An approach to compute characteristic curves such as section curves, reflection characteristic lines, and asymptotic curves on a surface is introduced. Each problem is formulated as a surface-plane inter-section problem. A single-valued function that represents the characteristics of a problem constructs a property surface on parametric space. Using a contouring algorithm, the property surface is intersected with a horizontal plane. The solution of the intersection yields a series of points which are mapped into object space to become characteristic curves. The approach proposed in this paper eliminates the use of traditional searching methods or non-linear differential equation solvers. Since the contouring algorithm has been known to be very robust and rapid, most of the problems are solved efficiently in realtime for the purpose of visualization. This approach can be extended to any geometric problem, if used with an appropriate formulation.