Jacki Kellum Contour Drawing
Created in about 10 Minutes
10 Minutes of Focused Mindfulness
Contour Drawing Is A Way to Meditate
It is a Way to Be in the Moment
It is a Way to See in the Moment

Learning to actually SEE is vital to becoming an artist and being and also being a writer.  Actual SEEING is complex and requires more than looking at something–in the same way that your dog or cat or the birds outside look at something. Even flies look.

Seeing is a type of looking at something that involves a detailed recognition of all of the object’s physical traits–as well as seeing into the object’s spirit–seeing the essence of the subject.  Looking is a physical type of viewing. Truly seeing is more spiritual than mere looking. Artists and writers must be able to see. Contour Drawing is a type of drawing which helps artists and writers truly see. For the rest of the world, it is a way to meditate.

Frederick Franck wrote a book about the Meditative capacity of the process of drawing:

“Art is neither a profession nor a hobby. Art is a way of being.” – Frederick Franck

“It is in order to really see, to see ever deeper, ever more intensely, hence to be fully aware and alive, that I draw what the Chinese call ‘The Ten Thousand Things’ around me. Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world. I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle.”

Because of its power in my own life–which could also be a power in your life–I am launching a Drawing Challenge: A Drawing a Day. To participate in this challenge, you need to dedicate about 15 minutes every day to create 2 specific types of drawings — A Gesture Drawing of something you are actually looking at [not a photo]–and A Contour Drawing of the same thing.