Category: Contour and Cross Contour Line

Contour Drawing of a Still-Life

A still-life of many objects, including (from left to right) a gourd, a vase, a ball, a smaller gourd in the background, and a large pumpkin that is partially visible on the side of the image.

This drawing highlights the complexity of objects through the use of contour lines, marks, and shadows. The use of contour lines and values is important to differentiate the objects from one another, despite similar coloring on a few of the objects (including the pumpkin and gourd). To create this drawing, I outlined the basic shapes of the still-life with vine charcoal and then proceeded to add some dimension and form to create a 3-D effect. After the object were all correctly placed and shaped, I continued using vine charcoal to add details in the form of contour marks and shadows on and around the objects. The drawing uses elements of basic shapes and forms, as well as contour and value.

Contour Line: Hand Studies

This drawing piece demonstrates the concept of coordinating contour lines into a realistic form art. The first thing I did was place my right hand in front of me and drew a basic form (quick sketch) of my hand and fingers. Then, from that sketch I went into more detail of the shape of my fingers, nails, and the signs I formed. Finally, I used the concept of contour lines as a form of creating texture within each hand shown as: creases and cracks throughout my hand. Materials: - 2H drawing pencil - White Plastic Eraser - Drawing Paper Pad
This drawing piece demonstrates the concept of coordinating contour lines into a realistic form art. The first thing I did was place my right hand in front of me and drew a basic form (quick sketch) of my hand and fingers. Then, from that sketch I went into more detail of the shape of my fingers, nails, and the signs I formed. Finally, I used the concept of contour lines as a form of creating texture within each hand shown as: creases and cracks throughout my hand.

Materials:
2H drawing pencil
White Plastic Eraser
Drawing Paper Pad

Cross-Contour Still Life

A Cross-Contour still life drawing of a spring, a ball, a vase, and a metal comb in grey with white contour lines. The background is orange,

For this drawing, I wanted to do a still life with some negative space qualities, as well as use cross contour and shading to give the objects depth in an interesting way. First, I drew out the objects in the still-life, then I drew the contour lines in. After that, I shaded in the shapes, letting the graphite contrast with the contour lines. Finally, I filled in the background to contrast with the objects in the frame

I think the visual effect could have been better executed with a more consistent background color, as well as shaded the shapes in darker to make the white color pop more.

That said, I’m happy with the concept and now have something to further develop if I want to.

Hand Contour Drawings

Ten contour line drawings of hands in various poses, including a finger pointing up, and a thumbs up.

This is a set of hand contour drawings I did when we were studying contour lines. My main focus was attempting to get a variety of “poses”, which I modeled on my left hand. I tried to avoid doing typical gestures to make it easier to draw from sight, and not from memory. I think I was mostly successful in this.

It was a little tricky, however, as it’s more difficult to correct mistakes in contour line without losing detail, and it’s additionally difficult to do detail in general.

I feel I did better with the smaller hands, as they look better proportioned.

Lunchbox Contours and Cross Hatching

I drew the same object three different times in this picture. In the top left corner of the page is a contour drawing of my lunch box, to the right of that is a cross contour, and under both is a cross hatching. The lunchbox itself is divided into two rectangular prisms, both the same width but one with a shorter height than the first. The lunchbox is lying at an angle in the drawings with its black handle pointing down and to the left. In the contour drawing, one can see the designs on top of the lunchbox, including a darkened curve on the left side of the top prism. A zipper lines the top of the prism underneath. Crinkles can be seen all along the lunchbox in the form of shadows. In the cross contour, these crinkles are seen as three dimensional waves in a two dimensional grid; however one notices that the bottom prism is mostly flat on each face. In the cross hatching, these waves are still visible, but appear more like shadows on the lunchbox. Nothing on this drawing was colored in based on local values.

These three pictures of my lunchbox are some of the best contours and cross hatching I’ve done for class so far.

For the contour drawing in the top left corner, I began by drawing the lunchbox without lifting my pencil. I don’t remember using any under drawings for this one. For the other two, however, I believe I did begin by drawing two rectangular prisms stacked on top of one another.

The cross contour drawing was the most difficult for me because it was hard to visualize the dips and rises in the fabric on a grid. If I were to draw this over again, I might spend a bit more time on the cross contour to make sure I have the topography correct.

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