Contour Drawings

The formal definition of a contour drawing is: The outline and other visible edges of a mass, figure or object. (from ARTLEX)

Contours for me are the essential shape of things. If you can draw the contour of an object and transform it to 2 dimensional form you can begin to see the shapes within the object. Contours are about line and not shading, and it is the thickness of line that gives the illusion of depth.

Here are some examples I have done.







The last two are from the same pile of orange peel. The very last is not a contour but I thought I would include it for interest sake. Many artists draw multiple variations of the same subject matter.