Project #5 Transferring Contour Lines

A simple but very effective way to transfer detailed the contour lines for an image is to use tracing paper.  Both of the drawings above were started with traced contour lines.

Below is an example of contour lines on tracing paper that have been transferred to drawing paper and the image that they were traced from.  I leave most of the contour lines light.  I only darken the ones that will be in darkly shaded areas. That image is my reference photo for shading the figure, boxer Max Baer.

First trace the image onto tracing paper or very thin printer paper.  If this is difficult you can used a light box or tape the image with the tracing paper over it on a window so that you can see the details more easily.  

After tracing the contour lines that you need, turn the tracing paper over and trace over all of the lines on the back.  It helps to place the tracing paper on a white surface or piece of paper to do this. Then place the tracing paper front side up onto the paper, canvas or board that you will be working on.  Tape the sides lightly with artist tape or masking tape to keep it in place.  Either trace over all of the lines again or burnish over the image using the side edge of the pencil graphite.  

You may need to touch up the lines after they are transferred if you cannot see them well.  

This method is especially good for transferring complex images with a lot of tiny detail.  It creates a very good map of your image and is advantageous for surfaces like claybord that do not erase well.  

After transferring the contour lines, I can add more detail and shading until the image is finished.   

I sometimes transfer colored pencil contour lines for colored pencils and drawings because a graphite line will bleed into or darken those materials.  The painting below was done this way to create a first layer of watercolor and colored pencil and acrylic on the top layers.