Topographic Map Rules

• Contour Lines Never Cross. Lines indicating elevation should never intersect on a topographic map, because each line represents a different elevation, so it is impossible to have two elevations at the same location.
• Measuring Steepness.
• Stream Flow Direction.
• Contours Close.
• Concentric Circles.
• Elevation Between Lines.

Contour lines never branch or fork. Contour lines never cross one another, except in the case of an overhanging cliff, a relatively rare occurrence on standard topographic maps.

Contour line, a line on a map representing an imaginary line on the land surface, all points of which are at the same elevation above a datum plane, usually mean sea level. Numbers on the lines give the height in feet. (Sea level is zero.) Lines drawn closely together indicate that a slope is steep.

There are 5 main types of lines in art: vertical lines, horizontal lines, diagonal lines, zigzag lines, and curved lines.

As an exercise, continuous line drawing forces the artist to closely observe the perceived lines of the subject. While focused mostly on describing the contours, shadows and form can also be communicated depending on the approach taken.

In 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. Like blind contour drawing, contour drawing is an artful experience that relies more on sensation than perception; it’s important to be guided by instinct.

“Continuous line contour drawing’ is a contour drawing done without picking your pencil off of the paper. It is essentially done with one long line. Continuous line contour drawings can be done 100% “blind” or not.

Blind contour drawing is a drawing exercise, where an artist draws the contour of a subject without looking at the paper.

Drawing from photos can be considered bad practice if the artist is a slave to their reference. It can inhibit the artist from experimenting freely, stilt creativity, and their ability to develop their own style. Cameras also distort perspective and overload the eye with too much detail.

Different Kinds of Drawing

• Illustration Drawing. These are drawings that are created to represent the lay-out of a particular document.
• Life Drawing. Drawings that result from direct or real observations are life drawings.
• Emotive Drawing.
• Analytic Drawing.
• Perspective Drawing.
• Diagrammatic Drawing.
• Geometric Drawing.

art. a drawing consisting only of external lines.

As a rule of thumb, the V-shaped contour is pointing upstream (the opposite direction from the flow of a stream or river). The “V” shape contours indicate streams and drainage. As you can see, the “V” points uphill to a higher elevation.

Contour lines are lines drawn on a map connecting points of equal elevation, meaning if you physically followed a contour line, elevation would remain constant. Contour lines show elevation and the shape of the terrain. These lines are evenly spaced apart.

A contour is a line joining places with equal heights on the map. Contour lines are shown in irregular shapes depending upon the land form. These lines cannot cut with each other. contour lines. The distance between two contour lines will depend upon the landscape.

How to Draw Contour Lines in Art

1. Step 1: Choose What You’ll Draw and Gather Materials.
2. Step 2: Look at the Object.
3. Step 3: Draw Long, Continuous Lines.
4. Step 4: Go Slow and Steady.
5. #1: Make a Contour Drawing of Your Hand.
6. #2: Copy a Contour Line Drawing by Another Artist.
7. #3: Do a Blind Contour Drawing.

Pure contour line drawing is the simplest form of linear expression. The line describes visible edges of an object. If the subject is carefully chosen and oriented, a pure contour drawing can have strength, clarity, and simplicity. Draw only clearly defined edges, resisting the temptation to color in shadows.

While contour lines describe edges, cross-contours describe form and volume. These lines can follow planes of form, moving around and across objects as well as through them. Cross-contour lines do the same thing.

Cross-contour lines help you to understand the solid form of an object that you’re drawing. You can actually make visually striking drawings with just those contour-lines (and no shading) but their real benefit, in my opinion, is helping you to understand how objects appear from certain vantage points.

The contour hatching is a group of hatches that are characterized by a similar direction (for example, from left to right, looking close to horizontal). Contour hatches are bent accordingly to the shape of volume. Let’s have a look at some examples.