4 Ways to Sketch, Part III (Contour)

On Instagram, I showed a sketch I had done of the same flower using four different techniques. I thought it would be helpful to dive into the types of sketching since each technique is used to hone in on different illustration skillz.

The third type of sketching is a standard contour. There are several ways to treat a contour sketch (like part II- continuous) but this is usually what comes to mind for me. Contour basically means an outline. Depending on the details of your subject matter, this can take a little or a long time, but you can decide how much detail you want to include. Care to join? Please do:

Before drawing, you'll want to identify the details closest to you and work your way out from there. I identified this set of petals that seemed foreshortened and the main perspective point. This is not to draw attention to that part of the drawing, since it will blend in once the drawing is completed, but it will be so much easier to draw (especially if using a pen without pencil sketching beforehand) if you know where to start:

Once you've laid down your starting point, begin working in the remaining details. The purpose for this exercise is to practice observation skills and line control. One thing to take note of when sketching using this method is to never intersect lines. Lines should touch other lines but never run through them.  Each artist is different, but I often like to include lines that appear in the subject but don't necessarily start and stop at other lines, such as wrinkles or folds:

Continue filling out the image, paying close attention to overlapping pieces and ensuring lines don't overlap:

I love how clean and light this type of sketching looks, and think it can make an excellent finished art piece if done correctly. Some people like to use this style for finished artwork, but I like to try my luck sketching this way with a pen.

So, what do you think? Do you like this kind of look? Have you done it before? I'd totally love to see!