Supplies
- a #2 Pencil (a few, sharpened)
- inexpensive drawing paper that is at least 18”x 24” (newsprint is ideal)
- a drawing board with clips or tape to secure the paper
- a timer — a kitchen timer would be perfect
- time
Contour drawing is sometimes called “Blind Contour Drawing” because while you are drawing you are only looking at the subject you are drawing and not the drawing surface. The temptation will be to look at what you are drawing, but you must fight those urges and only look at the subject. Your first few attempts will be difficult but you can do it if you start with a short amount of time and focus on observation.
Contour drawing has a variety of benefits for the beginning artist as well as someone with a lot of experience. Contour drawing is a good way for all artists to warm-up. Just as athletes warm-up before a competition, artists also need a way to loosen their drawing muscles before they begin working.
Improved eye-hand coordination is probably the biggest benefit of contour drawing. In “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, Betty Edwards writes about additional benefits for beginning artists. While contour drawings end up looking unrecognizable, the process is proven to improve your drawing skills.
The Exercise
Schedule about 45 minutes of uninterrupted time. It is very important that when you do this exercise, you devote the proper amount of time or you will not get the full benefits. The first 15 minutes will be used to setup and the rest of the time will be spent drawing.
Setup a small still life. This should be nothing complicated, just something simple. A single plant or object would work perfectly. Organic shapes and forms are ideal. The hard lines of a geometric shape are not ideal for this exercise.
Position yourself between the drawing surface and the still life turning your body away from the drawing surface. Ideally you would be working with an easel, but if you can also lay your paper flat on a table. By positioning yourself this way, it won’t be as easy to quickly glance at what you are drawing. Looking at your drawing while doing a contour drawing defeats the purpose of this exercise.
It’s now time to start drawing. You will first start with a series of quick drawing sessions only lasting about 1 minute for each session. Use the timer to let you know when to stop drawing. These quick drawings will help you get loosened up and get used to not looking at your drawing. Do about 5 one-minute drawings, trying to capture the majority of the subject. If your paper is large enough, do more than one drawing per page. However, you want to keep the drawings fairly large. A piece of 18” x 24” newsprint can fit about 3 drawings per page. Also feel free to use the back of the paper.
When you’ve completed the short 1-minute drawings, move on to 2-minute drawings. In the 2 minutes, observe the details and try to describe it in your drawing by using different line qualities. Do two or three 2-minute drawings and then move on to a 5-minute drawing. You will find that 5 minutes will seem like forever at first, but you should be able to really slow down your drawing and concentrate on your observation of the subject. Try to fill the majority of the page in the 5 minutes. Also work on the line quality using varying pressure to express details. Remember, don’t look at the drawing until the timer goes off. If you are looking while drawing, you’re defeating the whole purpose for doing this exercise.
Once you are comfortable doing the 5-minute drawings, it is time to challenge yourself to a 15-minute or even a 30-minute contour drawing. Everything is the same, concentrate on observation, line quality and not looking at your drawing. Actually, when drawing for 15 minutes or longer you can look at your page to reposition your pencil, but only to reposition, not to see how you are doing.
You may want to save the longer drawings for a second session of contour drawing, but remember to warm-up with a few short 1- or 2-minute drawings before starting the longer drawings.
