Week 2 Assignment: Feeling Edges

First Exercise: Blind Contour Drawing
Media: Pen on Canson drawing paper

Setting up a still life to draw is the easy part! Blind contour drawing has always been difficult for me. But I managed to produce something recognizable--the edge of the top persimmon is better than I expected. The Inner critic (IC) spoke in a loud voice for this exercise and I had to keep reminding myself that this was a learning exercise. I felt like I was swatting away a pesky fly! I've become so used to quick gesture drawing that slowing down to see the edges take mental effort. But I know from experience that my drawing will improve as a result over time.

The second part of the assignment was to use the 'point-to-point with check back' method of drawing. This was a bit easier for me, but slowing down to see the edges required repeated reminders to myself.

The last part of the assignment was to draw the edge of a building with some foliage to break the straight lines. The house that I can see from my patio was a perfect subject. The lemon tree is very overgrown and in need of a good pruning! I felt more comfortable doing this drawing.

Rumination on line: No matter how crude or inept a line drawing may appear, it always seems to suggest the object. Our brains tend to fill in the details to conjure up the actual object.

Week 2 Assignment: Blind contour drawing
Gel pen on Canson drawing paper

Week 2 Assignment: Point-to-point with check back
Gel pen on Canson drawing paper

Week 2 Assignment: Draw building edge with foliage
Gel pen on Canson drawing paper