Lets start with some elements of art …

1. Lets start with some elements of art… • This unit uses contour line and patterns to create zentangle art.

2. Contour Line art • The French word contour means, “outline.”   • The purpose of contour drawing is to emphasize the mass and volume of the subject rather than the detail. Its objective is to capture the life, action, or expression of the subject . It is widely accepted among schools, art institutions, and colleges as an effective training aid and discipline for beginner artists.

3. There are several types of contour line drawings. • 1. A contour drawing has a 3-dimensionalquality, indicating the thickness as well as height and width of the forms it describes. Good contour drawings use a variety of line thickness to show what is forward and what is behind. Thick lines bring the form forward and thin lines make them recede. • 2. A continuous-line drawing, the artist looks both at the subject and the paper, moving the medium over the paper, and creating a silhouette of the object with out ever lifting the drawing medium off the page as you draw. The whole drawing is a continuous line. • 3. A blind contour drawing is an exercise that can be rather difficult. You look at the object you are drawing with out looking at the drawing itself. These rarely look real but can be very expressionistic by show movement and force of line.

4. Contour line drawing with thick and thin lines:

9. Line drawings by Matisse, 1869-1964

10. Line drawings by “guess”, 1940 - 1980

13. Line drawings by Picasso, 1881 - 1973

14. Lesson unit in sequence… There will be 5 exercises we will do on cheap paper to start. This project will take about 2.5+ weeks • One will be a class practice of first drawing a continuous contour line of your hand. • We will then for the fun of it try a blind contour drawing of your hand. • Next we will draw an image upside down. Why you may ask? To get you to look only at shape and line and to ignore the content all together. • You will then create a page showing 10 patterns • You will draw a shape and make it a form using contour lines that vary in thickness. Just a samll sample is required. • The last drawing will be the project.

15. Continuous line drawing of a hand

16. Zentangle Art • What is it? • Is it hard?

17. Zentangle theory • With zentangle there is no right or wrong. It is simply line drawing that becomes pattern. When you get good enough you can add values either through shading or even pattern size. You can add realistic imagery when you get better at it. • There is no erasing. Every line you make has a purpose whether it was intentional or not. • It can be representational, simply abstract or both. There is a lot of freedom with this style of drawing. • Lines can be thick and lines can be thin. Lines can show shape like contour lines. Remember that because you have to show shape created with contour lines in your project. • There is no erasing with zentangle art. You do not have an eraser in life (although many of us wish we had it). Instead in zentangle you will find that mistakes can be foundations to start anew with new patterns and a new focus and direction. • Remember that it can be meditative and you can get totally lost in it once you start. It is fun and it is meant to be enjoyed! • The following slides show you samples of zentangle art. Notice how zentangle uses contour line!

18. The next few slide samples are for inspiration only. You have to come up with your own ideas. No Plagiarism is allowed in this class.

20. This is a good sample of contour line but is lacking patterns which is required for this project. You could do something like this, just add five patterns.

22. This one is mostly contour line. I would require at least 5 patterns to be inside this (or outside of it) other than the pattern created with line.

24. This is an excellent example of contour and Zentangle. The use of both give the illusion of 3-d spheres.

28. This one would also need more patterns added to it. Remember a pattern is just a repetition of a shape or line.

34. Here is a sample of a zentangle form in steps. Notice how the lines are contour in that they show the shape and form of the object. This is what we want in this assignment, a combination of two concepts that work together in harmony to create a whole piece.

35. Here is a different concept you are allowed to try. I call it a bad hair day. I can take a photo of you with my phone, mail it to myself and print out a black and white copy for you to paste and draw around. You will have to create your patterns and lines to show shape and form with the thickness and thinness of line used.

36. What I expect out of this project: • 1. Medium: ink - marker • 2. Paper size: 12 by 18 • 3. Show me at least 5 patterns in the whole work. • 4. Lines must vary in thickness • 5. Somewhere you must use thick and thin lines to change a shape to look like a form. Shape is 2-D, form is 3-D. • 6. Can be abstract or a recognizable object – this is where you use your creativity. • 7. Neatness, no folded paper, no tears, no pencil marks. • 8. Turn it in on time. (5 points are deducted for every day it is late. Excused absences are considered). • 9. If you are going with the bad hair choice you must allow me to take the photo today if possible. • 10. If you finish early you are to work on an extra credit drawing. The following slides are simple ones you can do

37. Extra credit drawing samples for this unit:

40. Advanced art students will do the same assignment with one more twist. Theirs is to be done in graphite and shaded like this sample.