Drawing Contour & Gesture
Bible:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
God is the First Creator
Have you ever wondered where all the colors, shapes, and patterns in the world came from? God created them as a part of His design for the universe and the earth. He made the world with a variety of shapes in order to show His greatness as the First Creator.
(from Thomas Kinkade's Drawing Basics and Barry Stebbing's God & Christian Artists)
Have you ever wondered where all the colors, shapes, and patterns in the world came from? God created them as a part of His design for the universe and the earth. He made the world with a variety of shapes in order to show His greatness as the First Creator.
(from Thomas Kinkade's Drawing Basics and Barry Stebbing's God & Christian Artists)
Objectives:
In this lesson you will learn how to observe real objects and people closely. You will improve your eye/hand coordination. You will use knowledge of line, shape, and form to create contour drawings and recognize contour drawings in a work of art. You will see and draw shapes as subforms within larger forms and create a gesture drawing of a human body using subforms.
Materials:
pen, paper, pencil, erasers, body forms, small objects from home
Process:
- watch the videos:
"One way to practice observing an object you want to draw is to make a contour drawing. This type of drawing teaches you to spend most of your time looking at the shape and form of an object rather than at your paper" (Kincade, p. 52).
Contour drawing requires concentration and develops your hand-eye coordination. Take your time. Do not rush. Do not worry about making mistakes.
Contour drawing requires concentration and develops your hand-eye coordination. Take your time. Do not rush. Do not worry about making mistakes.
- Look at these contour examples:
- gather a few small objects (keys, paintbrushes, feathers, coins, etc.)
- hold each object in front of you, carefully study them - look at every bend & curve, focusing on what you see rather than what you think you see
- create a series of at least 5 contour drawings from the objects
- take your shoe off and place it on the table
- while looking at your shoe, pick a starting place and draw a contour drawing of it
- watch this video about Gesture Drawing
Gesture drawing is a quick sketch with no detail. It shows the movement of a form.
- look at these Gesture Examples:
- divide into groups of 3 or 4, shape one of the body forms to show movement and place it on the table
- create a series of at least 5 gesture drawings of the body form in different poses
- within your group discuss how different each drawing looks
- on a notecard write 5 characteristics of contour & gesture drawing, describe how you used these techniques in your drawings
Rubric:
Standards:
- VA:Cr2.1
- VA:Cr3.1