Calling all artists to TikTok, all you need are two things: your finger and your phone. The sound for the song These Days by Nico has now become the home of an artistic new TikTok trend. Using the filter “Outline” roughly 570K (and counting) users have taken on the latest TikTok challenge, and additional users are utilizing the song Play Date by Melanie Martinez for a similar trend.
@joobaca my hands keep shaking
The “Outline” filter allows users to draw on their screens using their fingers while making a video. Holding the phone with the front camera on their face, TikTok users all over the world are utilizing this sound and filter to attempt to trace the outline of their face. Some users have opted to do the trend with the added challenge of tracing without breaking the line. Others have simply gone for quality art and attempted to trace their face within the roughly 30-second portion of the song allotted for the trend.
@beauxparty I feel like I should be better at this
Interestingly, the song chosen for the trend was written by Jackson Brown at age 16 about remembrance and regret. This gives the whole trend a melancholy romanticized feeling which has likely prompted many to take on the challenge.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect is that, as with many TikTok trends, some users are more adept at participating than others. But, because of the abstract nature of this particular trend, nearly every video is interesting regardless of the user’s level of artistic skill. Even though some of the participants clearly aren’t artists themselves, the challenge still yields to more abstract and fascinating face sketches. And in videos by artists, you can scroll through numerous videos and see each artist’s variations in style and attention to detail. While some artists opt for a very crisp tracing, others are a little messy and more abstract with their take.
@siarodri i did one without breaking the line before this video #drawingchallenge #fypシ #outline
Scrolling through this trend, viewers are also able to simply marvel at the beauty in the differences of everyone’s features, similar to an art exhibition with a series of portraits of a variety of people. Given that TikTok typically centers other forms of art like dancing and video production, it’s great to see a trend going around that centers another form of traditional art. There’s one thing we know for sure: artists definitely have a leg up with this trend, so grab your phone and get sketching.
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