Hey friends! Today I'm excited to give you all a little peek into one of my very favorite sketchbooks - my Blind Contour sketchbook! If you have never taken a drawing class, it is very likely you've never heard the term "blind contour". So let me break it down for you: When you do a regular "contour line" drawing of an object, you focus on the outline of that object and the general shape, without adding too many details (for example: shading, word on the item, colors, etc...). So, when we say BLIND contour drawing, can you guess what that means? THAT'S RIGHT. You can't look down at your paper! Your eyes are on the object you are drawing the whole time you are drawing it. Most of the time, these drawing come out sort of silly and we always have a good laugh when we look down at our final drawing. But there is something very valuable about practicing these types of drawings! One of the biggest issues many young artists has is, when they are drawing a specific object, instead of LOOKING at that object, they tend to look mostly at their paper, instead. This, of course, causes drawing to be less detailed and much less "correct". When doing blind contour, however, I always tell my students to trace the object with their eyes as they are drawing it, making sure to not look away. This is what I like to call "studying your object". For example, if you were planning to do a very meticulous and detailed drawing of a lamp, but you have never drawn a lamp before, it would be a GREAT idea to start practicing with some blind contour drawings! This will give you a good excuse to "mess up" a few times, as well as get your hand working and get some jitters out. So, here are some sketches from my very own Blind Contour Sketchbook! (all of the drawings are blind contour, however, any color you see was done while looking and after the drawing was completed)
As you can see, Blind Contour Drawing actually gives you a LOT of freedom and is a great excuse to try out some new techniques. The reason I love blind contour so much is because there is NO PRESSURE! Your drawing does not have to be perfect, and very rarely is. But, by adding color and/or shading, your object can come to life. I am also super excited to share with you some of my students' blind contour drawings!
Students are always so excited about their final drawings, and I'm always impressed! If you try blind contour drawing at home or in your classroom, I would love to hear about it!