The Magical Contours of Art
How many of you remember art period in school? Did you have enjoy the class? Was it just an excuse to waste away time with your friends or did help you tap into a passion you didn’t know you had? Were the results ever so colossally bad that they made you want to throw in the towel on your future as an artist altogether? If this was the case, there is one thing that might have saved you from leaving or might have developed an interest in art: blind contour.
When someone thinks of becoming an artist at an early age or at an older age, one thing always comes to mind, will I be able to draw a good painting, or will others laugh at my artistic skills. Well, blind contour drawing is the thing that you should start with since it is an excellent activity to train the eye to draw what it sees rather than what the mind thinks.
The typical drawing is done from short-term memory. You look at the subject, then look down on the paper to draw it, not from what you see in front of you at the very moment but from the short memory you have made of having just looked at it.
The blind contour drawing exercise is a fundamental tool that can help beginning artists create their first drawings, and the experience allows artists to become reacquainted with the power of observation. It is a form of art where the artist, without looking at the canvas or the paper, draws what he or she sees. The final drawing is made up of one continuous line as the pencil or pen is not lifted from the surface so that the artist can continue drawing without looking down to see where he is.
The blind contour drawing process was first used in the 1920s and 1930s, and the masses got to know it from the art world in Kimon Nicolaïdes 1941 book; The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study. The word contour comes from the French contour, which means outline or shape, and is used to describe the lines that make up the outside edge of a drawing. Blind contour is when you draw an outline of the subject without looking at it.
It's an excellent technique for beginner artists to use when focusing on observational skills, and it builds a perfect foundation for more complex artistic adventures later on. Your final drawing is usually not very realistic and can look a little messy, but that's precisely how it's meant to be!
The idea is to do a drawing exercise without looking at the surface until it's done; it is practised to refine observatory skills. The process involves keenly observing the subject in front while drawing its contours. It also helps artists to form hand-eye coordination. It requires much attention, and the artist must remain focused on the subject without distractions.
The first drawing may look well or funny. However, with practice, the artist finds that they can accurately record an image on paper without looking at your hand as it draws! This practice is not only carried out by beginners, but the well-known developed artists also use it to improve their skills.
Professional artists and blind contour drawing
An artist, Sarah Mir, hailing from Karachi, didn't know that one day she would become an artist and an art educator, but her passion for trying new ways made her famous during the last year of education, and blind contour played an important role.
"Being enrolled in the Fine Art department of IVS, studying painting, sculpture and new media, I had no intention of becoming an artist. Admitting several times that I had no courage or even the confidence to stand beside a work of art I've produced and explain it to the viewers," said Sarah, who started painting in 2015. "It was the opening of our thesis display which turned out to be magical for me. The whole thing was very surreal. Later it was open to the public after the result was announced. Passing with flying colours and getting the acknowledgement boosted my confidence. My show was sold out! What else can a twenty-three-year-old ask for?"
"I started painting in A'levels while studying at Foundation Public School, and I got a ‘D’ grade from a very renowned teacher. So you can imagine what my thoughts would be on it. There's no sob story because I ended with an ‘A’ grade later. So hard work pays off," says Sarah, the fine arts alumnus of Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
She continued to admit that blind contour is one of the essential things that has played an important part in her success. "Blind contour drawing plays a huge role in my paintings. It's a practice that I thoroughly enjoy. I draw the contours while observing the visual reference," she added.
"Making a 'perfect' visual is not the point of my practice; therefore, every other blind contour drawing turns out to be a surprise for me as well. For me, it's unleashing the silliness. That distorted visual is then painted, mostly with acrylic paints as my process is based on several layers and often thick chunks of paint are applied one over the other."
In a struggle to make paintings more accurate and perfect, the artists go towards the blind contour drawing to improve the hand and eye coordination, but Sarah reintroduced the exercise of blind contour in her artwork. "Being an art student at first and practicing painting academically is a different chore altogether. Initially, I was a very controlled and careful painter and wanted to deviate from it. So instead of mechanically drawing or painting the subject matter, I reestablished the exercise of blind contour. It added as fuel as my work is very intuitive and spontaneous," said Sarah, who took her Master's degree in Visual Arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore.
The Textile Institute of Pakistan art teacher Sarah draws inspiration from shared histories, memories and varied notions of home. She uses the blind contour in her artwork to create narratives of belonging while illuminating lived pasts and shared present. "I create dynamic family portraits employing unique aesthetic language taking religion-cultural constraints into account, depicting notions of family life and propriety by juxtaposing family portraits with culturally accepted images," she said.
"The family members experience a comical, exaggerated distortion and, despite remaining representational, may just manage to escape the invasive supervision implemented by societal norms. Time, which is nostalgically preserved in family photographs, comes in conflict with the playful contemporary tone of the work," she added.
Despite the imperfection in the borders of the drawing she does, people can connect with the artwork that motivates her. She says that knowing that the viewers can resonate with your artwork is the most fantastic feeling in the world. "Even distorted or stylised, they're able to make connections to themselves and their lived experiences," she said.
How to make Blind Contour
To make a blind contour, you need paper and a pencil. It is different from the contour drawing, where you look at the subject and try to replicate it on the paper using the lines, usually without lifting the pencil. The blind contour drawing rules are elementary; focus on the area of your starting point, once your pencil or pen is touching your paper, you must not lift it again until you've finished your drawing, and you must not look down at your paper at any point until your picture is complete.
To complete the drawing, there are two ways: to meet the edges of the subject and then go into detail or more information as they come.
Wherever the starting point is, remember that as soon as the pen or pencil touches the paper, it can't be lifted until the drawing is finished. Make sure to leave enough space to complete the drawing, so starting in the middle or at one edge and moving inwards on the page, is a good technique.
While there's no time limit for you to work on your contour line art, the artists usually set a timer if they're using it as a warm-up exercise or if they are new to this technique. The eyes will likely feel tired, and the artist loses concentration if they work for much longer.
Not practised in schools
Another artist Asad Latif, who learned the art around 20 years ago, says that if this technique is taught in schools, it can make many good artists. "Most creative minds quit painting as they get demotivated from the first painting they create. The students are not taught about this technique and rather are forced to focus on the perfection of the drawing," he said.
He explained that in most academics, the art classes are one of the least interested ones for the students at a younger age. "At that time, they take art classes as a mandatory subject and not something they are interested in. Finding engaging art lessons can be difficult in our current world of art education. If they are told about the blind contour where they don't have to worry about the result of the painting and which tends to look silly, funny or goofy, the students will develop interest. That is when you can identify the creative minds and the ones with the proficient skills," said Latif adding that taking away your student's ability to look at their drawing opens up an entire world of challenges, openness, and play.
While explaining the activity, he said that a paper plate can be placed on the top of the pencil so the students cannot peek into what they are drawing. "Any of the students or the teacher itself can become the model for the students. Believe me, the students will certainly laugh upon revealing their blind contour drawing. There is something so silly, innocent, and simple about a blind contour line drawing that student's love."
For Latif, blind contour drawing is an opportunity to be more focused and slow down the process of drawing and looking. "I think about the tip of the pencil as an ant. It crawls around the contour of someone's shoulder, then falls down to the table, and then up the side of the saucer. Something moving that slowly and focused makes your brain empty of everything else."