Drawing on Brain Power

Day 2:

I decide to give up on reading, “Drawing with Children.” Much of the information is similar, but is less interesting and the example drawings are much simpler and kind of boring. And less boring is good. I already spend a good portion of my day playing with a 4 year old which is great fun if you are 4, but less than mentally stimulating for the over 30 crowd.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain launches into a discussion about the fact that most people don’t learn to draw past 9-10 because they never learn to access the spatial relationship functions of the right side of the brain while turning off the dominant language and reasoning centers in their left. I start with a couple of exercises designed to show me how hard it is to draw when you are focused on naming things. And it is hard, very hard. I am instantly transported back to middle school and the suckitude that was art class. My brain rebels and starts hurling really mature thoughts like, “I am not going to do this and you can’t make me so Nah nah na nah NAH.”

When I am done struggling through those exercises, I move on to the exercises designed to HELP me access the right brain functions. I copy a copy of drawings out of the book, but I do it upside down. It is actually kind of hard to determine exactly what I am drawing, but when I turn them right side up they are pretty good. Not picture perfect, but not lamentable either. I also notice that I am no longer getting halfway through the picture and feeling like I have wasted too much time on it. I take as much time as it takes to complete the picture and don’t worry about the time. It’s actually kind of Zen.