The Art & Science of Drawing / Contours

What Will I Learn?

Craft compelling contour drawings.

Use overlaps and inner contours to create the illusion of volume in drawings.

Draw using cross contour lines that describe the topography of a subject in great detail.

Use atmospheric perspective to give drawings a sense of great depth.

Students will learn foreshortening and how to convincingly draw even the most foreshortened of objects.

Requirements Some drawing experience recommended. If you’re a true beginner, try The Art & Science of Drawing / Basic Skills.

Description Here in the sixth week of THE ART & SCIENCE of DRAWING series, you’ll learn to describe complex, volumetric form using three kinds of contour lines. First, you’ll learn to craft a detailed outside contour. Next you’ll learn to draw inner contours and overlaps that will describe any subject with great depth. Finally, you’ll learn to draw using cross contour lines to create the illusion of dramatic volume and deep space. By the end of this course, you’ll understand how to combine different kinds of contour lines to draw any form. You’ll even be introduced to foreshortening, one of the most sought after drawing skills.

THE ART & SCIENCE of DRAWING is a remarkable new program that will teach you how to draw one day at a time. The program is simple, each day you’ll watch one video lesson that will introduce an essential drawing skill, and then do the recommended practice. THE ART & SCIENCE of DRAWING is overflowing with powerful insights into the drawing process and offers some of the clearest, most accessible drawing instruction available. Many of the tools and techniques you’ll learn here are rarely seen outside of private art academies.

This course is the sixth installment of an 8-part series. If you’re a beginner, we recommend going through the entire series in the following order:

Basic Skills

Dynamic Mark Making

Form & Space

Measuring & Proportion

Contours

Shading Fundamentals

Shading: Beyond the Basics

If you’ve got some drawing experience, feel free to mix and match The Art & Science of Drawing courses to suit your personal needs as an artist!

Who is the target audience?

Any artist wanting to improve their drawing or painting skills.

Any artist wanting to create more dynamic and believable drawings or paintings.

Any student preparing for a career in the arts.