hi there welcome to my channel this is where you'll find all my videos related
to drawing and figure drawing I'm Siobhan, I teach figure drawing and
I'm putting together a video series about techniques and approaches to
drawing from life in this video I want to explain what contour and blind
contour drawing is all about I want to tell you how to apply it and then also
explain why it's such a powerful drawing technique plus I also want to talk to
you about what I think makes a good drawing versus a bad drawing if in fact
there is such a thing as a bad drawing so stick around if you're interested
first of all contours are really just edges and a contour drawing is all about
using your pencil to follow the edges on the object that you're looking at so
that could either be the outer edges of an object or it could also be the inner
edges within an object or the edges between two objects but the most
important thing to know about contours is that a contour is not an outline so
even an outer edge of something needs to be thought of or considered with the
understanding that the form itself moves beyond that edge so this orange here
obviously doesn't end at the perceived edge it continues around to the other
side this is better understood when you add inner contour lines that describe
edges with inside the object
okay so inner contour lines are edges of shapes within the object or the thing
that you're looking at let's say you have two oranges like this
a drawing that just does the outline is going to render it completely flash but
adding this inner contour line immediately distinguishes these two
things as separate and it also immediately establishes space within the
drawing we know now that one of these oranges is in front of the other
and then there's a third type of contour line and that's a cross contour so this
is a line that follows the contour of an object that's not necessarily a visible
edge
it's an intuitive line it follows like the angle or the direction of the thing
that you're looking at I often use a cross contour line to go from one side
of something to the other and when you use cross contours you really have to
follow the shape of the object the key to making a contour drawing is
to draw really really slowly and also to try and establish in your own mind that
your pencil or your charcoal is actually connected to the spot that your eyes are
looking at this is a bit of a mind shift but it helps you to really maintain that
coordination between your hand and your eye
you have to try to keep your pencil moving along the edge of the thing
you're looking at at the exact same rate that your eye is moving
so yeah it's a very slow drawing and that in itself takes practice we often
try to rush through our drawings but contour and blank on blind contour
require that you draw really really slowly
so then what's the blind contour drawing well in a blind contour drawing you use
the exact same techniques that I've been talking about where you follow edges
inner contours cross contours and you draw really really slowly but blind
contour drawing means that you don't look down at your drawing at all while
you're in the process you simply look at the object for the whole entire duration
of your drawing so that's very challenging to do and as well as that at
the end you will end up with a drawing that looks nothing like the thing that
you're looking at it's it looks like a complete mess of lines
there's no proportion things don't join up at all but blind contour drawing is
the most immediate and the most direct way that I know of where you can switch
into a pure drawing mode so drawing mode is when your brain is not using logical
or analytical processes to handle the drawing tasks instead your brain is
using responsive and intuitive processes
so another way to think of this is that you are looking at some things when
you're drawing blind in a purely artistic way you're not looking at it
and analyzing something in terms of what you know about the object you're simply
seeing shapes and forms and believe it or not this is what helps you to make
better drawing
so finally the last thing that I'll say about all of this is that a very often
beginner drawing students think that what makes a good drawing is whether or
not the end product looks like the thing that they were trying to draw but very
often a blind contour drawing has more expression and beauty than a drawing
that is actually just is more realistic to my mind anyway I think that through
contour and blind contour drawing you can understand that what makes a good
drawing or a beautiful drawing is one that is beautifully observed I hope you
found this video useful leave a comment below please and let me know your
thoughts on drawing blind thank you so much for stopping by and checking out
this video stay tuned for more drawing videos and I hope to see you in the next
one