Drawings can be very detailed and realistic but can also be very simple and stylized, like this drawing by Chaim Gross.  What’s going on in this artwork? What was your first reaction to it? Why do you think you had that reaction? Describe the lines in this artwork. If this artwork had sound effects, what would these sound like?

The title of this drawing is Acrobats.  Does that change any of your ideas?  Why do you think the artist drew this subject in this style? How did this style of drawing reinforce what we know about how acrobats move?

This type of loose drawing is called contour drawing.  Contour drawing is an art technique in which the artist sketches the subject by drawing lines that result in an image that is essentially an outline – almost like a coloring book image.

Drawing is used for many purposes and can take on many forms.  What is most important if you want to improve your own drawing skills is to practice and spend time drawing each day.  Contour drawing is loose, quick kind of sketching you can practice each day even when you don’t have a lot of time.  This practice of looking and drawing to capture the essentials of the subject will sharpen your observation skills as it forces you to look at the subject and make choices about what is most important to convey the essence of the subject