Here’s why sketching candid portraits is a super-fast way to get good at sketching well:

• It forces you to sketch quickly – people can move at any time!
• It gives you a chance to sketch lots of different types of people – from different angles
• It puts pressure on you to draw well – people around you can see what you’re drawing! The person you’re drawing might want to see!
• It’s free (well other than the cost of the train or the cup of coffee, or whatever incedental costs you incur in a public place)
• You can do it on your way to/from work – or any other time you’re on a subway, bus, waiting for your food at a restaurant, etc.
• It’s fun!

Another thing that’s great about candid portraits is that it gives you a chance to get to know some random people you probably would never have met otherwise. When I first started sketching candid portraits in Chicago I discovered that when people see someone pull out a pad and start drawing, they get curious. They get interested. Often the person or people next to me will comment on my drawings, and if I’m feeling social this can lead to all sorts of interesting conversations. I’ve met several people this way who later became friends.

And there’s a special connection formed with the person you’re sketching (note – this is for when you’re actually doing good).

Often whoever you’re drawing will look up and notice you’re drawing them. When I’m doing a good sketch, or feeling really in the zone, I’ll usually flash them a big smile, and they usually smile back. (note: this works in San Francisco, Chicago and Paris. I’ve never tried it in New York…) If it’s a good sketch I usually sign it and rip it out of my sketchbook, and present it to the subject as they leave the train. It feels really good to give someone a spontaneous gift like that, and I’d like to think I’ve brightened quite a few days that way.

One of my favorite things to do of all things is to sit on a crowded subway or other public place and sketch candid portraits of my fellow passengers. Subways are the best because people tend to zone out and sit really still, and you get a chance to draw people from all walks of life in all sorts of positions. It’s really quite amazing.

Why do I love sketching candid portraits so much more than sketching, say, an art model or someone who’s posing for me? See, it’s like a game. In a public setting, people don’t know you’re sketching them, so they’ll move frequently. Every time someone moves, they’ll probably never return to that pose (or at least not exactly) so you have a limited time to sketch and you don’t know what that time is — so it makes it exciting! And so you try to find someone you think might hold still for a while…

There are a lot more reasons why I love it – I’ll explain some of those in my next posts.`

Awww… the poor kid just can’t seem to stay awake. So. Adorable.

See if you can stay awake for this next one: Crumple and tear a paper bag, then draw all the lines without picking up your pen. It’ll help you learn how to draw so you can eventually someday draw portraits of babies just like this one.

See if you can focus for a moment. Turn off the TV and throw your smartphone away. I’m gonna teach you how to draw and… WAIT! COME BACK HERE! Do you want to learn this or not?

Ok good. Got a paper bag? No, don’t put your head in it… how old are you anyway. Start tearing it. Yeah, like that. Nice, I can see you’re really enjoying… Wait, ok not that much, hang on you… Great. You’ve ruined it. Go get another bag and maybe ease back on the enthusiasm just a TAD this time.

There, that’s fine stop STOP that’s fine, no STOP TEARING IT. Good. Now just set it down, set it…

Good. Finally. OK now it’s time to draw… Hey! What did I tell you about your smartphone? Give me that. I said give. GIVE. I’m just gonna hang onto this until you finish this exercise. I’m telling you it’s for your own good.

Don’t be like that. YOU’RE the one who wanted to learn how to fucking draw. You still want to? Can you stick with one thing for more than five seconds for once in your life? I swear, I’m at my wit’s end with you.

Oh, stop crying, you baby. Look. It’s absurdly simple. Draw the fucking bag. Draw the lines on the bag. Jesus.

See? There. Was that so damn hard? You’ve drawn something. Take your smartphone back and get the fuck out of here.

Here’s your chance to let out some pent-up anger and stress. Find a paper bag. Pretend it’s your greatest rival. You know, the one who got one point higher GPA than you in school and got that sweet internship you wanted? Or the coworker who got promoted to VP before you. Time for PAYBACK! Go crazy on this bag. Tear it, POUND it. Make it PAY. You’re gonna be the best someday, you’ll show them! You’ll show them ALL. But first you gotta learn to draw.

So once you’ve gotten all that anger out of your system, take the remains of the bag and your sketchbook, and trace all the edges on the pad. This is gonna FREAK OUT YOUR BRAIN and almost MAGICALLY turn you into the best sketcher ever. Nearly overnight! (not really but you gotta perservere. You want to be the BEST don’t you?!?!?)

Do it! Move!

So the reason it’s so damn hard to draw stuff is because we think we already know what it looks like. A tree’s a brown rectangle with a fluffy green blob on top, right? Or in fall it’s a fluffy orange blob. Depending on country of course. And a human face is a big ova with two ovals for the eyes, with dots in ’em. The mouth is a half-circle. BAH! Symbols! Free your mind of symbols! Here’s another technique to help you do that.

The trick here is, we’re gonna be drawing something that doesn’t HAVE a symbol. So what I want you to do is find a piece of scrap paper or a brown paper bag that you don’t need or care about. Now it’s important that you don’t care about it ’cause you’re gonna tear it, crumple it, and basically turn it into a weird abstract shape. Try and make it into as odd a shape as you can without shredding it into more than one piece (but if you DO end up with multiple pieces, it’s fine).

Now, we’re gonna do another contour drawing of it. This time you can look at your paper, but you still can’t lift your pen or pencil. The idea is to start at one place, and trace every line, follow every jagged edge, and every rip. Don’t worry if you have to go back over a line or cut across an area. The idea is to follow the edges of this crumpled thing as faithfully as possible. Since your left brain doesn’t have a ready-made symbol for a crumpled mass of ripped paper, it’ll let your right brain take over and see what you actually see. Give it a try!

What do cute fuzzy bunnies have to do with contour drawing? To explain, watch this video:

Wasn’t that great? So, what does that have to do with blind contour drawing? Absolutely nothing. But it sure was cute, right?

To draw blind contour drawing the trick is to look away from your drawing pad, and stare at your off hand. Imagine it’s a fuzzy bunny. Let your feelings guide you as your hand effortlessly moves across the page. Don’t be like the bunnies – No peeking 😛

Once you’re done do another one! They’re fun!

Here’s a step-by-step:

Breathe normally throughout the exercise to prevent yourself from suffocating. Also make sure your heart is beating normally.
Grip your pen in your good hand. That is, the hand you write with. Make sure the tip is extended and it has proper ink.
Press the pen to your paper. Make sure it writes, maybe do a squiggle to be sure.
Look away and don’t look back. At no point lift the pen from the paper. Stare at your other hand.
Start by looking at the point where your wrist meets your hand.
From there, let your eyes follow the contour of your hand (contour being the edge, or any lines you see).
At the same time move your writing hand to match what your eyes are seeing. You’re drawing lines, here.
Remember not to peek at your drawing at any point in this exercise.
Keep going. when you reach a knuckle, follow the lines of the knuckle as they zigzag across your finger. Then return to the edge of your finger, and go on.
Similarly when you reach a nail, follow the line of the nail. Notice that there’s several lines in your nail, the crescent of white at the edge, the big pink part, and another paler part near the base. Follow the lines of all of these.
Remember not to try and do any shading or color anything in. You’re just following the lines.
Once you’ve drawn all five fingers, and you’ve reached the other side of your wrist, you’re done! You can look!

Don’t worry if it looks like crap, it’s supposed to. You win the day. Here is your prize, your hand picture which you can crumple up and throw away if you want, or save for ever and always and such because it’s your first drawing as an artist.

I’m serious! Be very worried, it’s dangerous!

There’s only one thing you can do to prevent it – you gotta get to Blind Contour Drawing before Blind Contour Drawing gets to you. Kick its ass. That’s right. Look at your off hand and draw it without looking at the paper. It’s the only way to protect your family from evil drawing exercises that want to abduct them.

It’s gonna be awesome.