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Chapter 10 |
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Thanks to Sandy Brooke for the inspiration for this idea.
Reading: Reread the section called Outline and Contour Line, and the section on Dry Media which describes the most basic of all drawing approaches.
Premise: Regardless of your skill level, everyone is challenged by an exercise called "blind contour drawing." It is a challenge because you don't get to look at the paper while you're doing the drawing, hence—it's called blind contour. While these drawings sometimes look comical, they often reveal surprising detail and movement. They have a quality all their own, and, they're fun to do.
Time required to do this project: Allow one hour, including setup time. Spend 20 minutes on each drawing!
*Materials: A large paper grocery bag (size #735, 40 or 80); a tablet of drawing paper smaller than the broad side of the bag (you can even use copy machine paper); a sharp pencil; and masking tape.
How to start: Open the bag and lay it, broad side down on the desk or table that you're going to use as the drawing surface. Tape the open edge of the bag to the table, and tape the front corners of the bag down to the table as well. You want to be able to slip your hand in and out of the bag, and you want the drawing paper to fit inside as well. Remove a sheet of paper from the tablet, and tape it to the inside surface of the bag that's resting on the table. You should be able to draw on the paper now, with the bag preventing you from seeing what you're doing.
Now start with an object to draw. Some people like to draw their free hand, or a shoe, or any object that has interesting contours. Before you start to draw, look closely at the object and imagine that your pencil is following the outline of its out shape. Now think about how you would draw all those details inside the outline! In the case of a shoe, this would be the laces, the canvas upper, the patches and eyelets, etc. Your hand (which might be less formidable for your first drawing) has creases across the knuckles and joints, a "life line" if you're drawing palm side toward you, etc.
Focus your vision at a point on any outer edge of the shoe—this is the starting point, and what we'll call "point of vision." Start to draw. Slowly move your point of vision along one edge of the shoe, and as you do so, move the pencil across the paper at the same speed, mimicing the same the contours "traced" by your eye. It takes some timing and discipline to make your eye and your hand work together like this. The paper bag keeps you from cheating!
Each time you come to a spot on the outline where there's a dip, or a line moves to the inside of the object (on a shoe, if you start at the bottom of the heel and move up, there's a spot where the line dips in and follows the sole of the shoe around to the toe!) follow it, but see if you can come back to the same place following the same line back again, then continue on.
The rule when doing blind contour is never lift your pencil off the paper, and to always concentrate on keeping your point of vision on the object. This project requires some patience—it's tempting to give up! But after a few tries you may find that you get something that you really like. An example of a bag drawing by Oregon State University student Lisa Wong appears below.
*About materials: All of these materials are available at craft stores, department stores such as Target or Wal-Mart, or college bookstores. You may already have them at home. You can also order the materials through Dick Blick, Inc.
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