Friday, February 4, 2011

Blind Contour Line Drawing

I was at a gun show the other day (long story, but it was NOT for the guns...it was for something much more interesting.  We were looking for fossils...)  Well, in Tennessee, they take their guns very seriously, and I was getting bored, bored, bored.  I brought out my sketchbook with the intention of doing some quick portrait studies, but had difficulty getting anyone to stand still long enough to get a likeness.  Out of frustration, I started doing Blind Contour Line Drawing, and LOVED the results!  Actually,  I got so amused I started giggling and my husband had to drag me out of the building.
This type of drawing is by far the most fun to me.  You just set your pen down on the paper and look away to the subject, and don't look back until you have finished.  You end up with an abstract, EMOTIONAL drawing that captures the essence of the subject.  I love every contour line drawing that I have ever done, and I love the fact that everyone can do it.  To me, it is the first study that you should do to really get to know  your subject.  I learn to see things in a different way and I really can CONNECT.  If any of you out there decide to try it, and want to share, I would love to see it. 

"Art does not come from thinking, but from responding."   ----Corita Kent

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