108. trapped shapes

In life drawing over the past few months I’ve been constantly running up against the problem of my mind filling in what I see. This makes drawings look less realistic, more of an idea than a reflection of reality.

A life drawing instructor recommended the book Keys to Drawing, it’s quite good. The author Bert Dodson encourages me to break out of my mind by doing blind contour drawings, focusing more on the subject than my paper.

Bert encourages looking at the subject as a series of shapes - you’re not drawing a dog but a series of dark and light shapes. Start with the outline, then add big shapes and then add “enrichment shapes.” He calls this shape play and it is very fun.

He included this tool, drawing trapped shapes:

Essentially focusing on the shapes trapped by your subject is easier because they are abstract. Get those negative space drawings and the rest will be easier.