Connie's Corner

One of my booksale treasures...

I bought some drawing books at the recent booksale and one of them (Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain) has captured my full attention. Since artistic endeavors need to originate from the right side of the brain, the author attempts 'tricks' to make us use only that side of the brain when we draw.

Normally, when we attempt to draw something we recognize, the left side of the brain butts in and tries to tell us what to do mainly from memory and recognition leaving our eyes to glaze over and not really see what we are drawing. It seems the left side of our brain has preconceived ideas of how we should draw something...logically. So the right side, the spatial side, hardly ever gets used because the left side of our brain is so dominant.

So, the trick is to take a line drawing of something, even a comic strip will do if it's handy, turn it upside down, and draw it. Sounds simple, huh?...Not. You will be surprised at the concentration it takes and guess where this concentration comes from....the right side of the brain. You have to really look at what you are drawing, determine where the lines are in space, and reproduce them carefully, slowly, with deliberation to get it right. Time flies by and you are almost in a trancelike state, seeing and thinking about only this one thing.

If you can find no line drawing, write your signature on a piece of paper and turn it upside down. It is mind boggling to try to reproduce it upside down. As I progress through the book, I will write more.....

I think this could be adapted to writing also. For example, writing out of our comfortable genre or out of our gender. I can imagine how difficult it is for the non-native English speaking person to write in English. That certainly gives me a new perspective. My hat is off to you...

Until next time......c