Home Forums Explore Media Drawing and Sketching Contour drawing exercises – useful or not?

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  • #452931
    Miaow
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        Hello – I’m really curious about what other artists think of the benefits (or lack of benefits) of the contour drawing exercise where you *only* look at the subject, and *never* at your paper, imagining that your pencil tip is actually touching the contour of your subject, and s-l-o-w-l-y making your way around the contour.

        It seems like every “learn to draw” book has this exercise in some form or another.

        It’s a sticking point for me – I feel compelled to do them because I figure the author of the book knows more than me.

        BUT…

        I have to confess that I *really* hate doing them! I do them because I feel I’m supposed to. I’m sure I’m missing something key in my understanding of this exercise; I just feel there’s not much of a point.

        I’m not certain how these will help me improve. I get the need to really look at the subject in order to not fall back on “symbolic” simplified drawing, (like drawing a circle on top of a rectangle for a tree, for example) and to draw what you really *see*.

        But I just really hate the process as well as the product. I just feel frustrated and feel I’ll never get any better after I painstakingly “travel” my pencil tip around the contour, and then look at the pencil path on my paper and feel “well that was time-consuming, and I don’t feel that I learned anything”.

        I’m really curious about how other artists feel about this exercise, and any stories about how it improved your drawing.

        [FONT=Courier New]Jennifer ^_^

        #584409

        Contour drawing that you describe is a good exercise to develop eye to hand coordination. This is not copying. You will use this “eye to hand” when truly drawing from life, whether you realize it or not.

        #584404
        KolinskyRed
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            The origin of the this technique was commented on by a student who took the entire multi-month program many years ago in the 1960s, I think it was. The book originating this technique was published posthumously by an author who was not the originator (the instructor), but an assistant, I think.

            The student who commented on this wrote that the original instructor would not have agreed with the book being published with his in-course person-to-person exercises. The student remarked that the exercises (contour drawing was one of many) needed to be done under his tutelage in the context of studio, during the progression of exercises over the course the the hours of the day, through the weeks and through the months of the whole course. I think it was partly about context and feedback, the student felt.

            I thought that was an interesting observation by someone who did the whole program with the artist many years ago.

            My own experience for myself is that I feel it ingrains bad habits. Yikes! But there you go, that was my own take-away.

            It helps me a lot in drawing to plane ahead – both immediate next stroke, through the whole arrangement and forward through the drawing. Wow, once I’d taken on that one, it helped me quite a lot.

            Cheers

            #584403

            One thing I learned when studing chiense martial arts for 15 years is that understanding analytically what you should be learning is overrated. The important lessons on coordination comes in a level that your brain is not conscious of. I kept practicing movements that I could not believe that were related to combat in Tai Chi for years, until one day my teacher threw me a wooden sword and proceeded to attack me with his own.. surprisingly.. it was amazingly easy to defend myself… When your conscious mind analyses what you are doing it can create traps and noise in your learning, that is the reason martial arts do cloud it intentionally. I do not see why it could not work for drawing.

            "no no! You are doing it all wrong, in the internet we are supposed to be stubborn, inflexible and arrogant. One cannot simply be suddenly reasonable and reflexive in the internet, that breaks years of internet tradition as a medium of anger, arrogance, bigotry and self entitlement. Damm these internet newcomers being nice to to others!!!"

            "If brute force does not solve your problem, then you are not using enough!"

            #584408
            marksmomagain
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                I did contour exercises when I began seriously drawing as a kid. I’m self-taught other than a couple classes in high school. They helped me very much and at times I still do them to this day.

                #584405
                KolinskyRed
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                    Hey Miaow, if you like, have a look at the Classroom (top of the Drawing Forum), and the lesson title sticky (about third down):

                    https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=316196

                    I went through the first five lessons, so far. Very interesting. It’s a bit of a review for some for sure, but there’s always something to take away. With a strong cuppa in hand, I would have a look at the whole thread per lesson, both the old and the current versions of the threads. It took a while, but it was food for thought ~ great to see the individual styles, and to see the challenges and solutions for folk’s drawings. In the lesson introduction (well worth reading through), the posts, and the feedback from the facilitator – there’s loads of little gems.

                    Cheers!

                    #584400
                    chaffee
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                        These are all great replies and valid perceptions!
                        I know there are many people who do not care for this exercise but it was really a game-changer for me.
                        I think it may have been just from the sole standpoint of making me actually concentrate and study every shape, bump and line that I never really put that much thought into before.
                        15 min (no less) of blind countour of my hand, then 15 minutes (no less) of drawing my hand while looking at it really put me into a different mindset and level of drawing.

                        Tim

                        "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt" William Shakespeare

                        #584402
                        Janby
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                            I agree that it does improve your concentration when drawing, but I’ve never enjoyed doing it. I find drawing something from a reference, which is upside down, a lot easier. What you see then are the shapes, lines and angles, which to me is a lot more interesting to do.

                            Jan. C & c's always welcome.

                            #584401
                            talisman
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                                I’ve done a few but they are not my cup of tea either.
                                I think for building a sort of mussel memory it might be useful.


                                Dianna WC! Guide: Fantasy/Sci-Fi Art
                                C and C always welcome.
                                My DeviantArt Gallery

                                #584406
                                NaomiGrindlay
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                                    Drawing really doesn’t have to be that difficult or complicated. It really depends on your approach. I Strongly disagree with only looking at your subject and not your paper. How could you possibly learn anything? I can only see pure frustration as a result. I don’t recommend it at all. It’s best to focus on your drawing so you can have some control over what you are doing. If you want to learn form I suggest you try using charcoal powder, some stiff brushes and charcoal pencils, PanPastel is amazing and erases so beautifully. Spread charcoal lightly over your paper with a soft brush and then use your eraser to take out the lights. This way you can get a more 3 d effect. Then use your pencils to fill in the shadows and some details. Use a stiff brush to soften the charcoal.

                                    #584407
                                    Reed Jones
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                                        For me, learning contour drawing was like magic. It definitely opened up the correct areas in my brain that I use to “draw what I see”. The exercises were particularly helpful because before them I was a “stare down at my paper” guy. Although I got decent-looking results, I never really understood that I was busy making a symbol of a thing rather than accurately, organically and intuitively describing the positive and negative space of the thing I was trying to draw.

                                        That, to me, is the key difference in your drawing ability that contour drawing unlocks. If you REALLY want to learn how to draw freehand and get good results, you need to do these exercises. If, on the other hand, you want to draw (and then erase) perspective lines and little ovals where the head will be, and a bigger oval for the torso, and all the slavish tricks for rendering required to function WITHOUT learning contour drawing, then by all means quit doing the exercises. I prefer the organic approach that contour drawing unlocks – no question.

                                        www.reedmichaeljones.com

                                        Critiques and feedback are welcomed!

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