Blind Contour Cut Paper Portrait

Blind Contour drawing is my favorite way to draw. It’s quick and free and allows you and students to let go and just express their creativity without all the pressure being placed on the final outcome.

In this class students drew each other in 30 seconds. The process is to draw without looking at the paper (I often get students to place drawing boards and hands under their smock) and to start from a point and keep a continuous line. This often means that facial features are out of place and lines a drawn across the face from ear to ear and so forth.

To create the cut paper portrait students photocopy the face onto 4-5 pieces of color cartridge paper and then cut and layer the face starting from the base which is the total face shape and then build up in layers of different color. The only rule is that the colors should not touch, so always separate a layer with a different color.