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.

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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