In my last post I explained there were several ways of composing an image on the paper. We talked about Contour Line drawing last week as one of them, and how it follows the outside edge of the object. Looking at your practice contour drawings you may notice how clearly out of PROPORTION those images are. If I asked you to draw an animal right now most people would start with the head. They’d work really hard on getting the details just right. By the time they move on to the rest of the body they realize there isn’t enough paper left and the poor horse ends up with short, stubby legs, and no room for his hind quarters or tail. What we need here is what I call “Proportion drawing”.
Proportion drawing is a technique of blocking out the major body parts with simple shapes. You pay attention to the size and placement of the body shapes in relation to the other body parts. All mammals have 3 major sections; a head, chest, and hips. For most mammals, though there are many exceptions , the hips are the largest, chest is medium, and the head is the smallest. Once these sizes and shapes are proportionate , and in proper placement, a contour line connects the outside edge of the animal, and details are added at last. Watch for an upcoming demonstration video on this technique.
