# Motion lines

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{{Short description|Abstract line added to convey movement}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
thumb|right|A drawing of an airplane with motion lines to indicate that it is moving fast
thumb|180px|Motion lines added with photo-editing software, to imply motion
[[File:Ernest Montaut25.jpg|thumb|<div style="text-align: center;">''Grand Prix de France 1913''<br>[Ernest Montaut](/source/Ernest_Montaut)</div>|border]]

In comics and art more broadly, '''motion lines''' (also known as '''movement lines''', '''action lines''', '''speed lines''',<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1MKdUvE3LUC&q=%22carmine+infantino%22+motion+lines&pg=PA41 |title=Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur – Google Books |isbn=9781605490250 |accessdate=2014-01-04|last1=Amash |first1=Jim |last2=Nolen-Weathington |first2=Eric |year=2010 |publisher=TwoMorrows }}</ref> or '''zip ribbons''') are the abstract lines that appear behind a moving object or person, parallel to its direction of movement, to make it appear as if it is moving quickly. They are common in Japanese [manga](/source/manga) and [anime](/source/anime), of which ''[Speed Racer](/source/Speed_Racer)'' is a classic example.

Lines depicting wind and the trajectory of missiles appear in art as early as the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kunzle |first1=David |title=The Early Comic Strip |date=1973 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=57–60}}</ref> By the 19th century artists were drawing naturally occurring speed lines when showing the passage of an object through water or snow, but it was not until the [1870s](/source/1870s) that artists like [Wilhelm Busch](/source/Wilhelm_Busch) and [Adolphe Willette](/source/Adolphe_Willette) began drawing motion lines to depict the movement of objects through air.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kunzle |first1=David |title=The History of the Comic Strip: The Nineteenth Century |date=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=351–355}}</ref>
 
The French artist [Ernest Montaut](/source/Ernest_Montaut) is usually credited with the invention of ''speed lines''. He used the technique freely in his posters which were produced at a time when auto racing, speedboat racing and aircraft races were in their infancy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-04-05 |title=Donald Heald Original Antique Books Prints and Maps |url=http://donaldheald.com/search/search_01.php?Author=GAMY-MONTAUT |access-date=2023-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405021018/http://donaldheald.com/search/search_01.php?Author=GAMY-MONTAUT |archive-date=2007-04-05 }}</ref> The effect is similar to the blur caused by [panning](/source/Panning_(camera)) in still photography.

[Carmine Infantino](/source/Carmine_Infantino) was one of the best known practitioners of motion lines, particularly in his illustration of [Silver Age Flash](/source/Barry_Allen) comics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://therumpus.net/2013/06/the-new-york-comics-symposium-arlen-schumer-on-carmine-infantino/ |title=The New York Comics Symposium: Arlen Schumer On Carmine Infantino |publisher=The Rumpus.net |date= 7 June 2013|accessdate=2014-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2011/06/carmine-m-infantino-v-dc-comics-et-al.html |title=20th Century Danny Boy: Carmine M Infantino v. DC Comics et al: The Fight For The Flash |publisher=Ohdannyboy.blogspot.com |date=2011-06-14 |accessdate=2014-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=J.C. Vaughn, Gemstone Publishing |url=http://www.previewsworld.com/Home/1/1/71/977?articleID=133526 |title=In Memoriam: Carmine Infantino |publisher=PREVIEWSworld |date=2013-04-04 |accessdate=2014-01-04}}</ref>

The use of motion lines in art is similar to the lines showing [mathematical](/source/mathematics) [vector](/source/Vector_(geometric))s, which are used to indicate direction and force. A similar effect is found in long-exposure photography, where a camera can capture lights as they move through time and space, [blurred along the direction of motion](/source/Motion_blur).

==See also==
*''[Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2](/source/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase%2C_No._2)'', for [Marcel Duchamp](/source/Marcel_Duchamp)'s use of a painterly technique to the same effect
*[Grawlixes](/source/Grawlixes)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Motion lines}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motion Lines}}
Category:Comics terminology
Category:Linear motion

{{Comics-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Motion lines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_lines) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_lines?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.