Contour & gesture · 1 of 4 · 6 min
Stay on the edge
Contour drawing is not a style. It is a way of looking: the pen moves only as fast as the eye.
- 1
One edge at a time
Pick the outer silhouette and travel it without lifting. When the edge tucks behind another form, stop, jump, and start the next visible edge.
- 2
Look at the plate
The drawing is allowed to drift. What is not allowed is inventing a curve you did not just see. Slow down at the mouth of the bottle and the handle of the cup.
- 3
Overlaps
Where one form passes in front of another, stop the back line. That gap is what makes the still life occupy space.
Critique
Drill
Keep the pen down along each edge. Look at the plate more than at your line.