Gesture-Line Drawings:



Alexander Calder would go out into the streets and rapidly sketch drawings of people as they passed by.  He became well-known for his skill of capturing a sense of movement (gesture drawing) with a single, unbroken line.


Gesture drawings are loose scribbles if you dare say! The free form captures the principles of movement. It's a method of giving your object and identity! Gesture drawing captures the objects appearance, what it is doing, and what it's action is! Go fast and scribble!



Use the Your Turn: Gesture & Contour-Line Drawings page under the Worksheets tab to practice gesture drawing. Follow these tips:

  1. Pick a point of view and don't change. For the practice drawings, the point of view is chosen for you: looking down onto the scissors (birds eye view).
  2. Using a pencil, choose a point to start drawing and do not pick up your pencil.
  3. Focus on the lines of the object (scissors), and draw it quickly. Do not pick up your pencil!
  4. You may draw back and forth with your pencil and scribble.  This is a free form, fast drawing.
  5. Your finished gesture drawing will be one long unbroken line (because you didn't pick up your pencil the whole time!).





Contour-Line Drawings:




Contour-line drawing is a term used for drawing all the lines (including outline, interior and texture) of an object with a single, unbroken line.

With contour-line drawing, you are focusing on all visible lines on an object.



Use the Your Turn: Gesture & Contour-Line Drawings page under the Worksheets tab to practice contour drawing. Follow these tips:

  1. Pick a point of view and don't change. For the practice drawings, the point of view is chosen for you: looking down onto the scissors (birds eye view).
  2. Using a pencil, choose a point to start drawing and do not pick up your pencil.
  3. Focus on the visible outline of the object (scissors), and draw it slowly. Do not pick up your pencil!
  4. Draw back over lines to get details. You want to draw in the details without picking up your pencil.
  5. Your finished contour drawing will be one long unbroken line (because you didn't pick up your pencil the whole time!)





Now Practice!

Complete the Stinky Shoes Sketching Practice Page found under the Worksheets tab