Line Contour/Gesture Drawings

Materials needed:

*Drawing paper

*Pencil

*Charcoal or compressed chalk

This project was to look at an object and study the lines making up the object, and where the planes meet exploring through tight lines of the contour, as well as loose lines of the gesture.

In this project, I studied both the shoe of myself and the shoe of a classmate, as well as a bean-filled pig. Looking at all of the objects for line contour, it was important to get the dimensions and proportions of the objects down quickly, and filling as much of the page as possible. Drawing lightly was key before making any definite marks. Spending only 20 minutes, I drew the important lines of the objects that make them up, and where the planes met. Those lines define what the object is.

For the gesture drawings, I studied the object much like I did for the contour drawings and attempting to fill the page. In gesture drawings, however, I was looking back and forth between my paper and the object much more swiftly and frequently, moving my charcoal on the paper without lifting from the surface, attempting to achieve the perfect proportions, in swift, loose motions. After I had the whole form down, I went back and darkened the lines that I felt were the correct lines to the proportions of the form. The finished product is sketchy, loose, and energetic.

What I learned from this project was multiple views of what a gesture drawing is. My view and what I had been taught was just a sketchy, searching of lines that results in a loose sketched product. Other views I learned about are more expression lines that never have an ending. They fill the object instead of lining just where the planes intersect. It was a whole new way of looking at gesture drawing that I had never even considered or thought about before. I hope to experiment with different kinds of gesture in the future.