If you draw comic books or storyboard artwork, you know how important it is to create the illusion of fast movement when limited to still, two-dimensional images. Just as perspective drawing allows you to create the illusion of depth, effective use of movement lines in your drawing can provide the illusion of fast movement and time. Movement lines are a simpler way to emulate persistence of vision; whenever an object is in motion, a brief afterimage remains in vision because of the slow refresh rate of the eyes.
Instructions
1. Determine the direction and speed of the motion you want to portray. Faster motion is represented by longer movement lines.
2. Sketch line guides in the direction the object came from, starting from its trailing surface. For example, if you wanted to draw a baseball in flight from the pitcher, the side facing the pitcher's mound would have line guides coming from the outer surfaces of the ball.
3. Draw a parallel series of densely grouped lines, or curves if the object follows a curved path, using the line guides as a basis for perspective and direction. Start from the object, draw one line and move to the next. Avoid using a zig-zag pattern; it ruins the illusion.
4. Adjust the ends of the movement lines. Make sure the lines match the contours of the object in movement.
5. Erase the lines denoting the trailing surface of the object. You want the movement lines to overlap the object itself.
6. Draw additional movement lines along the interior lines of the object in the same direction as the other movement lines. These should be shorter.
