Inspired by Brenda Swenson's 75-day contour drawing challenge, I thought my drawing skills could benefit by d.r.a.w.i.n.g   s.l.o.w.e.r.  The goal is not to get a likeness of your subject, but to pay attention to every line with your eyes and hone your observation skills by not lifting your pen off of the page.  

I may have lifted my pen occasionally.  Its hard to do it as one continuous line!  Pen is preferred over pencil so that you don't erase your mistakes.  Lines aren't supposed to be perfect.  Brenda Swenson explains it a little better here.  It takes only a few minutes to do a contour drawing and is a great way to "loosen up" before more formal drawing or painting.  As you can see from my contour drawing above, you can make out what the subject should be, a small boy in the grass with a chair, but I found it funny that I turned him into such a pouty boy looking like Winston Churchill.  Here is the reference photo:

I'll be posting more contour drawings periodically.  Try it, it's a fun exercise!