1/28/2004 slide 18
6. Blind contour drawing, 8 min
•Draw your hand again (as in pre-instruction drawing) but
do NOT look at your paper at
all while drawing.
•Start anywhere on your "hand" and keep the
pencil down until the 5 minutes
are up.
•Draw only lines--do not try to shade in areas. Your
pencil trail is like that of an
ant crawling over your had. Don't "go" anywhere without leaving a trace.
•Short pauses (once or twice during the 5 minute period)
may be used to look at the
paper and reposition the pencil.
•The goal is to two-fold:
–disengage the judgmental tendency of the mind by
preventing access to the drawing
in progress. This relieves stress and lets one focus on drawing, not self-commentary.
–record the act of seeing and control what is seen and
when by exploring a complex
form sequentially with a simple line.
•Notice how your line is used to "see" the
edges of a form as well as the
internal wrinkles and other shifts in surface angle.