How to Draw a Blind Contour Portrait

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Find a willing portrait model.

   Have them strike a pose intended for a set amount of time (5 minutes is an appropriate amount of time for this style), and if they're an adult, disrobe as much as they are comfortable (clothing adds a lot more lines to interrupt the drawing) in a simple setting.
   
   If indoors, light the subject so that you can see him or her well, and so that the lighting enhances the form.
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   Step 2: Set up your pad somewhere stable

   Set yourself up comfortably at arm's length behind your pad.
   
   Ideally, you should have full range of arm motion and be able to see the subject fully without moving.
   
   It is not important that you can see your paper, just as long as you can draw comfortably. , If it's horizontal the pad may need addition support so the binding doesn't break--an additional bulldog clip or rubber band.
   
   Individual sheets taped to a drawing board always work. , Until step 9 you will be "blind" to the drawing. , The head or highest point is usually a good place to start. , Throughout this drawing you will be striving to follow what lines your eye sees with what your pen draws.
   
   Any contour is valid, whether it's an edge of a cast shadow, the edge of the figure, an internal fold of skin, where an area of body hair meets a bare area, or important background elements.
   
   Anything your eye takes an interest in is fair game.
   
   However, as much as possible you want to describe the figure in as few continuous lines as possible, so it's good to follow large exterior lines, and then if your find yourself in a corner work your way out of it with internal contours. , The risk with this is that you will be starting a new shape that can be radically out of place.
   
   The alternative is to retrace your current line to somewhere closer to where you want to be drawing.
   
   Either way can be charming in the end because there's no good way to be exact about this. , Use this break time to carefully evaluate your drawing, following the contour from the beginning.
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   Step 3: either clip it to a slightly larger drawing board or put it on an easel.

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   Step 4: Turn your pad so it reflects the orientation of the subject.

5. 5

   Step 5: Look at your pad of paper for the last time before you start your drawing.

6. 6

   Step 6: Decide where you're going to begin your drawing

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   Step 7: size up the pose mentally (try to imagine where the edges of the paper would appear around the figure) and put your pen down on your paper in a place where you think corresponds to how you see the figure.

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   Step 8: From that point

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   Step 9: begin to trace a contour (line) in a given direction

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    Step 10: both with your eye and the pen.

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    Step 11: If you've drawn yourself into a "corner" and want to be drawing at another part of the picture

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    Step 12: you can risk picking up your pen and guessing where the new contour would start.

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    Step 13: When the time has run out

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    Step 14: tell the model to relax and stretch

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    Step 15: while you can look at your drawing.

Detailed Guide

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