Surrealism and Blind Contour Summer Projects

 

Blind contour drawing is an exercise where an artist draws the outline of a subject without looking at the paper. The word "contour" comes from the French word contour, which means "outline" or "shape". The artist focuses on the subject and trusts their hand to follow their eyes.

Students likely know how to draw single outlines; it happens pretty naturally, but what happens when they cannot look at the paper as they draw? Drawing from observation without looking at your paper is when the “blind” part comes in. Taking away your student’s ability to look at their drawing opens up an entire world of challenges, openness, and play (Lesson Plan)

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