#Cross ontour line drawing how to#

The continuous line contour drawing is also an option to have one exercise that will allow you to look at your paper. There are also some exceptions to this, including contour drawings to some degree if you wish to glance at your drawing to get your hand location corrected. These are drawing exercised that can include the blind contour drawing and the continuous line contour. You want to train your hand and cognitive memory to recall where your hand is placed so that a drawing can be completed in less time. While many contour drawings will focus on the outside edge, the trick to making a contour drawing is to focus less on repeated glancing at your drawing paper. This is essentially the whole reason why a contour drawing is given its actual name.Ĭontour drawing is unique, being that it doesn’t contain any shading within the drawing itself. The one obvious detail that stands out with contour line drawings is the outer contour line that forms the outside edge. With each technique, you’ll learn specific aspects of contour drawing that give each type its own signature and value. There is more than one type of contour drawing that you can practice on your own. Line Drawing Techniques WHAT ARE CONTOUR LINER DRAWINGS?.How Do You Draw a Blind Contour Drawing?.

#Cross ontour line drawing how to#

How to Draw Without Looking at the Paper.

Once the student has found the measurement, they will check the proportions against their drawing and make adjustments as needed. For instance, their measurement might come out to 1 width to 3 height (1x3).

Students will then measure the width against the height of the object they are observing. This measurement is the width of the bottle and can be thought of as one unit. On the right of the bottle, the student will use their thumb to mark where the width of the the bottle ends. The student will align the bottom of their pencil with the left of the bottle. The student will turn the pencil so that it runs horizontally across the object they are measuring. To 'measure' the proportions of an object, students will once again hold out their arm and lock their elbow with pencil in hand.The student will then make adjustments to their drawing. With their arm still locked, the student will compare the angle they measured against their own drawing. The student will turn the pencil so that it is aligned with the angle they are drawing (for instance, a student might use this method to find the slope between the neck and the base of the bottle). With pencil in hand, the student will hold out their arm and lock their elbow. To 'cite', a student will first grab a pencil.Students who are experienced in drawing may choose to draw another challenging object, and students who struggle with drawing may choose to draw another easy object. Challenging objects include square shaped bottles, irregular shaped cups, teapots, and blenders. Easy objects include wine bottles, milk jugs, and mason jars.

When setting up their still life, I asked students to pick:

They chose from an assortment of bottles, jars, milk jugs, blenders, and teapots. In this project, my students set up a still life at their tables of four. We called this project 'Cross Contour Still Life'.įor those who do not know, a ' cross contour' is a line that runs across the surface of an object and curves to indicate a plane change. We spent two weeks learning about line variation, and how line can be used to create the illusion of depth and dimension. This was the first project that my Drawing 1 students worked on this semester.