Assignment 1: Contour Collection

Assignment: Make a drawing composed of contour drawings of objects which share

a theme. Pay attention to composition and line quality and consider how your
choices will effect the individual drawings and the drawing as a whole.

Objectives:
• Practice using contour drawing from observation to represent forms with a high-
degree of accuracy.
• Create a range of line quality with pencils of varying hardness.
• Develop a strong composition with active negative space, balance of repetition/variation, and/or
other Gestalt Principles.
• Choose objects that are visually interesting and related by and idea or theme.

Materials: At least 5 different objects, 18x24” paper from drawing pad (80-90lb), graphite pencils.

Strategy and Specifications:

1. Draw inspiration from Kate Bingaman Burt’s project, Daily Purchase Drawings (some of which are
reproduced on this handout), in which she drew one object that she purchased every day. This project
is an ongoing project which started in 2006. Visit her website: www.katebingamanburt.com, for more
information.

2. Choose your own subject for the drawing based on personal interests or arbitrary boundaries, such as
everything that you ate in one day, or the things that you noticed on a walk, or like Bingaman Burt,
you could draw things that you purchase.

3. Do preparatory work in your sketchbook to consider the placement and size relationships of objects in
your composition. Be sure to do at least 2 thumbnail sketches before you start. Strive to create
interesting negative shapes by the placement of the positive shapes.

4. Though Bingaman Burt’s drawings are fairly stylized, you will strive for more accuracy in your own.
Use the tools and techniques we have been working with in class (your plexi picture plane, guiding
crosshairs, etc.) to make well-rendered
contour drawings of your subjects.
Experiment with line quality to give
more information about the nuances of
your subjects and how the weight and
value of the line (lightness or darkness)
will add interest to the overall
composition.