Contour Line
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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
$454
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
$5,311
Homage to Thelonious Monk
Sam Grigorian
Painting - 40 x 50 x 0.2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Natura morta (Still life)
Gino Severini
Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 13 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.1 inch
$11,618
Danse sur le vieux monde
Robillard Puvinel
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,438
The Orchestral Overture
Anatole Krasnyansky
Fine Art Drawings - 62.2 x 49.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 24.5 x 19.5 inch
$7,500
Besoin de personne
Marc Joly
Fine Art Drawings - 58 x 42 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22.8 x 16.5 inch
$387
5TH Dimension
João Almeida (xUEkA)
Painting - 60 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,217
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
$553
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
$22,683
Leader Sheep (blue)
Jérémie d'Angelo
Painting - 80 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$2,877
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
$1,102
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
$454
Peperopoulus
João Almeida (xUEkA)
Painting - 60 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,217
5:5, you are still ok. (1)
Vianca Reinig
Photography - 108 x 100 cm Photography - 42.5 x 39.4 inch
$3,651
La mère et l'enfant
Martine Fauve Dechavanne
Painting - 116 x 89 x 2 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 0.8 inch
$1,438
Sculpteur travaillant à un buste de femme II
Pablo Picasso
Print - 54 x 41 cm Print - 21.3 x 16.1 inch
$8,852
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
$166
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
$2,213
Blanco Perfecto
James Bonachea
Painting - 99.8 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 39.3 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,700
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
$387
The bottle and roses
Alexander Shandor
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
$4,000
Scènes de vie
Claire Bonnet-Masimbert
Painting - 80 x 80 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$1,770
Makarska Riviera
Alexander Shandor
Painting - 70 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$6,000
Archeo Corpus I
Marie Christine Palombit
Painting - 114 x 59 x 2 cm Painting - 44.9 x 23.2 x 0.8 inch
$2,877
Sans titre, exit serie
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 90 x 90 x 3 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,191
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
$553
Sans titre 2. Série Skull
Christophe Faso
Painting - 28 x 28 x 0.2 cm Painting - 11 x 11 x 0.1 inch
$553
Portrait 5
Davide Cicolani
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 50 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$1,217
Cage / Sans titre
Meteo Meteo
Painting - 29.7 x 21 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
$127 $76
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
$4,000
Echelle sierra, Exit série
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,434
The last illustration
Maria Esmar
Painting - 100 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
$3,308
Coup de foudre fatal
Christiane Bernais
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.4 inch
$1,770
Blossom Banksy
Jean-Michel Lourenço
Painting - 70 x 52 x 0.5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 20.5 x 0.2 inch
$609
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
$210
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
$387
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
$490
Untitled, Portrait figurative
Celso Castro
Painting - 101.6 x 149.9 x 0.3 cm Painting - 40 x 59 x 0.1 inch
$3,000
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
$3,000
Abstract Nude 23
Alexandre Moore Rockefeller
Painting - 70 x 110 x 0.6 cm Painting - 27.6 x 43.3 x 0.2 inch
$4,979
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
$498
So beautiful pregnant /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$254
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.