CONTOUR DRAWING

CONTOUR DRAWING Drawings usually begin with gesture and then contour lines – those imaginary lines around the edges of forms being drawn – are drawn over the gesture. Here Bert Dodson illustrates the process of contour drawing in his book Keys to Drawing.

CONTOUR DRAWING Contour drawing is the opposite of gesture drawing. It is not fast and loose, but slow and deliberate. It is not a quick glance at the object but a concentrated continuous looking at the object while drawing it. Contour drawing is drawing any edge or line you can see on, in, or around an object. Contour is drawing without looking at the paper but relying on observation. Contour is developing the absolute conviction that your pencil is touching the subject rather than the paper. There are many kinds of contour drawing – blind contour, modified contour, Silhouette and Internal contour, continuous line contour, and exaggerated contours. We will try some of each.

When you contour the outline of an object, do not generalize; do not draw an “almost” shape. Go slow, look at the object carefully, and draw EXACTLY everything you see. The more details you draw, the better the drawing. Generalizing not good better

Silhouette and Internal Contour For your notes and labeling sheets of drawings you may abbreviate this to S & I. This type of contour is just as the name implies; you first draw the outline in careful contour and then you contour the shapes you see on the inside. Good objects to use for this exercise are shiny objects – glass items, metallic items, or items with interesting internal patterns or shapes.

Example of S & I Contour This student first drew the outline of the jar carefully. Then the student drew carefully in contour the internal shapes. It is important that the entire drawing be in contour.

Example of S & I Contour This student drew the outline of the object first and then added the internal shapes – all in a careful contour line.

S & I of Soft Purse The outline was drawn first and then the internal shapes were added.

Continuous Line Contour It is imperative with contour drawing that you keep your eyes on the object and feel your way around it with your pencil. Continuous line contour demands this careful concentration more than any other type of contour drawing. You draw the entire contour with one line. If you stop, you must start at that same end of the line and continue. Draw all the shapes you see. It is easier to draw shapes next to each other. Let the drawing develop organically. Drawing is seeing visual relationships. Look at shapes next to each other and join them. Avoid redrawing the same lines.

Continuous Line Contour This entire drawing is one line. It includes the outline and the shapes inside like S & I but everything is joined in one line.

Continuous Line Contour This mixer is done completely with one line.

Exaggerated Contours and Cross Contours will be added later.

Leonardo da Vinci Group of Five Grotesque Heads Pen & ink There is evidence of gesture drawing, followed by contour drawing. Leonardo finished with some modeling.

Leonardo da Vinci ( ) Study of Hands for Mono Lisa There is evidence of gesture, then contour drawing and finishing with some modeling.

Andrea del Sarto Study of St. John The Baptist Red Chalk National Gallery of Victoria The artist started with gesture drawing, then added contours, and finished with some modeling.

MICHELANGELO ITALIAN HIGH RENAISSANCE 1475 – 1564 STUDIES FOR THE LIBYAN SIBYL RED CHALK ON PAPER 11 3/8” 8 7/16” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Michelangelo drew carefully the contours of his subject.

Michelangelo Madonna and Child Casa Buonarroti, Florence Michelangelo began this with gesture drawing, then added contours and then finished part of it with modeling.