Contour Line

Descriptive Line is an

Element of Art

Contour Lines-

Picasso

War and Peace

Lines that surround and define the edges of a

subject, giving it shape and volume. These

should not be confused with a form's outlines

Discibes volume or mass of an object.

Andy Warhol Five Views of an Onion, 1950sPablo Picasso

Picasso- Igor Stravinsky

Contour defines the edges and surface ridges of the subject.

Contour Line creates a boundary “Art does not

reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.”

Paul Klee

Separates one area from another

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Madame Thadee Natanson at the Theater

Alexander CalderElephant, c. 1928

Wire and wood

Learning how to contour draw will…

Enhance your drawing skills.

Help you Observe and understand objects.

Cross Contour

Cross contour lines are drawn lines which travel, as the name suggests, across the form. Cross contours

may be horizontal or vertical, or both. Often, in

more complex forms, cross-contours will be drawn at

varying angles.

They can be complex or simplified

Let your eyes follow the contour of the object you are drawing.

When drawing contour…

You look at the object and not at your drawing.

M.C.Escher

When drawing contour let your eyes stare for two minutes at the object’s contour. As you follow with your eye, try to draw what you see.

The line should be continuous.

Focus

Draw the line slowly and with care.

Citation Needed

Use Pressure on pencil

To make thick and thin lines.

Step 1. Focus eyes on one point

Step 2. Place pencil on paper

Step 3. Imagine that your eyes

are the pencil as your eyes move,

the pencil moves.

Step 4. Do not take your eyes off the form

…move your eyes slowly along the

contour, the pencil should be moving along the same

contour. Pretend your eyes and your pencil are attached.

Step 5. Try to coordinate your pencil with your eyes

…do not move your eyes faster

than your drawing

Step 6. Act like you are touching the object you are drawing

Step 7. Move slowly, there is no finishing point.

Finished Piece