Ok. This was a REALLY disorienting experience! I truly felt like I had an itch in my brain that I couldn't scratch- but at the same time, I certainly was more focused on the subject. After I did the initial drawings, I decided that I wanted to do a "memory coloring," too- so I just watercolored in each drawing however I remembered the colors from the exercise. Last, I went over the initial drawings in black to show the contour drawing better. It actually made a really pretty page in this notebook, even though that was not the goal. It just helps me see that even something as "imperfect" as a blind contour drawing can become a piece of       something I enjoy.

I think it was interesting......BUT wow.....really bad. I was trying to save my expensive water color paper so I didn't give myself enough room.....I will try this exercise again on a piece of computer paper. One picture per page.  Thank you brave people for posting your pictures!

Okay, this is really bad, but I enjoyed the experience! It was difficult to stay focused when all I wanted to do was look down (which, I'll admit, I did once!). The most difficult thing for me is connecting the lines coming up and going down. I laughed a lot during this exercise :D

This was fun and my drawings turned out better than I thought they would.  I did them quite quickly and when I looked down was shocked that they had alot of the features right.  Still pretty wonky but much better than I anticipated.

I've been practicing this exercise for quite a while.  It serves as a nice warm up when I want to focus, but let go at the same time.

I really enjoyed this activity.  Even though the springbok's body didn't join up I feel good about the front legs overlapping and the overall movement.

Hi everyone!  I tried the newt, bird, bird of paradise, and springbok too.  They turned out not so great, but fun to do.  I tried to blind contour a whelk seashell, Christmas tree, and a cardinal.  Thank you!  :-)  

I would rather paint Mallard drakes all day than fail at contour drawing! But this lamp was so funny I decided to include it. Looks like a fun house collection of desk stuff. More intricate outlines needed next time.

I loved this exercise.  It was freeing to focus only on the subject and not on the drawing.  I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate some of the contours were even if they were not in the correct spot or did not meet in the end. Fun and relaxing.  I will do more of these exercises!

I really liked this experience. I did OK, better on some than others. I noticed that those in the group who tried smaller pictures seemed to do better, so maybe I will try that next time. Focusing on what I did right was a great experience that I need to apply to all my endeavors! I was pleased that I usually managed to get the overall relative size and shape correct, if not the parts and their connections, and I was super happy when I ended up just about right where I started a couple of times. I figured out that if I mentally pictured the drawing materializing on my page before I started, I had a better outcome (like athletes picturing making the goal). I had the idea after doing the exercises to do the contours of some trees, because I'm interested in the variety of shapes of trees. I should have chosen a vantage point where I could see the whole trees in outline at a distance, but instead I went to a nearby nature center where the sit-spots were close to the trees.  No matter, I gave it a whirl, and while it was very challenging, I felt like I sharpened my perception of depth as well as subtle details about the trees, so yes, in that sense, the exercise helped me focus on my subject more. When my drawing went off the page, I just continued to imagine I was drawing until my pencil returned to the page!  I actually ended up thinking the rather abstract overlapping drawings were pretty--suggestions of trees. Thinking about how I might want to add color. Contour drawing in general has made me be mindful of  loosening my grip--relinquishing some [illusion of] control in exchange for better flow. Who knows, a looser grip might improve my drawing overall!

Wow - this was really difficult! I could not bring my starting and ending points back together, ran off the page at one point and my bird of paradise looks rather like a swamp plant.  Very interesting to note that my brain and hand do not communicate at all!  

Well I found it nearly impossible not to look at the drawing, some practice needed.

I enjoyed this exercise.  I think the hardest part for me was to keep my eye on the part that I was drawing at a specific moment and not look ahead too soon at the next part of the contour.  It kept me from staying focused on where I felt my pencil should actually be. Lots of fun!

I experimented with starting at different places on the image.

Well that was fun!  I found if I stopped to rethink about my line direction I lost context even though I did not lift my pencil off.  It would seem the trick is to stay focussed throughout.  I like my Springbok the best. I am happy with the front leg, neck, head, ear, antlers and back line through to the tail and back leg including hoof really well.  That's when I stopped to think about what I was doing and without lifting my pencil off, went off course somewhat!  You can see the 2 dark spots where I was resting my pencil. My own choice drawing was a bonsai in a pot which is very leafy and has no trunk line to view.  It looks awful but I am happy with the authenticity of the stick on the right, the leaves on the left and the shape of the bottom of the pot LOL!

I struggled with knowing where I was on the page. Definitely need to practice this strategy!

My drawings turned out pretty odd, except for the newt which wasn't too bad, and I had a hard time not looking down at my paper. I liked the fact that this made me notice details like the different in the number of toes on the newt's front hand (?) versus the rear.

It was SO hard restraining my impulse to look!!! The newt turned out better than I expected, I made the sunbird wider than it should have been, but the bird-of-paradise flower turned out okay, except for the stem which is narrower than it should be. The springbok however was a complete failure. I really enjoyed this lesson because it made me laugh and because it showed me how my eyes and my hand are not used to working together at this level! 

I was actually very pleased with how the drawings turned out. I thought it would be just a bunch of lines on a page. A fun exercise in concentration. Interesting to see how the drawings turned out when starting from different places on the page; left or right, bottom or top. The newt I started at bottom left, the sunbird at the bottom, the flower at the right and the springbok at the lower neck or left. Sorry having trouble uploading all four pictures    

I found this experience just a little frustrating but mostly amusing. It served its purpose, really helping me focus on the subject. I found the bird of Paradise to be the easiest probably because of its straight lines. I think that the more I focused on the details the further my line ended up from being enclosed.

Not peeking at my drawing was the hardest thing to do but I stayed focused on the lines and was surprised that my eyes and hand coordinated so well. This seems like a good practice to do to concentrate on the focus to really see the lines.

I can only manage half an image before my drawings collapse in on themselves. The Bird-of-Paradise at least has some 3-dimensional form.

I had my laughs during this exercise! Poor little Green-tailed Sunbird looks like a frog. I did a better job with the Bird-of-Paradise and Sprinkbok. Trying to imagine where the paper edges were was easier when I folded my paper into fourths.

I didn't do the Newt a favor, but I believe I did better on the Sunbird. I definitely think that this exercise helped me stay focused on the subject because it has you focus on details that you probably otherwise would've overlooked.

I've always loved contour drawing. It definitely helps you stay focused and is always fun, easy, and quick. For me, it helps just be with the process and disconnect from any result.