Imagine someone that's partially color blinded but really digs Art & Design. That was my best friend in Graphic Design School. He would be there, at the basics of our course (read color wheel studies), trying to tell between a mid-green and a mid-blue, while I'd (also partially laughing) help him find the right tone. Later, both he and I learned that we cared a lot for the color spectrum, but that we also praised monochromatic, minimalist compositions such as some of the one-line Picasso Drawings.

Of course, not all the one-liners are necessary as minimalists as Picasso's Le Pingouin. And there are the perks of Maximalism: you can achieve a very grand style by mapping the shadows of your composition and letting your single line go crazy to work the tone scale, deepening the frequency of the lines per space.

A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.

The continuous line drawing technique consists of starting and completing a piece in one sitting: after it touches the paper, the pencil only rises from it once the drawing is finished.

Looking at Picasso's body of work, one can deduce that he was always searching for different approaches for innovative shape descriptions. It could be by ingeniously flatting 3D subjects into, well, still 3D themes placed on 2D mediums in his Cubist works or making use of creativity flows and spatial intuitivism for his one-liners.

Reduce, reduce, and reduce more

One line Picasso drawings are all about reducing a complicated image to a single but still powerful fluid line.

A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.

Oh, pigeons!

Picasso grew up studying under his dad, an artist slightly obsessed with pigeons.

A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.

The Dove of Peace

The Dove of Peace was commissioned as the First International Peace Conference logo in Paris in 1949. The inspiration was a dove given by his buddy and rival Henri Matisse.

A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.

Animal Series

So I'll share with you the coolest (in my humble opinion) One Line Picasso Drawings. Not all of them are made using a continuous line, but they are all made using a single line. We'll start with the Animal Series:

  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • Picasso's Flamingo
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
Picasso's one line portrait

Picasso's big lesson

Picasso was in a park when an unknown woman asked him for a portrait of her. She was stunned by the result and resemblance and asked how much she owed him, to which he replies:

"$5000".

"But it only took you 5 minutes!" she says.

"No, mam. It took me all my life."

It took me quite some time to be as confident as Picasso and put a reasonable price on my artwork. I want to share with you "22 ideas to increase your self-confidence." Check it out.

More one line Picasso drawings

  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.

Contemporary single line drawing artists

Of course, the one-line Picasso drawings became the inspiration for many artists and designers. So, let's take a look at some creative use of one-line illustrations:

The Iconic Sneakers by Differantly

I'll tell you that it takes a lot of guts and hard work to simplify, then re-simplify, then do it again and again. These drawings are totally fearless; they lack convention and traditionalism.

I wanted to post a special mention to a French Duo creating amazing stuff between Paris and Berlin: the DFT or Differantly. I especially admire their "Iconic Sneakers" playful illustrations, where they sum the design features of sneakers we all love to a single, unbroken line.

  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.
  • A continuous line goes a long way in these one line picasso drawings. Here we chose the animal series and the most minimalistic of his one-liners.

A Graphic String Theory

The Russian graphic designer and illustrator Sasha Lend have some cool single line drawings, especially these String Theory series.

  • The Russian graphic designer and illustrator Sasha Lend have some cool single line drawings, especially these String Theory series.
  • The Russian graphic designer and illustrator Sasha Lend have some cool single line drawings, especially these String Theory series.
  • The Russian graphic designer and illustrator Sasha Lend have some cool single line drawings, especially these String Theory series.
  • The Russian graphic designer and illustrator Sasha Lend have some cool single line drawings, especially these String Theory series.
  • The Russian graphic designer and illustrator Sasha Lend have some cool single line drawings, especially these String Theory series.
  • The Russian graphic designer and illustrator Sasha Lend have some cool single line drawings, especially these String Theory series.

One-Liner Botanical Series

Last but not least, I can't help but mention that we at Elumina also used the drawing technique to create posters inspired by nature.

  • Olive Tree - Minimalist Botanical Series - poster image
  • Lily Flower - Minimalist Botanical Series - poster image
  • Pine Tree - Minimalist Botanical Series - poster image
  • Iris Flower - Minimalist Botanical Series - poster image
  • Palm Tree - Minimalist Botanical Series - poster image
  • Ancient Lily Flower - Minimalist Botanical Series - poster image