Education

The Contour Lines workshop provided an opportunity to think about the ways in which lines can be used to make dramatic representations on paper or three-dimensional form.

The group looked at the way Moore combined the human figure with landscape to create monumental bronze sculptures. While many of the participants were familiar with the idea of using contour lines on a map to represent hills and valleys, the idea of using them to make a drawing of a sculpture was something new - so they experimented by using the variety of forms in the gallery to familiarise themselves with the sorts of three-dimensional shapes that would produce an interesting two-dimensional design.

On returning to the Aisled Barn particpants made an imaginary landscape, some choosing to build it up using clay while others carved it out from slices of foam. The completed landscapes ranged from gentle river valleys to dramatic icebergs and mountains, bubbling volcanoes and cascading waterfalls.

In order to represent these models using contour lines, those who had used foam separated the individual slices that made up their landscape and drew around each one in turn until a contour map emerged. Those who had built up a landscape from clay drew lines directly onto the surface of the model then stood above them and made a drawing based on how the lines looked from above. Different colours were used to represent the different levels of the model and some wonderfully complex designs emerged. The foam landscapes were painted in vibrant colours with spectacular results.