VOCAB Assignment: Henri Matisse, Magnolia, c. 1900

contour line: Contour means "outline", and presents exterior edges of objects. A plain contour has a clean, connected line, no shading and emphasizes an open "shell" of the subject. More complex contours can imply shading values through interior outlines, may have line textures or be contrasted with mixed media. Pencil drawing, ball point pen and black markers are good practice tools.