How to Increase Drawing Speed with This Technique

You will save time and your lines will say more by using contour drawing to increase drawing speed.

Contour Drawing is a Solution to Increasing Drawing Speed

Drawing only the edges of your subject helps to save time and even though the sketch may be wonky, it is probably still lovely. I consider the black and white drawing below to be wonky but lovely.  It also sharpens your skills in hand eye coordination.  You will notice that even when you are not deliberately trying to do a contour drawing, that your lines have improved. 

It’s funny that contour drawing increases drawing speed even though it is a slower drawing process.  Your hand moves way more slowly, but you get a completed drawing faster than if you made a regular sketch.  Even when the drawing turns out to look barely like the subject (like in a blind contour drawing), the lines are still wonderful.  Your chances of making a good drawing is higher even though I have had more than a few that ended up in the reject pile.

“Every artist has thousands of bad drawings in them and the only way to get rid of them is to draw them out.” -Chuck Jones

This Drawing Method Increases Speed

Since contour drawings force you to make decisions, there is no time wasted erasing and rethinking your lines.  Even if you draw a line that is not accurate, when you go back and put the line where it should go, the erroneous line gives the accurate line energy.  The drawing does not suffer from the extra lines.

Contour drawing takes away the pressure of calculating proportion and composition, and lets you enter a flow state while you concentrate on drawing the edge of your subject. It is delightful to see the resulting drawing; I usually LOVE them. 

Koosje Koene is a remarkable artist who gives regular instruction on how to do contour drawings.  She ROCKS!  I love her videos because she gets right to the point and they are always short.  Plus her drawings are wonderful.

Increase Drawing Speed with No Pencil Sketch 

Even if you don’t do contour drawing but you draw in pen without using a pencil first, it can often end in a strong result.  The lines will be more confident and the drawings turn out better.  Or worse.  But usually better.  I find the drawings that have a preliminary drawing in pencil are stiffer.  

About the Drawings in General

These three drawings are the best of many failed attempts to draw this orchid.  The first drawing started as a yellow square of background in one of the smallest sketchbooks I have.  After a long space of time with me waiting for the perfect thing to draw on top of the yellow, I finally decided a quick sketch of a blooming houseplant to be an appropriate subject for the page.

A Good Mindless Way to be Creative

It really helps to create backgrounds in advance.  There are days when your mood for art is only enough to splash some washes around.  Making time to mix your favorite color and splatter or finger paint can elevate your inspiration levels and give you ideas.  Everything that happens can be used.

Many times the pages in my sketchbooks with the prepped background sit without going further for many weeks.  I have a tendency to skip those pages.  This is something I need to work on.  Maybe drawing in order in my sketchbook would help me to progress the pages that have already been prepped.  Certainly I could fill more sketchbooks faster.  Even so, the background washes push a plain drawing and make it better.  

The second drawing with no background grew on me after time.  The new flower buds made me want to hurry and draw them before they bloomed and I was concentrating so hard I drew it upside down in my sketchbook.  I thought it was an upside down mistake until just the other day.  Even now the little buds coming from the keiki (baby orchid) give me joy.  I have a mind to make a new drawing using this one as a reference. 

Having a Prepared Background Also Increases Drawing Speed

The third drawing is on top of a wash from soaking old dried Tombow pens.  This bluish purple wash had such an even tone, I look forward to reviving more pens and making new washes.  It worked even on very thin paper.  I used a brown uni-ball vision elite.  This is another background that sat waiting for me to draw something on top.  I am not used to being so prepared.  I think I learned this from Roz Stendahl.  In the pre-covid days she would take a fully prepared sketchbook to the state fair and draw.  How awesome is that? 

Do you have any questions or concerns?  Or suggestions?  Please let me know in the comments!