“The physical act of drawing consists mostly of developing hand-eye coordination. “Drawing through observation is a skill that most people are capable of learning,” says Terry O’Day, the chair of the art department at Pacific University, in Forest Grove, Oregon, where the Blind Contour method is taught.

The Blind Contour Exercise in 7 steps A student’s Blind Contour drawing of feet from the Pacific University website. But it helps artists of all levels improve their observational skills by instructing them to look at the lines, shapes and patterns of objects and how they combine to form what we see. By doing so, artists are forced to draw what they actually see instead of what they think they see.

Popularized by Kimon Nicolaïdes in his 1941 book The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study, the blind contour method involves carefully observing the outline and shapes of a subject while slowly drawing its contours in a continuous line without looking at the paper. The blind contour drawing exercise is a fundamental tool that can help beginning artists create their first drawings, as well as help experienced artists become reacquainted with the power of observation. Adapted from an article by Allison Malafronte. Beginner Drawings Start with a Simple Line A student’s Blind Contour drawing of a hand from the Pacific University website.

Easy contour line drawings