Daily Sketch #96

Create a textured drawing that feels good to touch by drawing with and on tape!

Find something you love, such as your cat, a toy, or a shell in your home. Then find a roll of tape, a piece of paper (preferably a different color than the tape), and a pencil or piece of charcoal. Tape your paper down to a surface.

Looking carefully at your subject, unroll the tape with your non-drawing hand while pressing the tape down on the paper with your drawing hand. Using the tape as your drawing tool, make a contour line drawing, showing the outline of your subject in one flowing line. Use your whole paper for your drawing.

Now, draw over and around your tape with a dark pencil. Press hard and use the side of your pencil to create areas of light, shadow and texture. Smudge your pencil. If you like, you can pull some of the tape off after you have added your pencil line, and then add more tape. You can make your tape thinner by tearing it in strips.

When you are finished, close your eyes and feel your drawing. Can you tell where the pencil goes over the tape, compared to where there is just tape? What mysterious new qualities do your different lines have?