Drawing with the Right Side of the Brain

When I asked my Nana, an extremely gifted artist, how she learned to draw so well, she told me about the book ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain,' by Betty Edwards. It teaches you how to draw using the right, which is the creative, part of the brain, rather than the left, which is the controlling part. When drawing, the two parts are often fighting against each other.  The right side flows with creativity and just as quickly the left side is making corrections and changes. 

I haven’t taken the time to sit down and really draw in a few years (which is really a shame because I love to draw).  I decided to give it a go and did one of the first exercises in the book, called upside-down drawing.  You take a picture, flip it upside-down, and draw it!  You just draw what you see, line for line.  You don’t focus on the whole picture, just one line at a time.  I drew a man sitting in a chair.  When I got to his hands and face, it was hard not to switch back to my left brain thinking, but I just followed the directions and thought of his hands and face as just lines.  

Here is the picture from the book.. Here is what I drew.

        

The two looked pretty similar upside-down!  But it was time for the moment of truth. . .

Here is the book picture facing up.          And here is my drawing

    

       

While mine is not an exact copy, it’s still pretty darn close if I do say so myself!  I was very pleased, especially since I hadn’t drawn for so long.  I was fascinated by how my brain was able to outsmart itself and allow me to create this piece of art! The brain is so incredible.  

So if anyone is out there reading this and thinking, I can’t draw *grumble grumble*, just give it a try!  Print out the picture above on the left, flip it upside-down, and try to draw it!  You may surprise yourself :) 

Stay crafty people!

Love,

        Mrs. Truscello