Blind Contour Self-Portrait: Wonky is Beautiful!

If you're looking for a quick way to make art, warm up, and awaken your eye-hand connection, try a blind contour self portrait!

Sit down with a small mirror, and allow yourself to fully focus on your own visage.  Slow down.  With pencil or pen on your paper, look at your face -- not at your paper!  Now, let your hand follow your eyes as they slowly travel down any contour of your face -- jawline, hairline, eyes, etc. Gradually work your way around to all of your features without picking up your pen or pencil from the paper.

The trick here is to never look at your paper, and to keep your eyes on your face, allowing your hand to blindly follow your eyes as they slowly discover the lines and shapes of your face.

It takes trust and a willingness to let go of the outcome.  You are not going to make a "pretty picture."  You are going to discover beautiful lines, curves, shapes.

And you'll be surprised at how alive some of your lines are.

Now your eyes and hand are awake and ready to make more art.  What will you create next?

Happy Creating!

Self Portrait Ideas

In my Pencil Portraits Class last summer, I demonstrated drawing your own portrait using a mirror.  You always have your own face to draw, and self-portraits are great practice.

As a warm-up, you can begin with a blind contour drawing of your face.  

Look at your reflection in a mirror, and place your pencil on your paper.  Now without looking at your paper, and without lifting your pencil, begin drawing. You can go back over lines, just don't lift your pencil from the paper, and don't peek at your paper!

Your hand's only job is to follow the slow movement of your eyes over contours - lines that define outer and inner edges of your face. 

Go slowly, knowing that you are not making a drawing, you are aligning your eyes and your hand, making connections and observations.

You can see from my blind contour drawing that nothing lined up quite right or was in proportion, but that some accurate, alive lines arose.  

By forcing your eyes to remain on your face, you allow yourself to fully drink in the nuances and details, and you practice trusting your hand to follow along.  This is a useful skill to develop.  Looking at what or who you are drawing is one of the most important steps in any drawing.

Now that you are warmed up with a blind contour drawing or two, you are ready to make another sketch, allowing your hands to move slowly, and your eyes to dance between studying your face, and checking that your lines are landing in the right place on your paper.  Look at your face 90% of the time, and steal quick glances at your paper 10% of the time.  At first it feels hard, but soon you'll trust yourself, and you'll fall into a rhythm.

I hope you give this a try!  All you need is a mirror, a pencil and paper.

Happy Creating!

Self Portrait in Watercolor

 

The other day, my photographer husband and I did a photo shoot by window light.  I liked one of the resulting photos so much that I decided to paint a watercolor self portrait from it.

I decided to use  purple hues of the fabric for the cool shadow colors.  I find that repeating a color throughout a painting unifies the composition.  Of course, I happen to love this particular purple -- Permanent Blue Violet by Van Gogh Paints.

Painting a self portrait is a great way to practice your art skills, whether you're drawing or painting.  And, it's a great form of self-expression. If you don't have a selfie you like, a small mirror is a great help in capturing a live image of yourself.  I hope you give it a try!