Extended Blind Contour

These are two extended blind contour pieces that I created from observation. The first depicts three goats with mountains and sky in the background and the second is of three army soldiers. I used the same process to create both pieces. I began by choosing a figurine to observe, and then drew without looking at my paper. I used a fine point sharpie so that the lines would be precise but heavy. I then used water color to fill in parts of the distorted pictures I created. For the goats I used a goat figurine and drew it from three different angles before adding brown hair coloration and the mountains and sky in the background. For the soldiers I used three different army figurines and sketched them one at a time to create the composition. I chose the goat and soldier figurines because I found the shapes, especially those of the horns and various weapons, intriguing. I composed the goat picture so that the goats appear to be huddled together, possibly looking at the viewer. In the picture of the soldiers I put the largest one in the middle and flanked it with the two smaller ones which thus appear farther away.

In the picture of the goats I employed framing by wrapping the mountain landscape around the huddled goats in order to make them the focal point. The most important composition technique that I used in the picture of the soldiers was grouping. I gave them all similar coloration despite their differences in line and shape. The consistent color creates unity among the soldiers and ultimately groups them together for the viewer. These pieces evolved in that I initially intended to draw only animals but decided to try drawing the army figures on a whim. This experimentation was successful and I think that the picture of the soldiers is just as strong and perhaps even more thought provoking,

I enjoyed the process for these pieces because it was fast and gestural. I feel that the goat picture has a degree of serenity associated with nature and landscapes. I also like that the soldiers also have an element of serenity because of the simplicity, but there is also an element of ugliness and distortion associated with the style that is representational of the violence in the scene. These projects relate to my life in that I do not often experiment with such gestural techniques, but these pieces represent the peace that can be found in the chaos of being more free in my strokes and gestures. I think that the goat picture could be stronger if there was a middle ground directly behind the goats. I didn't add one because didn't want to have to shape or confine the white space around the horns and outlines of the goats because I didn't want to lose contrast, but without a middle ground behind the goats, the space is a little loose and ambiguous.