CONTOUR MEANING DRAWING CRACK

The left side of the brain deals with logic and reason and is supposedly dominant. It’s the right brain that processes visual perception and spatial awareness. The purpose of blind contour drawing is to train the right side of your brain. I even find myself drawing left-handed if it’s too awkward to shift myself to the right position. That said, I am aware that I often continue drawing while I’m glancing at my references. I haven’t done this simple exercise consciously since I was a child, and only then as fun. Many beginners know this exercise from reading ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain’where it’s described as ‘pure contour drawing’. Blind Contour Drawingīlind contour drawing is an exercise that helps with good hand-eye coordination, or so the theory goes.īlind contour drawing means drawing an object without looking at the paper, preferably without lifting the pencil from the paper. The Contour Line Art of Arthur Rackham 3. Gesture drawing usually falls into this category. The results are lively, stimulating, and very pleasing to the eye. The artist sketches several lines and gauges which one is the most accurate. It’s fast and loose, and a great way to draw. It’s almost impossible to replicate the fluidity of movement by measuring and mapping.įreehand drawing involves using the arm, as opposed to just the wrist. It takes extra talent to draw by eye alone, but when it’s mastered, it’s a style of drawing that’s far superior to anything else. An artist who draws this way is really demonstrating their drawing skills. The freehand drawing technique is mainly used for quick sketches of objects or scenes where strict accuracy is less important. Most commercial artists will use shortcuts that will speed things up, including using drawing instruments, aids, and tracing. In truth, only the best artists rely solely upon sketching freehand. This is the romantic drawing method and how the public imagines it’s always done. The artist relies on his/her observation skills alone to create the outline of a subject.

In the long run, and with regular practice, outlining your drawing properly, will save you a lot of time trying to correct mistakes later on.Ī freehand contour drawing is created without any mechanical guidelines or drawing assistance. The purpose of contour drawing, in the main, is to construct an accurate borderline before attempting anything more detailed. To coin another cliche, ‘Less haste and more pace’ should be the golden rule. Less is often more, and it’s a rare skill to be able to reduce a drawing down to its elemental lines and still carry a punch.īeginner artists are tempted to skip the drawing basics and get straight on with the fun bits. The artist must hone their observational skills to distill the drawing down to the essential lines, drawn in the right place, to the right scale, aligned, and in proportion.Ī contour drawing can be the initial sketch or indeed, in the hands of a skilled artist, it can be the final drawing. In many ways, it’s the most important element of a drawing. Rules are there to be broken, but it does help if you know what the rules are in the first place! There are no rights and wrongs, only best practices. It all starts and sometimes finishes, with an outline.

The contour line comes first and the detail comes later. The outlines are the reference points you need in order to accurately add the detail. Think of the outline drawing as the scaffold, or skeleton, upon which the form, or body, is constructed.

However, I only promote products I like and recommend) What is a Contour Drawing?Ī Contour drawing is the initial outline of an object or sketch before anything has been added. (I get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.

CONTOUR MEANING DRAWING CRACK

This is a comprehensive post, so let’s crack on. I’ll begin with the basics to confirm what I mean by contour drawing, then list the different types of contour drawings, and end with related questions. The artist draws or traces the outline of the object and fills in the interior shapes of the object by progressively adding detail, shading, and/or color. Yet there are different types of contour drawing, so what do they mean?Ī contour drawing is a technique that is used to study the shape and volume of an object and calculate the correct proportions. Arthur Rackham was a master of contour line drawingĪ contour drawing is, at its core, about using the fewest lines possible for the maximum effect.

Contour meaning drawing