Drawing and the Theory of the Two Brain Hemispheres
Our brain looks a bit like a walnut. It consists of two halves that are connected in the middle. Each half processes information differently.
According to a popular theory, the left hemisphere processes information analytically. It thinks logically and looks for details.
The right hemisphere sees the big picture. It thinks in connections and associations. Details escape it.
A nice way to describe this is to say that someone “can’t see the forest for the trees”. The left hemisphere catalogs the individual trees without taking in the whole picture.
What does this have to do with drawing?
We’re often tempted to lose ourselves in details. Say we want to draw a head and start shading the eye. It’s a truly beautiful eye, with lashes and a highlight and everything, but unfortunately it’s in the wrong place! Now what? Sacrifice the eye to get the proportions of the face right? Or adjust the rest of the face to fit the eye?
Who hasn’t been there?
I call it “hanging the curtains before the roof is on”.
Another common problem is that the sheet of paper is too small. You draw a figure, it’s going really well, but unfortunately there’s no room left for the head …
What’s the solution?
- Hold a pencil out at arm’s length and use it to measure the length and width of your subject. This tells you whether to use the paper in portrait or landscape. (That was an aha moment for me in life drawing: when a person is sitting on a chair at an angle, for example, and ends up wider than tall.)
- Once you’ve settled on the format, roughly sketch your subject. No details! Then start building up your drawing piece by piece. In other words, you work from the outside in. Details come last.
To be honest, this is hard. We have to keep all the individual parts in view the whole time, of a human body, for example. What’s interesting is catching yourself wanting to dig in at one spot. Drawing has a lot to do with how we think!
- And just as unromantic: practice, practice, practice. The more confident we become at drawing, the more freely we move across the page.
Despite all that, drawing is fun! And a successful drawing gives us a wonderful feeling.
Do you know that feeling? I’d love to hear your comments!