Inspiration Blog: Contour & Negative Space (Patreon)

In this new series of weekly posts for all supporters we'll be showcasing artwork by historical and contemporary artists that relate to our weekly life drawing topic. These short snippets support the Tutored Life Drawing Course that we are re-visiting and can be read in the context of the course, or treated as inspirational sign posts to artists of interest. In this blog we'll be looking at contour and negative space together, related ideas which deal with the representation of shape. If you are following the course, you might find it helpful to make drawings of the artists work to help you look hard at their work and borrow marks to add to your own visual vocabulary. 

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Egon Schiele

The line drawings of Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890 – 1918) show an unwavering commitment to the observed contour of the figure. The marks, which bump their way over the exaggerated but meticulously observed anatomy of his model, were reportedly made looking almost entirely at the model in the manner of a partial blind contour drawing. If you get the opportunity to see the drawings in person you'll notice a little light underdrawing but no erasure - the marks are made fresh from the eye. Most of Schiele's drawings show little or no tone, and when it is present is it is there to perform a compositional role rather than to record the patterns of light and shadow. Looking at the drawing hard, try to pick out each individual line and think about the continuous observational process of looking and markmaking that informed it. 

• HERE is a good book on Egon Schiele
• HERE is one-minute video on Schiele from the RA

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Richard Diebenkorn

To bridge the gab between contour and negative space we must look at American painter Richard Diebenkorn (1922 – 1993). An artist whose work was closely associated with American abstract expressionism, Dibenkorn's figure drawings build on a strong foundation of abstraction and an appreciation of the importance of composition. He often crops the figure within picture plane and apportions equal attention to the negative space surrounding the figure, treating the shapes of furniture, figure, floor and wall as equally important elements of the whole.    

• Read a free PDF about Diebenkorn's drawings HERE (figure drawings towards the end)
• HERE is some further reading from the RA

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Amy Dury

Finally, to firmly root ourselves in shape, take a look at the work of contemporary painter Amy Dury. Notice how she plays with negative and positive shapes rendered to varying degrees of representational accuracy in her paintings. Amy is currently featured in the Trinity Buoy Warf Drawing Prize - an exhibition well worth visiting as it tours the UK. 

• Watch the Tate's livestream of Amy painting Cornelia Parker HERE 
• Follow Any Dury on Instagram HERE 

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The blog posts in the 34-week tutored life drawing course are available to all supporters, the full course of videos and reference photos are available to life and student tier supporters. 

>> Read the Week 02: Contour blog post HERE (All Tiers)
>> Watch the Week 02: Contour main lesson HERE (Student & Life Tiers)
>> Watch the Week 02: Contour demo videos HERE  (Student & Life Tiers) 

>> Read the Week 03: Negative Space blog post HERE (All Tiers)
>> Watch the Week 03: Negative Space main lesson HERE  (Student & Life Tiers)
>> Watch the Week 03: Negative Space demo videos HERE  (Student & Life Tiers)
>> Draw from the Week 03: Negative Space practice photo-set HERE (Student & Life Tiers)

Find links to the whole Tutored Life Drawing Course HERE