Extended Blind Contour Drawing

Artist Statement

For this project, we were instructed to examine our classmate's faces, and without looking at our paper, create four blind contour studies. We were also challenged to draw each face as one continuous line without lifting our drawing tool. Although I found it challenging trying not to peek at my paper or lift my oil pastel as I began with my first drawing, I eventually began to get the hang of the unfamiliar technique, concentrating and studying my subjects closely. After taking a few minutes to finish all of my drawings, I examined my artwork to visualize something I could create out of my sketches. The faces were spread out across the whole paper, so I wanted to create a way to connect them somehow, as well as continue with the environmental themes that are present in many of the works I do in school and in my free time. I also wanted to continue with the unique line art and abstract themes this project was based on, so I decided to create different types of flowers and leaves that were all somehow interconnected to each face, signifying that we are all connected to nature.

For this project, we were asked to use black oil pastels for our blind contour faces and were then allowed to ‘extend’ our composition with any materials we chose. I worked with a larger piece of 12x18 inch watercolor paper, as well as my own watercolors and paint brushes. Because watercolors are still materials I am unfamiliar with freehanding quite yet, I decided to lightly sketch out the leaves and flowers before going back and painting them. For the leaves, I kept the palette relatively light in color, using six different colors of green and a light pink, and purple for the flowers. Before even coming up with an idea for this project, I knew I wanted to keep the faces white to create emphasis on them and use negative space, but as I finished the leaves, I was unsure of a proper background color for this piece, so I also decided to keep it white.

I used a few different processes while creating my final piece. To begin, I experimented with watercolors once again, this time focusing on mixing different colors and painting using less saturation. In order to create more depth and value in my drawing, and add some more dimension and texture to the leaves, I mixed six different shades and hues of green. I began with the secondary green, and simply added a bit of black to darken it, and white to lighten it, as well as adjusting the amount of water I added to the paint. Before applying the paint to my work, I made sure to test each one of them out on a separate piece of paper and modify them if it wasn't the particular color I was looking for. Another process I included in my artwork was using my surroundings to inspire my work. The inside of my house is packed with plants in every corner, and vases of flowers on every table. I was able to observe the greenery, such as the big monstera plant in my bedroom to help make the drawings, patterns, and shapes of my leaves a bit more realistic. I even attempted blindly draw a few of the tulips on my kitchen counter. Looking back on my artwork, I do believe I rushed through some of the blind contour sketches, and even tried to spread out each drawing to balance it, as I thought that might make the job of creating something interesting easier, and avoid making it look jumbled and messy. However, I realized that the point of this project was not to make it look realistic, you are unlikely to get a recognizable drawing, the aim is to use your creativity, create something abstract and improve over time. Overall, I really like how my project came out, and want to continue using this technique in the future.