using my non-dominant hand

There is an amazing artist, Ivy Newport, that I take on-line classes from and follow regularly on FaceBook.  I am in awe of her talent along with her persona.  I've learned lots from her!

For a while now,  Ivy tells us she has been starting her drawings/paintings with a contour drawing, one continual drawing without lifting the pencil.  Here's the kicker... using her non-dominant hand. 

I believe she surprised herself with the results and found this practice to be valuable.   She says that she starts most of her paintings this way now.  

I had my super-artist cape on Saturday and thought, "If Ivy can do it maybe I can, too."  I was willing to give if my full effort.  I smudged my studio with Palos Santos, said my intention prayer, and put my headphones on to listen to mellow music.  Stood up to my easel with pencil in hand, took a deep breath, and off I went.  I finished this drawing within 2-3 minutes.  The big challenge was to not lift the pencil.  

Yep - she's a little wonky.  Which is to be expected.

Most of the placements look good.

It was freeing to not spend so much time on the beginning sketch which is what I find myself doing.

This just may be a technique I implement for the future.

I switched to my dominant hand and the extra fun part began as I got out my

charcoal + chalk pastels + pan pastels.

Here is the finished piece.