#CONTOUR LINE LESSON PLANS HOW TO#
#CONTOUR LINE LESSON PLANS FULL#

In this portrait of a woman from 1908, the artist has exaggerated her features to create a more expressive image. Sitting Woman: Egon SchieleĮgon Schiele’s sketches are well known for their raw and emotive qualities. The portrait of Igor Stravinsky, 1909 by Picasso is an excellent example of how the artist used contour drawing to create a recognisable likeness, without resorting to shading or other volume-creating techniques. Portrait of Igor Stravinsky: Pablo Picasso Two artists that are both famous for creating captivation contour drawings are Picasso and Egon Schiele. By exercising this skill, you will be able to draw and paint with more accurate proportions when using other media and when creating larger final pieces. By doing a simple contour drawing, they can avoid getting bogged down in details too early on, and make changes more easily.

This allows them to plan the composition of their work, and decide on the placement of the various elements. When beginning a new painting or drawing, some artists start with a contour drawing first. The exercise can also be quite therapeutic, as it requires concentration and focus. It can help you to better understand and draw the forms around you, and train your eye for accurate proportions. Benefits of contour drawingĬontour drawing is a great way to improve your skills as an artist. Optionally artists can use other drawing techniques like hatching, cross-hatching, or other line techniques to add volume and depth.

#CONTOUR LINE LESSON PLANS FULL#

Once you have the full outline of your subject, you can always take it further and shade the highlights and shadows if you like how it turned out. This is an exercise in precision, so try your best to accurately draw the proportions of your subject, without aids. Trust your instincts and take time to analyse your reference. Look at the space between features and try to roughly measure the distance with your eyes.īegin by drawing the outermost shape, then move onto the smaller shapes within it. Once you’ve chosen your subject, take a look at it and break it down into its constituent shapes.

#CONTOUR LINE LESSON PLANS HOW TO#

Now that you know what a contour drawing is, and have some tips on how to create one, why not give it a try? All you need is a pencil and paper. Practice, practice, practice! The more you contour draw, the better you’ll become at it.These can be just as important as the objects themselves. Pay attention to the negative spaces around and between the objects.Remember, you don’t have to draw every single detail! Just focus on the main features.This will help you to simplify the forms when drawing them. Look at your subject and mentally break it down into basic shapes.You can always go over the lines more boldly later if you need to. This can result in some interesting and unique drawings! Contour drawing tips

This is where the artist exaggerates or simplifies the forms to express their own interpretation. This relies on analysing the reference, then portraying features of the subject or object with just line, so that it appears recognisable to the viewer.Ĭontour drawing can also be used to create more expressive and gestural drawings.

Because contour drawings rely on accurate proportions, it can be used to train artists’ abilities in rendering space, form, mass and distance. Contour drawing exerciseĬontour drawing is a great drawing exercise artists use to improve their skills. In a contour drawing, the artist aims to represent the ‘contours’ and edges of the form accurately, without portraying volume or depth by shading the light and shadows. The main details and features are outlined, but small details and value transitions are omitted. A contour drawing is a drawing technique, whereby the artist outlines the shape and mass of an object or subject.

Contour line lesson plans