Observational drawing exercises for students and families

1. Observational
Drawing Workout
Learning to see like an artist!
Emily Valenza 2014

2. Learning to SEE
Too often, when we try to draw, we
are attempting to remember what
something looks like, or draw a symbol
of it, rather than actually LOOKING!
These workouts will train you to see
in a more effective and active way that
will super-charge your drawing skills!

3. Air Drawing
Kinesthetic practice to observe more carefully before drawing
● Create an imaginary drawing in the air before
drawing on paper.
● Point with a pencil, finger, or even the nose to
the subject and do a careful imaginary drawing in
the air.
● Air practice is simply pointing to edge of the
object and drawing slowly in the air.
● Draw invisibly on paper with only a finger before
using a pencil.
● Looking carefully means following the contour
slowly--about as fast as an ant could crawl along
the edge.

4. Blind Contour Drawing
practicing more careful observation by drawing
without looking at your paper
● Look carefully at the contours of your subject- try an
air drawing first!
● Arrange your paper and drawing surface so
everything is stable- tape paper to the table if needed
● Looking ONLY at your subject, draw the outside edge
of your subject without letting your pen or pencil lift
from the paper.
● Use a “blinder” on your pen if you are tempted to
peek!
● Loop your line around to reach areas that might be
difficult to reach.

5. Blind Contour Drawing Examples

6. Contour Drawing
drawing with one continuous line, focusing on edges
● This is blind contour drawing with only a little
peeking allowed (no erasing!)
● Look carefully at the contours of your
subject- try an air drawing first!
● While looking MOSTLY at your subject, draw
the outside edge of your subject without
letting your pen or pencil lift from the paper.
● Loop your line around to draw areas that might
be difficult to reach within the outside edges.
● Check out the video to the right to see this
process in action ->
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL3LiR_pvsU

7. Upside-Down Drawing
Removing our previous understanding of images to
observe them objectively
● This process allows you to focus on observing each line and shape,
rather than the finished drawing or shapes you recognize
● Print this Picasso drawing or use an image of your own choosing
● While viewing the original upside down, begin recording lines you see
● This can get tricky! Avoid naming parts that you recognize, try to
focus only on the lines and shapes you see

8. Negative Space Drawing
learning to observe the spaces around and between objects in
order to observe more accurately
● Draw a contour edge of the
negative space shapes you see.
● Fill these shapes in with a darker
tone, so that the positive space
shapes remain white.
● Look carefully to make sure you
are observing the actual shapes
you see, not the ones you assume
you might see.

9. Viewfinders & Camera Obscura
● Artists used camera obscuras to understand how to
replicate the 3-D world in a flat picture plane
● Viewfinders allow artists to translate images using a
grid system
● We can use simplified versions of these tools to
more easily understand visual information, too
● Try laminating a frame of paper to make a drawing
screen & viewfinder like the one in the upper left
photo
● Practice finding contours with a dry-erase marker

10. Two-Handed Drawing
● Choose two different pencils or pens
● Put one in each hand
● Without thinking too much, try drawing
with both hands at once
● What happens?
● What do you notice?
● Make some designs
● Draw some shapes

11. Highlight Drawing
● Use a dark or black piece of paper
● Record only the highlights you see with
white pastel, colored pencil or crayon

12. Shadow Drawing
● Use a light piece of paper
● DO NOT use lines, just shapes of shading
● Record only the shadows you see with a
dark pencil, charcoal or crayon

13. Highlight & Shadow Drawing
● Use a mid-tone piece of paper
● Record highlights with white
pastel, chalk or colored pencil
● Record shadows with black
● DO NOT use any lines- just
shapes of highlight and
shadow!

14. Reflection:
● Which of these techniques was most
difficult for you?
● Which technique felt the most natural?
● What did you learn from practicing these
techniques?
● How might you observe differently in the
future?