Contour drawing

Last updated November 07, 2023

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 contour meaning "outline").^[1] The purpose of contour drawing is to emphasize the mass and volume of the subject rather than the detail; 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.^[2] This technique is manifested in different styles and practiced in drawing development and learning. It is a great style to work on, for people who are not familiar with drawing.

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^[3] 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 over the paper, and creating a silhouette 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.^[2] To make a blind contour drawing, an artist does not look at the paper or canvas on which they are working on.^[2] Another technique similar to contour drawing is outline drawing; a division between form and the space a subject occupies.^[4] All three types of drawing are considered to be gesture drawings;^[4] 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.^[4]

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.^[4] 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 forms, and conveying the sensual experience of the subject. Through thorough practice in this style, they will be skilled at drawing anything quickly and successively.^[2]

Related Research Articles

Drawing is a visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface. The instrument might be pencils, crayons, pens with inks, brushes with paints, or combinations of these, and in more modern times, computer styluses with graphics tablets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technical drawing</span> Creation of standards and the technical drawings

Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and discipline of composing drawings that visually communicate how something functions or is constructed.

An image is a visual representation of something. An image can be a two-dimensional (2D) representation, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or a three-dimensional (3D) object, such as a carving or sculpture. An image may be displayed through other media, including projection on a surface, activation of electronic signals, or digital displays. Two-dimensional images can be still or animated. Still, images can usually be reproduced through mechanical means, such as photography, printmaking or photocopying. Sometimes, three-dimensional images may also be animated.

An engineering drawing is a type of technical drawing that is used to convey information about an object. A common use is to specify the geometry necessary for the construction of a component and is called a detail drawing. Usually, a number of drawings are necessary to completely specify even a simple component. The drawings are linked together by a master drawing or assembly drawing which gives the drawing numbers of the subsequent detailed components, quantities required, construction materials and possibly 3D images that can be used to locate individual items. Although mostly consisting of pictographic representations, abbreviations and symbols are used for brevity and additional textual explanations may also be provided to convey the necessary information.

Graphics are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, in typesetting and the graphic arts, and in educational and recreational software. Images that are generated by a computer are called computer graphics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional animation</span> Animation technique in which frames are hand-drawn

Traditional animation is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until the end of the 20th century, when there was a shift to computer animation in the industry, specifically 3D computer animation.

A figure drawing is a drawing of the human form in any of its various shapes and postures, using any of the drawing media. The term can also refer to the act of producing such a drawing. The degree of representation may range from highly detailed, anatomically correct renderings to loose and expressive sketches. A life drawing is a drawing of the human figure, traditionally nude, from observation of a live model. Creating life drawings, or life studies, in a life class, has been a large element in the traditional training of artists in the Western world since the Renaissance.

The term composition means "putting together". It can be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art. Composition can apply to any work of art, from music through writing and into photography, that is arranged using conscious thought.

Hatching is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing closely spaced parallel lines. When lines are placed at an angle to one another, it is called cross-hatching. Hatching is also sometimes used to encode colours in monochromatic representations of colour images, particularly in heraldry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gongbi</span> Realist technique in Chinese painting

Gongbi is a careful realist technique in Chinese painting, the opposite of the interpretive and freely expressive xieyi style.

Visual design elements and principles describe fundamental ideas about the practice of visual design.

Blind contour drawing is a drawing exercise, where an artist draws the contour of a subject without looking at the paper. The artistic technique was introduced by Kimon Nicolaïdes in The Natural Way to Draw, and it is further popularized by Betty Edwards as "pure contour drawing" in The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

Line engraving is a term for engraved images printed on paper to be used as prints or illustrations. The term is mainly used in connection with 18th- or 19th-century commercial illustrations for magazines and books or reproductions of paintings. It is not a technical term in printmaking, and can cover a variety of techniques, giving similar results.

Elements of art are stylistic features that are included within an art piece to help the artist communicate. The seven most common elements include line, shape, texture, form, space, color and value, with the additions of mark making, and materiality. When analyzing these intentionally utilized elements, the viewer is guided towards a deeper understanding of the work.

An atelier is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or visual art released under the master's name or supervision.

Graphic communication as the name suggests is communication using graphic elements. These elements include symbols such as glyphs and icons, images such as drawings and photographs, and can include the passive contributions of substrate, colour and surroundings. It is the process of creating, producing, and distributing material incorporating words and images to convey data, concepts, and emotions.

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and typical guide to drawing and drawings:

The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines, such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts, also involve aspects of the visual arts as well as arts of other types. Also included within the visual arts are the applied arts, such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design, and decorative art.

In graphics, a line can be described as a single point that continues for a distance, or as the connection between two points. The purpose of a line in graphics is to help the artist to communicate to the viewers what it is they are supposed to be seeing or taking notice of. Line is one of the main components of design including principles such as shape, color, texture, value, perspective, and form. Lines can appear in many different forms some examples may be straight or curved; continuous or dotted; thick or thin; and real and implied. Line can be used to create structure and tone in illustrations and other artworks.

References

↑ "Contour | Origin and meaning of contour by Online Etymology Dictionary".
1 2 3 4 Sutherland, Jane. 1997. "Gesture drawings." American Artist (VNU eMedia, Inc.) 61, no. 656: 11. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost . Retrieved 9 February 2010.
↑ Nicolaïdes, Kimon. 1941. "The Natural Way to Draw". Houghton Mifflin Company Boston
1 2 3 4 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.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Contour | Origin and meaning of contour by Online Etymology Dictionary".

[sutherland-2] 1 2 3 4 Sutherland, Jane. 1997. "Gesture drawings." American Artist (VNU eMedia, Inc.) 61, no. 656: 11. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost . Retrieved 9 February 2010.

[3] Nicolaïdes, Kimon. 1941. "The Natural Way to Draw". Houghton Mifflin Company Boston

[sheenan-4] 1 2 3 4 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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]