Extended Animal Blind Contour

This is the product of a blind contour drawing that I did of a turtle figurine to which I added color and a background of a pond. I used permanent marker for the blind contour and pen and colored pencil for the coloration and background.

The first step in the process of creating this piece was doing the observational blind contour drawing in permanent marker. This meant that I drew the figurine from observation without looking at my paper, resulting in a distorted image. I then used colored pen to fill in the colors of the turtle and used colored pencil for the background. Texture is an important element in this piece; the fine pen strokes give the turtle's shell and skin and interesting appearance. I feel that the texture outside the turtle itself was weaker, although I think the tall grasses came out well. In relation to the texture of the shell, the grouping of the designs and texture contributes and adds unity to the composition. This project evolved in that I initially had a streak of lighter brown between the water and the dirt for a sand texture. I decided, however, that this would be unrealistic in such a habitat and so I went over it in a darker brown.

I chose to draw the turtle figurine because I was drawn to the interesting designs and textures of the shell and skin, which I think I duplicated well. This project relates to my life in that I'm interested in wildlife and find making art depicting it entertaining. I think this piece could be stronger if there was more depth in the background, I think the lack thereof was a result on my creating it from imagination. The most challenging part of this project was drawing in blind contour—without looking at my paper. I am most proud of the turtle shell because I think it has an element of realism but is also stylistic. This piece illustrates growth in my development of the blind contour technique and weakness in creating depth.