Contour Line
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
The big rhinoceros
Thierry Virton
Fine Art Drawings - 46 x 65 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 18.1 x 25.6 x 0 inch
£368
Majestic beach Lov in Blue P2017 1033
Aldema Design & Art
Painting - 200 x 140 x 3 cm Painting - 78.7 x 55.1 x 1.2 inch
£4,313
Homage to Thelonious Monk
Sam Grigorian
Painting - 40 x 50 x 0.2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
£1,687
Danse sur le vieux monde
Robillard Puvinel
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
The Orchestral Overture
Anatole Krasnyansky
Fine Art Drawings - 62.2 x 49.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 24.5 x 19.5 inch
£6,325
Sans titre 7. Série Skull
Christophe Faso
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 30 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
£449
Nu assis dans un fauteuil, une jambe repliée
Henri Matisse
Print - 38.8 x 25.7 x 0.1 cm Print - 15.3 x 10.1 x 0 inch
£18,421
Leader Sheep (blue)
Jérémie d'Angelo
Painting - 80 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
£2,336
We Are The Square Jocular Clan 2
Takashi Murakami
Print - 47 x 47 x 0.1 cm Print - 18.5 x 18.5 x 0 inch
£850
La mère et l'enfant
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
A new world
Thierry Virton
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 62 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 24.4 x 0 inch
£368
5:5, you are still ok. (1)
Vianca Reinig
Photography - 108 x 100 cm Photography - 42.5 x 39.4 inch
£2,965
Vision 9
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0 inch
£135
Sculpteur travaillant à un buste de femme II
Pablo Picasso
Print - 54 x 41 cm Print - 21.3 x 16.1 inch
£7,189
Curva 18/28
J/Y Delaunay-Israël
Fine Art Drawings - 108 x 108 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 42.5 x 42.5 x 0.4 inch
£1,797
Blanco Perfecto
James Bonachea
Painting - 99.8 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 39.3 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
£1,434
Relax under the blue sky
Jean-Philippe Berger
Painting - 81 x 41 x 4 cm Painting - 31.9 x 16.1 x 1.6 inch
£315
The bottle and roses
Alexander Shandor
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
£3,373
Makarska Riviera
Alexander Shandor
Painting - 70 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£5,060
Sin darnos cuenta 15
Carme Pastrana
Painting - 25 x 25 x 0.5 cm Painting - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.2 inch
£674
Archeo Corpus I
Marie Christine Palombit
Painting - 114 x 59 x 2 cm Painting - 44.9 x 23.2 x 0.8 inch
£2,336
Sans titre, exit serie
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 90 x 90 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
£1,779
From the Series of Visit from another planet
Sam Grigorian
Painting - 70 x 100 x 0.2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
£3,373
Echelle sierra, Exit série
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£1,977
Coup de foudre fatal
Christiane Bernais
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.4 inch
£1,438
Blossom Banksy
Jean-Michel Lourenço
Painting - 70 x 52 x 0.5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 20.5 x 0.2 inch
£494
Deux hommes et un criquet
Valérie Abadie
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 26 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
£171
Find the nude 1
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
£315
Male Figure in Blue
Kathleen Ney
Fine Art Drawings - 35.6 x 43.2 x 2.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 14 x 17 x 1 inch
£413
Untitled, Portrait figurative
Celso Castro
Painting - 101.6 x 149.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 40 x 59 x 0.1 inch
£2,530
Poncho Jueves 26 de Mayo
Celso Castro
Painting - 149.9 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Painting - 59 x 40 x 0.1 inch
£2,530
Abstract Nude 23
Alexandre Moore Rockefeller
Painting - 70 x 110 x 0.6 cm Painting - 27.6 x 43.3 x 0.2 inch
£4,044
Écho de lumière 1-22
Alexandre Moore Rockefeller
Painting - 40 x 34 x 0.2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 13.4 x 0.1 inch
£404
So beautiful pregnant /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
£207
Sans titre 6. Série Skull
Christophe Faso
Fine Art Drawings - 28 x 28 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11 x 11 x 0.1 inch
£449
Sans titre 2. Série Skull
Christophe Faso
Painting - 28 x 28 x 0.2 cm Painting - 11 x 11 x 0.1 inch
£449
Contour Line
A contour line in all its simplicity is the marking used by artists to define the shape of their subject without using shading. Essentially, they outline the subject, with emphasis on the mass and volume rather than on the details. A fundamental element of any drawing or painting, contour lines are often the first technique adopted when experimenting with art.
However, it is far more than a basic technique used by children and beginners. As a contour can convey a three-dimensional perspective, length and width as well as thickness and depth are important, and not all contours exist along the outlines of a subject. By altering the type of contour, an artist can convey details aspects of its subjects relating to their shape and form. For example, a lighter line with less gradation suggests a greater distance between the subjects, whereas a darker portion of the contour may depict a subject with little or no light source, thus conveying whether the subject is lower or perhaps compressed. Furthermore, artists use contour lines to add accents or cast shadows.
Over the course of different art movements, the concept of contour lines has waxed and waned, been reinvented and then reverted back to tradition again. During the Renaissance, artists such as Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci used contour lines in a clearly defined and almost scientific manner in order to depict human forms in a highly naturalistic way. On the other hand, impressionist artists such as Edgar Degas experimented with the vicissitude of contour lines. They could be curved or angular, heavy or light, precise or ambiguous, and sometimes all of this at the same time.
Discover both modern and traditional pieces from various art periods with emphasis on the contour line technique in artworks on Artsper.