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The seven motifs are the building blocks of art. When combined, they form an alphabet for drawing used throughout the history of art dating as far back as the earliest carved and painted designs known. Nature is the ultimate resource for art, and these lines are found in the horizon, the sun, a nautilus shell, and a leaf. They surround us, if you look closely, you will see.

The concept of the seven basic motifs, as clarified by 20th century Mexican artist Adolfo Best-Maugard in his 1925 publication, A Method for Creative Design, shaped the art of Walter Anderson. The seven lines referred to are actually derived from two shapes — the curved and the straight line.

As secretary to the National Preparatory Schools of Mexico (1921 – 1924) and as an associate of Diego Rivera, Adolfo Best Maugard’s book gained wide acceptance and was influential in shaping art educational theory of the time. His recommended method stresses that students should begin with using the lines first. This will give them an immediate feeling of accomplishment of their own ability, and it allows the student to first master the abstract lines before copying a realistic image that comes through your eyes.

Best-Maugard’s book was particularly intriguing because of his idea that all design in every culture is based on a set of seven symbols or lines — the spiral, the circle, the half-circle, the s-curve, the wavy line, the zigzag, and the straight line. He explores the psychological nature of these lines and their timeless quality throughout all history. The spiral, for example, is often found in Neolithic stone carvings dating back 5000+ years ago from locations in Newgrange, Ireland to the ancient megaliths on the island of Malta.

Best-Maugard also includes photographs and drawings of motifs from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, up through Classical Greece and Rome, and on to the present. They are found on pottery, in wall paintings, decorated book pages, on Pennsylvania Dutch barns and Romanian Egg decoration. They occur in Africa, China, and as tattoos in Borneo. They are Mexican and Malay, Apache and early American. Human beings have used them as long as pictures have been made, and they also form much of the basis for our alphabets.

Click here to print out the Seven Motifs