s (around 1906) as a reference to create the letters. Then made a line  and duplicated it to create the curved  designs within it.

Woodlands scene. Made from different lines.

Have a great day. Different lines used to creste character and curvy design inside "sign".

I made the red starter doodle from a single curvy line. This resembled a bird (possibly a hen). Then I rotated that and "saw" a potential duck within it. I created the ducks from the rotated idea. Next I  used the original starter thing to add filler on the left side of the design. Lastly, I added the dashed lines as backing for the 3 ducks portion.

Many different lines were used overall.

I call the piece "You are Mine" because we belong to the same family. A bit of  odd ducks. Still unique but alike  in how we waddle and quack and splash around.

Enjoy a marvelous day.

I couldn't come up with any ideas, so I started playing. I call it Fireworks 🎆

@mrks9 That is mesmerizing, but no ideas! Not possible. You always have good ideas. There are many possibilities. Hint: Any and every object can be made up of lines. You have 16 days to produce another awesome entry!

Here is something I thought up today.

Dropping in.

Probably wiping out.

Love the work others are doing.

@pacer I love that image 💯

I used the same  line to form the kneeling monkey's body with the Pattern Along Path LPE for individual curves.

Then I tweaked the same line to form the plant like background surrounding the monkey.

His eyes tell it all. Maybe he is out of line?

Just lines.

@mrks9 That is definitely on the right lines. Love it.

I know YOU can push this challenge further. :)

Hi. Same 6 px  line used over and over again. Straight and curved lines.

Three variants on how does the same silouette can circumscribe an abstract form.
Figures borned for a short mastodon post about the new inkscape version and its filling feature.

EDIT

1-  *post = thread

2-  It looks like I interrupted the confidential mood of this forum, when just I'm new here and intended being serious as the simplest way to introduce my image. Hello everyone.

Surrounded by his primary line, with face elements mainly done using b-spline path with "bend from clipboard", he is happy in his work.

@LoRis Welcome to the forum and to the Inkscape Challenge.

For this challenge, you are encouraged to draw something using only lines (open paths, line patterns etc.).

If you would like to discuss other topics (unrelated to this challenge) with the challengers you can do that in the Challenger Chat.

Pacer
Challenge Coordinator

Used a 6 pixel line to create this. Curved lines around lettering.

Some would use the old line, "He's just phoning it in."

Still, it's an effort to use only land lines, straight ones except it gets a little cloudy, and there's a sag between utility "poles".

Nature. The image of the leaf from @pacer inspired me for this.I loved that image 😊

Marco's, your last entry (so far) is incredible and red hot. Thank you for sharing this great art.

Ok @pacer, I'll look at how to fit better in the topic as soon.

@mrks9 I think your 'Nature' piece is the best artwork I have seen from you to date. Stunning!

You are making good progress. Sometimes progression is not linear, it speeds up and slows down. Every so often, something just clicks.

Beautiful piece thanks for sharing.

Any chance I can see the SVG? I have no Idea how you managed to do those birds. Every time I attempt interpolation I get an unpredictable mess.

Thanks, @Hum glad you like it.
Thank you, @pacer. Sure, here goes the svg. What I did here was to use only a part of the silhouette that I attached to another separate and simpler path. If you say you sometimes get an unpredictable mess, so do I, and the solution is usually to do path/reverse to one of the paths. I added to the svg one more step after the interpolation, which is to change all the nodes to smooth, it usually improves a lot, although I didn't use it for this case.

Thanks @mrks9 I'll give that a shot.

In the mean time, I came up with thisss. I'm not sssure what people will think of it.

I like it. If I remember correctly, that's one of Inkscape's default patterns. Clever way to use it 👏 Have you used Shape Builder?

@mrks9 I don't know of a pattern like that, but I haven't really explored. Below are the parts used.

The pattern was made with the shape builder tool and these elements were utilised with pattern along path and markers.

Many lines used. Made main portion of animal and then used the Bend LPE to distort it. Used a clipping mask and added text.

@pacer Oh, I see. That would be a great pattern to add to Inkscape 😉

@Hum I like it, it has a certain Ancient Egyptian feel to it 😃

Once you stated that, Marco's, I see the Egyptian resemblance.

My original intent was some kind of animal, like a fox, wolf of some kind, or an odd cat like thing.

Thank you.

I saw an image on the net and I thought of doing something similar with cat silhouettes. It's not all lines, but I think it fits the spirit of the challenge 😄

Hi. Martin Owens shared a video a while back where he encouraged users to share bug reports.

The link to the video is

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mCXhM8gxPLs&feature=share8

I referenced that video for this series of drawn  lines. I then added several triangle shaped lines to "cut out" the main horizontal curved lines.

This is version 1.

The overall idea here came from reviewing work in process videos shared by scratchboard artist Michael Halbert. His work can inspire you.

Version 2 has more swirls around my drawing of Martin.

@Hum Nice idea, although it's strange to see Martin without the bowler hat 😁

Thank you, Marcos.

Ah, yes.  Who could ever replace the real Martin Owens?

Just playing with shapes.

Another excellent work, Marcos. Clever and simple and beautiful. Thank you.

Hi. I was very excited to "discover" this "tip" as an alternate way to create dashed lines from strokes of any shape, straight  or curved.

These dashed lines can be randomly placed and with random lengths.

But ... it has limited use. In that I can only get this to work using version 92.4. Higher Inkscape versions do not work because a key field in the Live Path Effect > Sketch, cannot be set to ZERO, as it can in that version.

Still, you may be like me, in maintaining different Inkscape versions. Just so you can re-use them and maintain some functionality in them that is changed or lost in higher versions.

I add this tip here because it may help in this challenge. Or, as a minimum, it might  stir  you to explore using the LPE Sketch. Have fun and create good and great stuff.

Crazy Cat's Cradle.

Do not get caught. :)

Sound.

Again you come up with great ideas and great work.

I really like this piece. Thank you.

@mrks9

Wow! That "Sound" is amazing.

@Hum @AlgotRuneman Thank you, I'm glad you like it 😉

I've gotten a taste for playing with stripes 😄

@mrks9 nice work! I'm pleased you are enjoying the challenge.

Looking again at your bird. I have a preference for living things (animals, plants... ) and I love your style. It would be awesome to see you use those skills on more animals, if you have the time.

A wild idea made with different lines.

The Conversation.

Beautiful. 

Made of negative space and "regular" lines.

Phoenix bird over a fountain, representing fire and water.

This is great work, Marco's. Your unique mind and skills makes this another powerful entry. Thank you for sharing this.

Thanks @Hum I'm glad you like it. In this challenge I have realized the power of the interpolate extension for those who ( like me ) don't know how to draw. I think it can be a path to explore 😃

Hi there. I call this one "You Did Not Miss". 

When we speak the truth, we do not "miss". We hit the target.

Made with different lines.

@mrks9 If you keep saying you can't draw, you might believe it. I have seen otherwise.

In my opinion ~90% of drawing is the idea (you have these). The other ~10% is the stubbornness to successively scribble/scratch/play until what you see is what you want to see. If you have ideas and you can tell when something looks good/right you have all the tools to draw.

Your artwork is imaginative and clearly you have a standard that you feel you need to achieve before publishing. I'd call that an artist!

Very nice work. Thanks for sharing.

Hello everybody. This is what I made today. I'm not very happy with the final result. But hey, at least it includes an inspiring quotation😁🖖

Thanks, @pacer 🙌

This Koi will be the last entry for this month 😊

Hello. "The Original A.I.". (Apathy and Ignorance.)

A badly formed poem. Made with  some lines and some humor and yes, some multiple meanings.

I refined my proposal, a kind of "pebble in the dust".

Hi,

This is my first time posting something and I do it last minute. Sorry. I am a beginner, so if possible I would appreciate brutal feedback.

@Espp You have established a high bar for a beginner. The work is well designed and certainly fits the month's challenge.

Hello @Espp . Welcome to the Inkscape challenge and to the forum.

I agree with @AlgotRuneman . Your entry is a good fit for the challenge and a good effort for a beginner.
If you have the time, stick with the challenges (September's challenge is already posted). I am interested to see how you improve over the next few months.

Pacer
Challenge Coordinator

Thank you @AlgotRuneman. Thank you @pacer. I will try the next challenge.

Hi. "Across the Finish Line".

Thanks to everyone who made this month's challenge so novel and creative and fun.