Figure Drawing Project

Examples of good Contour Line and Gesture drawings

Your new project assignment will involve completing many gesture drawings, contour line drawings and a few drawings rendered with shading. We will be completing most of this project in class, however you will also have additional homework assignments involving the techniques which you will learn in class. Gesture Drawings are quick sketches which illustrate basic shapes and forms along with their placement. You should be able to complete a gesture drawing in 30 seconds at the end of this project. There are no details in gesture drawings; only general shapes. Gesture drawings are a quick way to "map" out a compositional idea. If want to draw a group of objects, for example, but aren't sure which objects to include or where they should be placed on your art surface, you can quickly sketch the basic forms in your sketchbook to decide between several different possibilities. This allows you to see different compositions without spending a lot of time on small details.

Contour Line drawings are more detailed but do not include shading, generally. A contour line follows the perimeter of a shape. When you are using contour lines to draw the figure in class, you will have to show where shadows, wrinkles, folds, highlights, and other details are, such as fingers and facial features. You should not work too fast so that you can pay close attention to the lines found within the subject. You will usually draw contour lines atop gesture drawings. We will do several 1-5 minute contour line drawings.

Lastly, we will spend a couple weeks completing drawings which go from gesture drawing to contour line drawing to a drawing which has shading all in one. These more thorough drawings will be used as your final pieces to be graded.

Homework: You should have two drawings of your hand and your feet (or foot) for class on 20th. Draw these in your sketchbook. One hand and foot should be in contour lines. The other hand and foot may be either gesture drawings or a mixture of contour lines and shading. Each drawing should fill ONE WHOLE PAGE in your skectchbook. (see pics above for good examples of sketches)