In the middle of a year-long road trip, Covid Spring 2020 landed me in limbo in the land of enchantment and artistic wonderland of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
At the urging of my friend Diane Sherman, partner in art, yoga, teaching and philosophical musings, I embarked on a journaling project of a series of quick, 1-minute contour drawing portraits. Most include words and markings that reflect my current thoughts, worries and revelations, as a chronicle of my day-to-day self for one month in the midst of the confusing pandemic.
What’s a contour drawing? It’s a playful and quick sketch with pen to paper without looking at anything but your subject. Without lifting the pen or assessing or correcting progress, one captures the visual by instinct with spontaneity and energy. The range of abstraction to realism can be quite long, as you will see! Contour drawings are fun to do, a great exercise in truly seeing your subject, a warming up of creative muscles, and accessible to anyone! Later, I colored in some of these drawings, one of which was featured in the book, “The Magic of Art Journaling,” by Diane Sherman.
All drawings are colored pencil and pen on paper in various sizes. To view each drawing individually in larger format, click on any image below and use the arrows to view all works as a slide show.
Here are a few random portraits over the years in oil pastel, colored pencil, and/or ink on paper in various sizes.
mary corbin 