CONTOUR LINES
Above: Detail from “Caire” by Tim O’Keefe”
“Contour” is taken from a French word meaning “outline” or “to go around”. In art “contour” usually has two meanings. The use I am least familiar with is to just block in the main shapes avoiding details. To me a better word for this is “gesture”. Gesturing is that first scribble that gets you started and then comes the contour lines that start to define shapes.
I remember way back in 1965 my very first art class in college was with a wonderful young, energetic, and beautiful (that never hurts) teacher. I think her name was Liz Barsmian. She spoke passionately about contour lines and it has been her version that I have taught in my last 30 years of art instruction. Contour lines not only mean “to go around” but they can add depth to a line drawing by varying the width of the the lines. A variety of line widths can, so magically, add interest and depth to a drawing that I have often taught,” even if you do it wrong it still makes for a better drawing”. “Do it wrong?” How can you do it wrong?
Contour Drawing: The Right Way
The “right way” to do a contour line drawing (and Liz, wherever she is will back me up on this) is to make your lines thicker in the shaded areas and thinner even to the point of nonexistence in the highlighted areas. Liz drilled contour lines into our heads by having us draw leafy plants and the bark on trees and showed us that just about every living thing was better represented with contour lines.
Soon after basic drawing I was introduced to Life Drawing. Once my 18 year old brain got over the shock that, “yes, in fact, there really was a totally naked girl standing six feet in front of me”… and I am not saying how long that recovery took but it didn’t help that “that girl model” sat in front of me in my science lecture hall, and yes I had to withdraw from science that semester. Now where was I going with this? Once I got over ALL THAT I fell in love with all things anatomical. Muscle and bone origins and insertions, condyles and epicondyles and yes I WAS A STAR! Because Liz had taught me how to correctly draw contour lines. Nothing puts the “life” into a life drawing better than a well placed and correctly drawn contour line.
A Success Story
Just a few weeks ago, I was jurying the City of Livonia Art Show . When I walked into the room I zeroed in on Tim O’Keefe’s beautifully done portrait entitled “Caire”. This is a study of perfectly drawn contour lines. They are relatively thick in the shaded areas and thin to non existent in the highlighted areas. Congratulations Tim on your Third Place Award for the awesome portrait of your beautiful little granddaughter.
As always feel free to share your success stories in the comments section below!
