Contour drawing is an
art technique in which the artist
sketches the style of the subject by drawing lines that result in a drawing that is essentially an outline (the French word meaning "outline"). The purpose of contour drawing is to emphasize the
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
and
volume
Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). Th ...
of the subject rather than the
detail Detail(s) or The Detail(s) may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Details'' (film), a 2003 Swedish film
* ''The Details'' (film), a 2011 American film
* ''The Detail'', a Canadian television series
* "The Detail" (''The Wire''), a television epis ...
; the focus is on the outlined shape of the subject and not the minor details. However, because contour can convey a three-dimensional
perspective, length and width as well as thickness and depth are important; not all contours exist along the outlines of a subject.
[Sutherland, Jane. 1997. "Gesture drawings." American Artist (VNU eMedia, Inc.) 61, no. 656: 11. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost . Retrieved 9 February 2010.] This technique is manifested in different styles and practiced in drawing development and learning.
Importance
Contour drawing is an essential technique in the field of art because it is a strong foundation for any drawing or painting; it can potentially modify a subjects’ form through variation within the lines. It is widely accepted among schools, art institutions, and colleges as an effective training aid and discipline
[Nicolaïdes, Kimon. 1941. "The Natural Way to Draw". Houghton Mifflin Company Boston] for beginner artists. In the hands of a talented master, the line that conveys contour can deliver an astonishing amount of visual delight.
Technique
In a continuous-line drawing, the artist looks both at the subject and the paper, moving the
medium
Medium may refer to:
Science and technology
Aviation
*Medium bomber, a class of war plane
*Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data
* Medium of ...
over the paper, and creating a
silhouette
A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
of the object. Like
blind contour drawing, contour drawing is an artful experience that relies more on sensation than perception; it's important to be guided by instinct.
To make a blind contour drawing, an artist does not look at the paper or
canvas on which they are working on.
Another technique similar to contour drawing is outline drawing; a division between form and the space a subject occupies.
[Sheenan, Steven. 1994. "Two types of line drawings." American Artist (VNU eMedia, Inc.) 58, no. 625: 10. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost . Retrieved 9 February 2010.] All three types of drawing are considered to be
gesture drawings;
the practice of drawing a series of bodies in still form. An outline drawing does not include the visual amusement of human sight, while a contour drawing contains form, weight, mass, space, and distance.
Styles
By altering the character of the mark, an artist can emulate many aspects of the subject that relate form and space to the viewer. For example, a line can be lighter in value (
gradation) to suggest greater distance between objects in the drawing. A darker portion of the contour could represent an object with little or no light source; the space is compressed or the object is lower.
Continuous lines used inside the outline of a subject can add accent or cast shadow, depending on the value of the line.
Practice
The purpose of drawing blindly is to force the artist's eye to move along the contour of the subject as their pencil moves along the paper. Initially, this type of drawing may be difficult and slow, but an artist will find that with practice, it is an effective way of defining observation skills such as identifying and underlying the structure of the subject, relating
form
Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens.
Form also refers to:
*Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data
...
s, and conveying the sensual experience of the subject. Through thorough practice in this style, they will be skilled at drawing anything quickly and successively.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Contour Drawing
Artistic techniques
Drawing