I had problems connecting the beginning and the end of the drawing. It is hard not to focus on doing it 'right' but I do think it helps you focus on the subject. My best attempt was the Bird of Paradise.

This was a neat exercise - yes it did help me focus on the subject, and only on the outline and contours.  I was surprised that I was able to capture the general form :)

This exercise really made me laugh, and I had to concentrate because I wanted to look back at my drawing to see "where" I was on the page. Most difficult, finishing the drawing at the same spot I began.

Had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs looking at the ‘finished’ drawing. Took my time, lots of focus and intent.

Contour drawing helps in looking closely to object. I found it easy it is an 2D object. Especially if it is flat. Yet, rounded and curved object was a bit challenging to draw from image. As for taking it to the outdoors, the first trial with my pot of cactus was not a success-erased it. I attached the second trial which depicted the contour line of the cactus in pot. The below are the drawings for the images in the course.   My trial drawing the cactus in pot.

This was a fun exercise! I was surprised by the results (it made me feel close to a 5 year old child drawing :) It helped me stay focused on my subject, yet I had to resist the temptation to look down at the paper. I tried this a few times, to see which was the best starting point. The hardest subject to draw seemed to be the springbok. I got the feeling that, overall, this exercise improves with drawing and drawing...!

It was difficult to avoid the temptation to look down at the paper.  But once again it forced me to slow down and focus, which is the point of this class, for me.  I also experimented with drawing counter-clockwise/dominant hand, clockwise/dominant, and clockwise/non-dominant.  It didn't seem to matter much for this exercise, but slowing my eye focus was key.  I was kind of relieved when I got to the feet of the springbok and saw they overlapped and I didn't have to go all the way up and down the legs!  

I love this lighthearted exercise.  Yet it is also fascinating to trust my senses to guide my hand and see that some things are scaled properly. That was a complete surprise!

It was good for focusing. I was hard to do with lines that were near each other, like the legs on the spring bok. Parts of my drawings were OK but others were not recognizable.

Interesting exercise, very different from anything I've tried before. I was so worried to forget where I was that I might not have focused enough. Not sure. But it was fun!

That certainly was a test and amusing for sure.  Not posting my attempts.  I did fairly well on the Bird of Paradise I think because its lines were straighter.  the other three were well, lets not discuss.  Can definitely see where this skill would be usefull in the field.  Great exercise and I am going to keep trying!

Oh my, this was great fun, because I had no expectations of the drawing being any good! It was so HARD to not reflexively look at the paper, but I did it, even when I wondered if my pencil lead had run out. And yes, it certainly helped me focus on the contour of the subject.  So far I have found NOT-blind contour drawing (vs. "short and sketchy") easier. I'm not sure why. It somehow keeps me on track or forces me to look more at the subject? I was surprised that I kept the "parallel" lines in the newt's tail, narrowest flower petals, bird tail, and springbox's legs "together."  And on a few drawings, I nearly ended up where I started! Hilarious and fun! Now to find something out in the yard to try.... ?

I was so proud of not looking down.... then at the end, when I did look down, I almost cried with laughter. A fun and interesting experience!

This is definitely harder than I remember it being when I tried it years ago. At that time it was just a warm up exercise. I can see that it will be a great tool for quick sketching and that is motivation for practice. This was my third try at the newt.

My drawings were barely  recognizable. The seemed to want to be something squashed more than to be a newt, flower, and a sunbird. 

Yes it helped.

The plants were definitely more difficult for me than the animals. It did help me stay focused though and not get lost in focusing on a specific detail too soon.

This was scary, and I admit I cheated by looking up now and then...I really could not just let my pencil roam over the page. But I'm going to keep practicing blind contour dwg, because I think it'll help allay my fear of not being able to draw well. It really did help me focus on the subject though. And I had fun going back in to correct some of the shapes afterwards, and note what the colors were. Great challenge. If anybody reads this, can you tell me how to post my drawings/sketches. Do I take a photo with my Iphone camera? And then do what to "insert image"? Sorry to be such a luddite. Sylvia (sylsbach@yahoo.com)

It was hard! I made several attempts, it was hard to keep the proportions right.

Too bad to share. This so hard for me. Horrible spatial perception at the best of times. But jolly good fun.

An amusing exercise :-) My squiggles look more like road kill. I certainly need to sharpen these skills: a sense of time - how long it takes to cover distance with the pencil - and spatial perception - where is the start of this thing again?!

Contour Drawing by itself is not my favorite, however after I completed the exercise, I used the contour to complete the subjects and I was surprised at how well I was recording the blank space.  This helps a lot with getting the prospective as it really looks and capturing some very good detail.  I hope the focus on my subject will result with being able to capture the bird's movement faster.  If I can get the outline I should be able to fill in the detail.

Not sure that I get the point of this. My drawings were not uninteresting, but were rather odd. Yes, they forced me to be focused on the subject. But again, why do this? If there were positives in what I drew, they escaped me. Weird.

I have done this before, and I enjoy the meditative aspect of focusing on the subject, and the life in the drawing. Scale, beginning and ending, making parallel lines parallel, etc. all difficulties of the process were mine as well. This exercise does make my regular drawings more real, and gives a way to draw moving animals and be relaxed about it.  I have been drawing from phone pics, so this helps with relaxation, and establishing the intent as something other than a photo perfect picture.  My more "perfect" drawings are great, but take a lot of time, and have put me behind in my hopes for daily journaling.   This helps me get back on track. I have loved following the fabulous gifts of spring through all the flowers and birds in my journal.  It is a perfect antidote to Covid, sheltering at a distance or at home blues. On to moving creatures!!