An Introduction to Contour Drawing

---------------------------------------------------------------Kitchen implements make great subjects.
The first thing we do when beginning to draw is contour drawing, which is another name for drawing the outline. With contour drawing, we are focusing on the edges - the outside of an object or the line made by a fold or pattern. The line that goes across an object, hinting at the form, is called a cross-contour. Don't get fooled into using the line to draw light and dark. The WEIGHT of a line, that is, how dark and thick it is, will make it jump out from the paper (if it is a strong, dark line) or sink into the paper (if it is light or thin). This is useful when you are trying to give the impression of something being closer or further away.
When you look at an object, the shapes you see vary depending on your point of view. Take a simple mug, for instance - you know it has a perfectly cylindrical shape, with a circle top and bottom and sides that go straight up. But look at the cup on the table - the circles seem a little squashed, and if you are look from a higher angle, so that the top of the cup is nearly circular, the sides seem to taper.
When you are drawing an object, you need to select a viewpoint and stick to it. This means setting the object down, and sitting so that you can look from your object to your paper with minimal movement. You want to always have your head in the same place whenever you look at the object. In this way, the shapes will always look the same. A small movement can make a surprisingly big difference once you start drawing details.

Contour drawing uses the 'taking a line for a walk' approach, picking a spot and continuing until the drawing is complete. Along the way, the relative sizes, shapes and directions of lines are noted and copied, a bit at a time. Take your time in the beginning, as the first parts of the drawing establish scale for the whole drawing. A common mistake is to run the picture off the page, having started too large or in the wrong place. If this happens, don't worry - either finish off, use another part of the page for a drawing, or start afresh.

(source by -http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/drawinglessons/a/contourdrawing.htm )