Elephant Contour Drawing: Single-Line and Blind-Contour Practice

Object Drawing Lessons

Contour drawing trains your eye to follow an edge without letting the hand invent details. This lesson applies that skill to an elephant silhouette using two variants: single-line contour, where the pencil stays on the paper for the whole outline, and blind contour, where you look only at the reference while drawing. You will use a simple convention: the elephant's back, head, trunk, legs, and tail form one continuous outer boundary, and internal lines are limited to the ear outline and the mouth line. X-height is not relevant here because this is not lettering; instead, line placement is judged against the reference silhouette. All numerical values below are hypothetical examples for practice, not manufacturing standards. Measure your own paper and pencil if you adapt the drills.

Practice materials: Printable downloads are not available for this lesson yet. Use the instructions and four exercises below.

Setting up the contour convention

Before drawing, define what counts as the contour. For this lesson, the contour is the outer edge of the elephant as seen from the side: forehead, back, rump, tail, hind leg, belly, front leg, trunk, and mouth. The ear is drawn as one internal closed curve attached to the head. No shading, no wrinkles, and no habitat elements are included.

Use a single continuous line for the outer boundary. If your pencil leaves the paper during single-line practice, note the break and restart from that point rather than pretending the line was continuous. For blind contour, keep your eye on the reference and draw slowly; the result may look distorted, and that is expected because the goal is observation, not likeness.

1. Place the reference at eye level and choose a starting point on the forehead.
2. Trace the outer boundary in one direction, naming each change of direction silently.
3. Add the ear as one internal curve and the mouth as a short line.
4. Label the drawing with the variant used: single-line or blind.

Single-line contour drill

In single-line contour, the pencil remains in contact with the paper from the first mark to the last. This forces you to plan the route around the elephant without lifting to correct. A useful route is forehead, trunk, mouth, front leg, belly, hind leg, tail, rump, back, and ear.

Keep the line thin and even. If the line becomes tangled, continue rather than erasing; the tangled section shows where your observation hesitated. Compare the finished route with the reference by checking three landmarks: the top of the head, the lowest point of the belly, and the tip of the trunk.

1. Start at the forehead and move down the trunk without lifting.
2. Follow the mouth line, then the front leg to the ground line.
3. Cross the belly to the hind leg, then up the tail and rump.
4. Return along the back to the head and close with the ear curve.

Blind-contour drill and proportion self-check

Blind contour means you do not look at your paper while drawing. Cover the paper with a sheet or turn your head so only the reference is visible. Draw the same route as the single-line drill, but accept that the line will not match the reference closely. After finishing, uncover the paper and compare without correcting.

For the proportion self-check, measure three distances on the reference with a ruler and record them in the same unit, such as centimeters. Define the landmarks explicitly: head height is the vertical distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the jaw; body length is the horizontal distance from the chest to the rump; leg length is the vertical distance from the belly line to the ground line at the front leg. Hypothetical example: head height 4 cm, body length 9 cm, leg length 3 cm. On your drawing, measure the same three distances using the same definitions and write the ratios. A valid alternative is to use finger-widths instead of centimeters for both the reference and the drawing, as long as each reference/drawing pair uses the same unit; different pairs may use different units if each pair is internally consistent.

1. Draw the full contour without looking at the paper.
2. Uncover the paper and mark the three landmarks.
3. Measure head height (top of head to bottom of jaw), body length (chest to rump), and leg length (belly line to ground line at the front leg) on both reference and drawing.
4. Write one sentence noting which ratio is closest and which is furthest.

Independent contour frame

Use a blank frame for an independent contour drawing without tracing. Choose either single-line or blind variant and state which one you used. The frame should be large enough to hold the elephant without crowding; a hypothetical example is a 15 cm by 20 cm frame on plain paper.

After drawing, run the proportion self-check again. Because letter styles and handwriting vary, do not judge the drawing by neatness alone. Judge whether the contour route is continuous where required, whether the ear and mouth are included, and whether the three landmark measurements are recorded with units.

1. Draw the elephant contour in the blank frame.
2. Write the variant and the three measurements beside the frame.
3. Circle one landmark that matches the reference ratio within your chosen tolerance.
4. Note one adjustment you would try on a second attempt.

Worked example

A student draws a single-line elephant contour on a 15 cm by 20 cm frame. The reference measurements are head height 4 cm (top of head to bottom of jaw), body length 9 cm (chest to rump), and leg length 3 cm (belly line to ground line at the front leg). The drawing measurements are head height 5 cm, body length 10 cm, leg length 3 cm. The pencil lifted once near the tail. Evaluate the drawing against the convention and rubric.

Four practice exercises

Common mistakes

• Lifting the pencil during single-line practice and hiding the break. Mark the break with a small dot and restart from that point; the dot documents the interruption honestly.
• Looking at the paper during blind contour. Cover the paper completely or turn away; ask a partner to confirm you did not peek.
• Adding shading or wrinkles that are outside the contour boundary. Limit marks to the outer boundary, ear curve, and mouth line; remove extra marks or start a new frame.
• Recording measurements without units or mixing units. Write the unit after every number and use the same unit for reference and drawing.

Self-check rubric

• Outer boundary is drawn as one continuous route in single-line variant, or honestly marked where it breaks.
• Ear curve and mouth line are included and distinguishable from the outer boundary.
• Blind-contour variant is documented and the paper was not viewed during drawing.
• Three landmark measurements are recorded with a consistent unit for both reference and drawing, using defined endpoints: head height (top of head to bottom of jaw), body length (chest to rump), and leg length (belly line to ground line at the front leg).
• Proportion ratios are calculated or described, and one closest and one furthest landmark are identified.
• Valid alternatives are accepted: different starting point, finger-width units, or a different frame size measured from actual materials.

Questions and answers