Blind contour drawing is an exercise where we draw the contour of an object without looking at the paper.
The artist continually looks at their subject while drawing, so he is "blind" to his work before it's finished. The final piece is one continuous line as the pencil or pen stays on the paper.
“The first function of an art student is to observe...” ― Kimon Nicolaides, The Natural Way to Draw.”
First references
Kimon Nicolaïdes brought to art attention the "blind contour drawing" as an art technique in the 1920s and 1930s and later explored/explained it better in his book, "The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study, 1940.
Later, Betty Edwards turned it more popular in her book "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," even if she renamed it "pure contour drawing" instead.
"The artist fixes their eyes on the outline of the model or object, then tracks the object's edge with their eyes while simultaneously drawing the contour very slowly, in a steady, continuous line without lifting the pencil or looking at the paper."
Nicolaïdes and Edwards agree on the importance to practice this technique , but have different ideas of why blind contour drawing is an essential method of drawing for art students.
Nicolaïdes instructs students to keep the belief that the pencil point is touching the contour, suggesting that the technique improves drawings skills because it causes students to use both senses of sight and touch.
On the other hand, Edwards adds that pure contour drawing creates a shift from left mode to correct mode thinking. To explain better, what she means is that the left mode of the brain rejects meticulous, complex perception of spatial and relational information, consequently permitting the right brain to take over.
Blind contour drawing may not produce a life like drawing; however, it helps students draw more realistically rather than memorized drawing symbols.
After almost a century of using this method in art teaching, we all agree that it's an excellent technique for beginners artists to improve their focus on observational skills. It also builds a perfect foundation for more complex artworks later.
At first, the drawings can look a little messy and are usually not very realistic, and that's ok.
Think about how you approach a typical drawing: you look at your subject then look down to draw it—not from what you see in front of you in that exact moment but from the memory of having just looked at it. At some point, you never look back to the actual subject, and you keep drawing what you know.
The primary goal of blind contour drawing is to focus your attention on what you see in front of you rather than what you think you're seeing or know about your main subject.
“Blind contour line drawings help to improve your hand-eye coordination and your artistic observational skills.”
To resume...
...the rules of blind contour drawing are straightforward:
Once your pencil or pen touches the paper, you must not lift it again until you've finished your drawing.
You must not look down at your paper at any point until your drawing is complete.
While there's no time limit for you to work on your contour line art, you may choose to set a timer for 5-15 minutes if you're new to this technique.
How to do it?
Step 1: Choose a Subject, Set a Timer and Gather your Materials
Gather all of the materials that you'll need to complete your blind contour line drawing.
(A pencil and/or a pen and your sketchbook will be good enough.)
Please make sure you're in a comfortable position and can see your subject clearly without any other distractions around them or you.
Step 2: Find Your Starting Point
Focus your attention on where you want to start. What you consider your contours to be is up to you. Wherever you choose to start, remember that as soon as your pen or pencil touches the paper, you can't lift it until you're finished. Make sure you leave yourself enough space to complete your drawing, so start either in the middle or at one edge and move inwards on the page.
Step 3: Follow the Edges
Keep following the edges of your subject with your eyes and let your pen or pencil follow. Take your time and remember to draw what you're seeing. Focus on lines and shapes. Just remember, don't look at your drawing!
Step 4: Wrap Up When You're Ready
Keep drawing until your timer goes off or you feel that you've finished.
Only when you have finished can you see your final sketch.
Like any artistic technique, blind contour drawing can be challenging at first, but practice and patience will make the process more enjoyable.
Finally, I would like to highlight that blind contour drawing trains the eye and hand to work as a team, and it helps students see all of the details of the subject.
Many artists keep on using blind contour drawing as a warm-up exercise before they start their art working.
So give it a try and let me know how it went. 😎
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