Blind contour drawing exercises free#

The image to the right, however, has varied line weight. The image to the left has uniform line weight throughout the entire drawing. You can communicate a lot of information just by changing up the weight of your lines. Thicker, heavier lines have weight to them, and can suggest a more pronounced area of depth, or an area of shadow.A thin, delicate, even disappearing line might indicate a very shallow edge, like a small wrinkle in a figure’s clothing. It can also indicate that the area it is contouring is an area of highlight.You can also convey depth and form, however, as well as light and shadow, with line weight: This is a way to render 3d form without the use of shading.

Continuous contour can be done while looking at one’s work, or without, in the case of blind contour.Ĭross-contour uses lines in an almost mesh-like fashion to show depth and form – like a topographical map. One is continuous contour, where a drawing is made with a single continuous line, never lifting from the page. There are a few different styles of contour drawing.

All the information in the drawings is conveyed with line. The outline doesn’t refer solely to the exterior outline, such as we’d see framing a silhouette, but also to outlines of interior details, such as folds of cloth or curls of hair. The following are all contour, or linework drawings: But in this lesson, I promise, we’ll actually be able to look at what we’re doing (though if you want to go back and give the blind contour exercise another go, it’s never bad practice). In drawing, a contour refers to “an outline, especially one representing or bounding the shape or form of something.” We got a little bit of practice with this when we did the blind contour exercise in lesson two. Chesterton puts it, “drawing the line somewhere.” More specifically – drawing in contour. In this week’s lesson, we are going to talk about, as G. Student Work Examples Download: Blind_Contour_.“Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.” The following slide presentation contains examples of my students' blind contour drawings at Modesto Junior College Basic Drawing courses as their first drawing exercise. It is noteworthy that joyful engagement in the process is one of the most critical factors of success in any creative discipline. This allows them to engage in a sustained observation of their subject and engage in the process of drawing without anxieties about their results. However, this inaccuracy is acceptable and even revered for its charm and beauty.Īlso, the students should resist the temptation to look at their paper until they stop drawing.

We can expect that such a free process makes their drawings quirky and inaccurate. Instead, they must let their eyes be distracted by portions of the form that appeal to them. Therefore, the students must not plan to start from point A and end in point B, in order to have a better chance of accuracy. Our eyes do not plan where to look, because seeing is often a free process. Therefore, seeing is a continuous and fluid process, and thus the blind contour lines must also be fluid, continuous, and non-scratchy. Our eyes engage in the act of seeing whenever it is open. During this process, it is crucial to keep in mind: They are then to allow their eyes to observe the contour lines of their subject, while their hand makes a record of that observation. The students are not to look at their drawing surface when they began to draw. in the paper and their eyes on one point of the subject of their drawing. Students are asked to place their drawing instrument, i.e., pencil, marker, graphite stick, etc. Blind Contour Drawing: The process and purposeīlind Contour Drawing is one of the first lessons and exercises in academic drawing practice, and although it is often described as helping art students to develop hand and eye coordination, Blind Contour Drawing has other benefits in developing sound drawing habits that place students on the path other artistic achievements.

Blind contour drawing exercises free#