Contour Leaf Drawings
Contour drawing is an artistic technique in which the artist uses only lines to sketch the outline of an object. I began by demonstrating how I would draw just the outline of commonplace objects, such as a pencil or a glue bottle, then transferring this idea to drawing leaves. I provided each student with the following template:
I taught the class how to trace the leaves onto white drawing paper by shading the back of the template page with a thick layer of black crayon, then transferring the leaf shapes onto the drawing paper with pencil. To define the leaves more clearly, students went over the lines yet again with a fine-tipped black marker, then colored their leaves with either colored pencil or crayon.
The final and most time-consuming step was tracing around the original shape of each leaf with colored pencil, expanding on each outline.
As each concentric outline grows larger, they eventually bump into other leaf shapes. At this stage, students have to make an artistic decision, to decide which shapes will overlap in front of others. The contour lines give these drawings a sense of movement and a lively, energetic quality.
Much thanks goes to Kathy Barbro's fantastic website, Art Projects for Kids, from which this lesson was adapted.