Having done blind contour drawing at the start of the project and depicting the horse's head, I now want to try doing the same exercise but with the full body. Not only does blind contour drawing help with eye-hand coordination and help you to see the details of the subject more clearly but it's also a great way to warm up before a drawing or painting session. You can find my previous blog post on blind contour drawing here, where I go into slightly more detail as to what it's all about.

I'm always pleasantly surprised with the results when doing this exercise. Considering that the aim is not to look at the paper whilst drawing but to observe only the subject, the outcome is amazingly precise. The drawings may look like a scribbly mess to some but if you look closely you begin to notice that the overall proportions are relatively accurate. It just proves that when you really start to visually examine your subject and draw what you see and not what you think you see, then positive shifts begin to appear in your work. 

Below are the blind contour drawings from today in order of when I drew them. I used Mars Lumograph Black pencils for the first three and then a thick graphite stick for the fourth. The latter was much smoother and seemed to glide across the paper, which in turn made it easier to convey the curved lines of the horse. I just love how loose and expressive these all are. So much movement and energy. This really is a fabulous way to free up if you feel a drawing is getting too tight, plus it's really fun 😊.

Drawing 1