A couple excerpts:
A line does not in reality exist to mark the boundaries of an object against its surroundings or against other objects. Tone, colour, three-dimensional vision and movement tell us where the edges of objects are in real life. The linear outline is a translation, an invented language, or rather the first phrases of a language with which we have learned to represent the visual world. - John Raynes
fig·u·ra·tive \
'fi-g(y)ə-rə-tiv\
adj (14c)
1 a: representing by a figure or resemblance :
EMBLEMATIC b : of or relating to representation of form in art <~ sculpture>
2 a: expressing one thing in terms usually denoting another with which it may be regarded as analogous :
METAPHORICAL <~ language>
b : characterized by figures of speech
— fig·u·ra·tive·ly adv — fig·u·ra·tive·ness n -
Merriam Webster's