Saturday, June 13, 2020

Blind Contour Drawing Challenge

Blind contour drawing on a piece of star chart

This is part of my Eileen blind contour project, which is expanding into a larger project.

Superman's Pal, blind contour on comic book page
This current group of blind contour drawings started with 12 book pages, one piece of a star chart and one comic book page. The four here are the ones I have completed so far. I painted most of the pages with slightly watered down titanium white acrylic paint to muffle the print and images.

Blind contour, hatching, collage
Then I did the blind contour drawings with a variety of pens I had on hand. Mostly Uniball Vision Elite pens, which have black ink tinted with various colors. I am still using the photos from Eileen, but will probably branch out soon. I want to try other faces and some objects, like chairs. After doing the blind contours, I scanned all the pages and imported them to Procreate on my iPad. I can do multiple digital versions and of course one analog version. These four are the analogs.

Blind contour on book page, hatching, collage
In looking at these I think there is possibility. I like the one on the star chart, mostly I think because the eye happened to fall in that light circle. (Jupiter) But I do love dark backgrounds. And I didn't even try to add collage. The Superman's Pal is appealing to me for some reason. Lots to look at, the head floats on the page. I don't like the big white bits of paper, and that warning symbol seems pointless in that context. And the drawing and the comic book page have no theme connection. The one with the postage stamps is okay, I do like the eyes high in the face. I couldn't find anything to collage on that I liked, the stamps were the closest I could come. The last one is just okay too. But I do like the different faces, including that there is one looking away from us. And there is more room for the collage in this one. Maybe it needs a pattern in the background?

If you have thoughts, leave a comment here or on Facebook. I am always interested in other people's opinions. You probably see things differently, which can be interesting.

*"A bunch" might be more accurate. If I find something else to work on, feel I have learned what I can or just get tired of the project, I will stop. If I am loving it after 100, of course I will continue.


5 comments:

eileen2000 said...

The one on the star chart is my absolute favorite, but I love them all. There is something about this odd, awkward combination of collage, blind contour and detailed rendering that really appeals to me visually. I love how much you play and experiment with things. It is very inspiring to me.

Judith Hoffman said...

Eileen I’m so glad you like the star chart drawing. Thanks for starting me on this project! And thanks for all you valuable feedback.

Lori Don said...

I'm loving the project a lot and it has sparked some ideas for me as well. Have you thought about eventually changing the scale? I can see some of these scaled up to a bigger size--could be interesting! Keep going! Lori Don Levan

Judith Hoffman said...

Hi Lori,
I'm glad you are enjoying the project. I'd love to see what comes out of it for you. I had thought of going a little smaller, but not changing the scale to bigger. I must admit my first thought was "no way." I usually do work small, and prefer to make books as the final project. I struggle with larger things. But then I thought it's worth a try. If nothing else I could cut it up and make a book. (-: It might be worth a try.

Donna Otter said...

Love these!