Day 10 Bell stART ELEMENTS of DESIGN

On your paper or in your sketch book write the term and definition below.

• Contour means "outline", and presents exterior edges of objects. A plain contour has a clean, connected line, no shading and emphasizes an open "shell" of the subject.

Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave

Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave

“Chinese Horse,” detail of the right wall of the Axial Gallery, Lascaux, c. 15,000-13,000 BCE. Approx. 4’8” long.

Master Study

Blind ContourYour first goal as an art student is to observe, to study nature

• “A contour drawing is like climbing a mountain as contrasted with flying over it in an airplane.”

• Use your crayon, no erasing• Place the point of your crayon on the paper• Imagine that your crayon is touching the object instead

of the paper• Do let your eye move faster then your crayon• Do not worry about the ‘proportions’ of the object.

That problem will take care of itself in time.

Day 11 Bell stART ELEMENTS of DESIGN

The distinction between ‘contour’ and ‘outline’

• We think of outline as a diagram or silhouette, flat and two-dimensional.

• Contour has a three-dimensional quality; that is, it indicates the thickness as well as the length and width of the form it surrounds.

• Contour follows the sense of touch, whereas an outline may follow the eye alone.

Cross Contours

• Cross contour lines are drawn lines which travel, as the name suggests, across the form

• Cross contours may be horizontal or vertical• They help us understand the three-dimensional

form and describe it on a two-dimensional surface

• Cross contours don't have to be obvious - just indicate the direction and the imagination fills in the rest of the information.

Day 12 Bell stART ELEMENTS of DESIGN

Write in your sketch book: A view-finder is a mechanical aid for the artist

• Use a view-finder to set up your still life composition. Simply hold the viewfinder in front of you and move it back and forth to determine how much you want to draw, your eyes can automatically do the cropping within the viewfinder.

• Check the still life perspective lines (angles) with your pencil/crayon.

Another example of a view-finder that is adjustable.

Day 13 Bell stART ELEMENTS of DESIGN

Write in your sketch book:

Sketch Book homework:• Due 8/26 or 8/27• Cross-contour• Two views of your bare foot in the same picture

plane• Use your pencil or a crayon