Contour Drawing Comparison Module Overview

Introduction

Line is the potential of any drawing. Depending on the media we use, your line can be expressive, descriptive, or abstract. The line can be smooth or full of texture. It can have light value or be full of heavy dark value. Contour lines can create the simplest of drawings, but can also be descriptive and expressive.

Key Terms

1. Line - An element of art that is a path of a moving point through space.
2. Texture - An element of art that refers to how things feel or look as if they feel.
3. Form - An element of art that is a three-dimensional object, having height, width, and depth.
4. 5 Types of Lines - Horizontal, vertical, curved, zigzag, diagonal.
5. Hand-Eye Coordination Skills - What skills are improved when you do blind contour line drawing.
6. Rules of Composition - These are basic rules that will improve a drawing: enter from the left, engage all borders, and movement through the middle and around the drawing.
7. Activating the Borders - In a drawing, the objects are drawn to go off of the edges in a least two places.
8. Rule of Thirds - When developing a composition, the artists can divide the paper into thirds both vertically and horizontally in order to create a grid. Filling the grid, avoiding the middle, and placing the emphasis on the outer thirds assist in a successful composition.
9. Contour Line Drawing - A line drawing showing the outer and inner details of an object, including wrinkles, folds, and other specific details.
10. Blind Contour - Drawing a continuous line while looking at your object NOT at your paper.
11. Continuous Line Contour - When you do not pick up your pencil or pen from start to finish.
12. Modified Blind Contour - Looking at your object about 70% of the time and peeking at your paper only 30% of the time.
13. Varied Thickness of Lines - Varying the thickness of lines can assist in establishing value- thin lines for lighter value and thick lines for darker value.
14. Composition - The term given to a complete work of art and, more specifically, to the way in which all its elements work together to produce an overall effect.
15. Critique - The discussion or evaluation of visual art.
16. Ways line can depict Movement or lack of Movement (i.e. Static or Dynamic) - A static (still) line would be straight and either horizontal or vertical. A dynamic (moving) line would be diagonal or curved.
17. Ways line can depict mood (i.e. Calm, Angry, Agitated) - A calm line would generally be horizontal and straight or curved. An angry or agitated line would be a zigzag with drastic peaks.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

Artist Focus - For this module, the drawings of Pablo Picasso will help illustrate terms and concepts. To better understand his drawings, the focus page will provide some background information.

Contour Line Review - You will review contour drawing definitions from Drawing 1. The review will focus on line quality.

Mark-Making Differences Between Sharpie, Flair, and Watercolor Brush Lines - In your journal, you will experiment with sharpie, flair pen, and watercolor brush lines to develop an understanding of the quality of marks each can make.

Blind and Modified Contour Exercises - Review the process for drawing contour exercises learned in Drawing 1. Use these exercises to enhance your eye-hand coordination and to experiment more with the media you will use in this module.

Composing a Still Life - Use the rules of composition to create an interesting still life composition for three drawings required for the module project using different media: sharpie, flair pen, and watercolor brush.

Build Your Online Portfolio - As an artist, you need to begin an online portfolio that will show the progression of technique, media, and concepts. You will begin your online portfolio and add the three still-life drawings.

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION