You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less (32 page)

2. We are now going to reverse the contour lines on the second identical image. With just contour lines, we will create the 3-D illusion that the image is moving in the opposite direction. Draw this contour tube in your sketchbook.

I always enjoy the Michelin Man tire commercials. This animated stacked tire-man resembles more of a snowman/soft-serve ice cream creature than tires to me. However, this Michelin Man is an excellent example of contour lines defining shape and direction. Google “Michelin Man” and take a look at this tire fellow. With this image in mind, let’s create our own Contour Kid. We are going to draw two Contour Kids side by side to illustrate the dynamic power of contour lines.

 

1. Lightly sketch the head and torsos of two Contour Kids.

2. Sketch in the legs, and try to draw these initial details as identically as possible, just reversing the foreshortened circle “stepping toward you” leg.

3. Sketch in identical arms on both Contour Kids; just reverse the foreshortened circle from the left arm to the right arm.

4. Have fun drawing the arms swinging out and the legs stepping. Draw the curving contour lines going in opposite directions on the arms and legs to create totally different illusions of push and pull in your drawing.

You can spend days experimenting with contour lines. Take a look at a few student examples.

A
fun way to apply the contour lines you just learned about in Lesson 15 is to draw a wave of water in 3-D. As a kid growing up in Southern California, ocean waves were a large part of my life. Whenever I draw this lesson, I’m brought back to my teenage years when I would bodysurf enormous waves and see porpoises swimming in the waves right in front of me. This wave lesson is a good example of seeing and drawing contour lines in the real world.

 

 

1. Let’s begin by sketching the Drawing Direction Reference Cube to see clearly the drawing direction compass angles.

2. Draw a light guide line in direction NW.