WEdesignstudios.com

A Lesson in: Contour Drawing One of the most important elements in drawing is how to see things.

We tend to draw from what we know or what we remember. The typical result is a less than spectacular drawing. Most people are usually left frustrated and wondering why they can’t just draw it the way they want. This exercise will force you to see what you are drawing. You will see real results at the end of the lesson. So let’s get started. I want you to draw your hand. Give

yourself between five to ten minutes to do this. I am not

providing any tips or tricks for this first part! Draw your

hand the way you know how. We have to start somewhere

and this drawing will serve as a comparison at the end of the lesson.

START DRAWING!

Got your hand drawn? Good. Now on to the tough stuff.

Blind Contour Drawing: A blind contour drawing is a drawing of an image that is

created by never removing the pencil from the paper throughout the entire drawing. This means your pencil stays on the paper from the beginning all the way through to the end.

Additionally, you NEVER look at the paper. Your eyes remain fixed on the object the entire

time you are drawing. As you intensely study the object your eyes and your drawing hand should move at the same speed. At the end of the drawing session you can take a look at your masterpiece and see how pretty* it is. * “Pretty” as in a face only a mother could love.

pretty?

Using your non-drawing hand as your model draw a blind contour drawing. You are creating a visual map of your hand making sure to weave in and out of all the creases, folds, wrinkles and everything else that you see.

Confused? The examples below should help you to understand what I mean:

TWO RULES TO REMEMBER: 1. DO NOT take your pencil off the paper until you are finished. 2. NO LOOKING! **Tip: If you are really having a hard time not looking at your drawing here is something you can try. Place a paper bag on its side. Put your paper inside the bag. Draw with your hand inside the bag so that you can not see your drawing.

Blind Contour Review: How did you do? Do you hate it? Did you laugh at it? If so, count

yourself in with the majority of people who complete their first contour drawing. But let’s chat

about what you came up with. Are there any recognizable features? As you drew your pinky finger did it completely trail off and end up eleven inches from your thumb? Every time there is

a noticeable mistake or disruption to the drawing there is a disruption in your focus. It means you have stopped really looking. Your hand and eye stopped working together.

HAND + EYE= Contour Drawing: Now I promise to make your life a little easier. But only just a little. We will again be visiting contour drawings but this time we return sight to the blind. Unlike the

blind contour drawings you are now allowed to shift your gaze between object and page. During the next contour drawings of your hand you can begin looking back and forth between your hand

and sketchbook. But remember, all the other rules still apply. Keep your pencil on the page and record all the details. You should look at your hand just as much, if not more, than you

are looking at your paper. Give it a couple of tries and see how you do. I can promise it will look better than the blind contour drawing! Draw a (sited) contour drawing of your non-drawing

hand. Remember to keep your pencil on the paper and to stay focussed. Build your eye-hand coordination by seeing your hand objectively and clearly.

Contour Drawing Review:

Have your contour drawings improved? Hopefully you are

producing some better results. You should be starting to see some improvements in the way you

are observing and translating details to paper. If your drawing does not look somewhat similar to

your blind contour drawing, it probably means you were not doing enough observing. Look back at the details you added to your hand. Were they really what you saw? Were you making anything up? Were you drawing from memory as you “know” them to be?

Reflection: Now that you have had the opportunity to really observe your hand let’s go back

and try a regular old drawing of your hand again. When you compare the results to your initial drawing, you should notice a difference. How do you feel? Like a million bucks? This is just the

beginning of an incredible journey down the artistic path and we hope you continue to learn and grow with us!

And remember, if any of this is confusing PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE email us and we will be happy to help out!

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]