Blind Contour Drawing Challenge

One of my favorite exercises I’ve had to do for an art class was a blind contour drawing. A blind contour drawing is a practice where an artist draws the contour of an object or person without looking at the paper. Usually, the student or artist draws a continuous line that does not lift off the paper. While blind contours are not meant to be complete realistic masterpieces, they serve as a great way to connect the act of seeing with the physical movement of drawing. This can be used as a warm-up to further drawing sessions to help practice the mind to draw what they see and not things from memory.

For this challenge, we’ll be doing self-portraits. The materials you will need are a mirror, a drawing tool of choice, paper, and yourself! You may also time yourself but I found that for myself I tend to complete these drawings quickly. It should take around 30 seconds to 3 minutes to complete a portrait, but I think it’s best to go at your pace for these.

Here is a video of me drawing in front of a mirror, notice how I don’t take my eyes off my reflection, that will be your challenge!

Here are the results of a 1 minute, 2 minute, and a 3 minute drawing:

Don’t be afraid if you keep doing these and they look crazy. The end result is not the purpose of the exercise, the purpose is to practice seeing. Have fun my Picassos!