Carolynn Helton's Classes
This site shows all the classes I have taught or currently teach. My goal is to have all the curriculum available here online for students, parents and myself. Currently I am teaching Photography/Yearbook, Art Exporations, Video/Media, Leadership and Mixed Media Arts at ERCLC (Eleanor Roosevelt) .
Developing Int/Adv Drawing Techniques Contour Line
Objective:
To develop drawing skills that build confidence in you strokes of pencils, pens, charcoal and paint. You will explore the use of line's ability to be expressive in it's use of art. You will also learn to trust what you see, not what you think you know more as you develop hand eye coordination in drawing. It is also important to learn that it is ok to mess up, it is not always a mistake. Drawings don't have to be perfect photo copy's of the subject. Sometimes getting the feeling of the drawing is more important.
Click on the slides below for Internal Dialogue, Restating, Look Hold Draw and read them, continue to come back to refer to the as you work through the process of developing Contour Line Drawings.
Requirements:
There will be 4 sections. You will have sections developing the technique for each and a final artwork produced for each. Each section will be taught over a week period. Sometimes we meet 2 days that week and other weeks it is 3. These sections are based on two days of exercises and a final art work. If there is 2 days, final artwork will probably mostly be done as homework/asynchronous classwork, if there is 3 days that third day will be a combination of sharing, workings and getting feedback on the artwork as everyone works and shares with zoom running. Contour Drawing is a simpler section so it will be on a 2 week day. The other two day week will be Dynamic Hands as it does not have too many subsections.
Lessons:
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1 week on Contour Drawing
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1 week of Restatements
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1 week of Gesture Drawing
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1 week of Dynamic Hands
Lesson:
1. CONTOUR LINE:
A contour is the line which defines a form or edge - an outline. Contour drawing is the place where most beginners start, following the visible edges of a shape. The contour describes the outermost edges of a form, as well as dramatic changes of plane within the form. Put simply, a contour line drawing is an "outline drawing," that uses no shading.
A contour drawing is done when the artist looks intently at the EDGES of an object, but rarely looks at the paper while the pencil moves. The goal of contour drawing is to make a line that is authentic and true to what you are actually seeing, and to train your hand to copy your eye's movement.
There are several different types of contour line drawings:
Day 1. one of each in your sketchbook
BLIND CONTOUR & CONTINUOUS LINE CONTOUR
'Blind contour drawing' is when contour drawing is done without looking at the paper AT ALL.
This helps train you to look more often at your subject than look at your paper. Staring down at your paper while drawing can be a hard habit to break~
CONTINUOUS LINE CONTOUR
"Continuous line contour drawing' is a contour drawing done without picking your pencil off of the paper. It is essentially done with one long line. Continuous line contour drawings can be done 100% "blind" or not.
Day 2.
MODIFIED CONTOUR
A "modified contour line drawing" allows you to look at your paper and pick up your pen, using multiple lines instead of one.
Although not completely blind, the artist should only look at the paper 10% of the time, and at the object 90% of the time. The artist only looks at the paper to place their pencil when they start a new line.
Contour drawings use no shading, but lighter and darker tonal areas can be "suggested" by varying line width and pressure. Darker, thicker lines can be used in shadow areas, and lighter, thinner lines in lighter areas.
CROSS-CONTOUR
Cross contour lines are drawn lines which travel, as the name suggests, across the form. Cross contours follow the form of the surface area- using curved lines over curving or spherical planes, straight lines across flat surfaces, etc.
WHY DO THEM?
It is a classic drawing exercise to:
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capture the edges and details that we often overlook.
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develop good hand-eye coordination which is key when learning to draw. With regular practice, contour drawing exercises will help train your hand to follow your eye's movements.
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develop the right brain (creative side!) muscles, help it become more assertive and aware of the observable.
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balance the left brain's tendency to standardize, generalize, and simplify everything, which creates stereotypical ways of seeing and drawing.
HOW TO DO IT:
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Look at the object! While you draw, look at the object 90% of the time (100% of the time if doing a BLIND contour). Look only at your paper when you are ready to make a new line on your paper and you are checking where to place it. Concentrate on practicing your hand-eye coordination instead of worrying about the look of your drawing.
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One continuous long line. do not lift the marker off the paper unless you go off the edge of the paper and hit the table or come to an absolute dead end. Whenever several lines meet, simple choose a direction and reconnect those lines later.
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Go as slowly as a snail. Draw slowly. If it helps, close one eye while you draw.
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Detail, detail, detail! Capture edges only, but capture as much information as you can! Capture every nook and cranny on paper. Each and every edge, crack, line, wrinkly, etc. that is possible to SEE.
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Work as close to life size as your sketchbook or paper will allow.
For this 1st section you will do one of each of the Contour lines during class time in your sketch book. I will demonstrate in class, then let you work. During the week we are doing this, you will also create a final artwork. There will also be time during the end of each class for the week to work on this and get feedback.
Final Contour Artwork,
Objective:
The objective of this project is to take what is learned above, apply it to an individual art creation that helps develop a freedom of style that says, it is ok not to be perfect, it is ok to experiment with drawing and mediums. To develop skills that let you go with the flow. We will continue to go back and forth with learning more control in drawing and letting go of control in the intermediate/advanced drawing segment.
Requirements:
you will create a final artwork based on elements of Blind Contour Drawing, developed into final artwork using color or shading. You can add other elements of Contour Line Drawings mentioned above but it needs to start with some element of Blind Contour. To make it more developed, make sure details are there and Color and/or shading is involved. Push yourself to be creative and looser in style. Mottos for this project is "Sometimes there is more control in not having control because it doesn't control you" meaning if you don't try to have the control over the drawing, you can let go of that anxiety of perfection... and "Go with the flow" applied here, means do not be afraid to mess up and see what you get.