I love to play around with drawing "blind contours". The rule is that you put your pencil on the paper, and you look at whatever you're drawing and begin to draw without looking at your paper. Complete the drawing without lifting your pen from the Paper. In one way, what you draw does not in any way duplicate the object you are drawing -- and yet in an odd way -- it does! These blind contour drawings have a sort of whimsy and life to them. I'm always surprised when I look at my own drawings. I propose it as a good exercise to practice letting go of outcomes!! It is definitely about the process more than the product. Traditionally, you are told to draw VERY slowly -- and any of you who know me, know that's not going to happen! So, I draw them quickly -- and I like to laugh at what comes out. I read of an artist who does a quick blind contour of himself in his journal every day before he begins writing. I may give that a try. I think it would loosen me up a bit in any case -- make me let go of needing the writing to come out perfectly!
Artist Sam Andersen writes; "The goal of blind drawing is to really see the thing you’re looking at, to almost spiritually merge with it, rather than retreat into your mental image of it. Our brains are designed to simplify — to reduce the tumult of the world into order. Blind drawing trains us to stare at the chaos, to honor it. It is an act of meditation, as much as it is an artistic practice — a gateway to pure being. It forces us to study the world as it actually is."
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