Blind Contour Line: Blind contour line drawings are done without looking at the paper. The eye is focused on the subject and follows changing structural planes of the object while the hand follow with the pencil on paper. These drawings are intended as exercises for the eye, they are usually distorted and sometimes even unrecognizable.

Quick Contour Line: The quick contour line technique is a variation of the basic contour drawing. It is an exercise requiring less time for each drawing. You may look at your drawing more frequently than in a slow contour. The inspection of forms, however, is just as intense. A single, incisive line is the goal. However, the movement of the line is faster, less determined. In quick contour you are trying to catch the essence of the subject.

 

Contour Line: Contour line is a single, clean, incisive line. Contour line defines edges. It is, however, unlike outlines, which states only the outside edge of an object. Contour delineates the edges of planes. The quickest way to understand the difference between contour line and outline is to look at the image provided. Outline makes the hand appear flat; it simply differentiates between positive and negative shape. The contour drawing emphasizes the hand's three-dimensional appearance. If you were drawing a pencil using contour line, you would draw a line at the edge of every shift in plane. The ridges along the length of the pencil, the juncture of the metal holder of the eraser and the wood, the insertion of the eraser into its metal shaft - all are planar changes that would be indicated by contour line.

 

All text and images are excerpted form Drawing: A Contemporary Approcah b Claudia Betti and Teel Sale.

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