Blind Continuous Line Self-Portraits

School art therapy workshop

There’s something surprisingly freeing about drawing yourself without looking at the page.

A blind continuous line self-portrait is exactly that: you draw your face without lifting your pen and, importantly, without looking at what you’re creating. You can’t stop to judge, correct or erase. There’s no pressure to make it look “right” or even recognisably like you.

And that’s where the magic happens.

By taking away the opportunity to critique the drawing, you can also quieten that inner critic for a little while. Perfectionism has less room to take over, and your attention naturally comes back to the moment—the movement of your hand, the feeling of the pen on the paper, and simply being curious about what emerges.

The slow, continuous movement can also be surprisingly grounding. There’s no need to rush or get anywhere. Just one line, one movement, one moment at a time. This can help settle some of the physical tension that comes with stress and bring you back into your body.

And then you look up.

Often, what you’ve created is wonky, exaggerated or completely unexpected. And instead of seeing something that needs fixing, you might find yourself laughing. 

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