Exercise 2 is a mirror drawing. It focuses on drawings skills and teaching the eye to see what is really there. The instructions were to sit in front of a mirror and draw an outline of my reflection with a marker. This is trickier than it sounds as I had to keep one eye shut the whole time so that I could focus on the reflection. Also, I am right-handed so it was not possible to outline my right hand or arm.

Once I traced my outline with a marker, I held a piece of paper over the line drawing and traced it onto the paper with a pencil. The instructions were clear that I was to trace exactly what was there and not to try to improve on the composition.

And did I mention that it was supposed to be completed in one continuous line? I must admit that I wasn’t able to complete it without moving a bit and lifting the marker a time or two, but I did put the marker back where I left off each time. The result was, interesting.

This was the first time I’ve drawn directly on a mirror [to trace my reflection] and aside from the annoyance of keeping an eye shut the whole time, it was pretty fun. Also, a good exercise leading into contour drawings.

Also, meet my cat Georgi. He was very interested in helping. I’m sure that you will meet my other furry, four-legged helpers during future experiments and projects. 🙂

Create a continuous, contour line drawing of reflection.