Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Betty Edwards

18 annotations Aug 2024 – Sep 2024 data

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  • "The left hemisphere analyzes over time, whereas the right hemisphere synthesizes over space." —Jerre Levy, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, "Psychobiological Implications of Bilateral Asymmetry," in Hemisphere Function in the Brain, 1974
  • For the past two hundred years or so, scientists have known that language and language-related capabilities are mainly located in the left hemispheres of the majority of individuals—for approximately 98 percent of right-handers and about two-thirds of left-handers. This knowledge was largely derived from observations of the effects of brain injuries. It was apparent, for example, that an injury to the left side of the brain was more likely to cause a loss of speech capability than an injury of equal severity to the right side.
  • How does this help a person draw? It appears that the right brain perceives—processes visual information—in a mode suitable for drawing, and that the left-brain mode of functioning (L-mode) may be inappropriate for the task. Because of the strength and dominance of the L-mode, the problem we confront is how to "set aside" the L-mode in order to access the R-mode at the conscious level.
  • The Duality of Yin and Yang Yin feminine negative moon darkness yielding left side cold autumn unconscious right brain emotion Yang masculine positive sun light aggressive right side warm spring conscious left brain reason —I Ching, Book of Changes, a Taoist work
  • The right hand (inferring also the left hemisphere) is strongly connected with what is good, just, moral, and proper. The left hand (therefore also the right hemisphere) is strongly linked with concepts of anarchy and feelings that are out of verbal control—and somehow bad, immoral, and dangerous
  • From ordinary life, a "left-handed compliment," meaning a sly dig, refers to the pejorative qualities assigned to left hand/right brain. A "right-handed compliment" would be to call someone "My right-hand man (or woman)," meaning "My good, strong helper."
  • "The main theme to emerge…is that there appear to be two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather separately in left and right hemispheres, respectively, and that our educational system, as well as science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect. What it comes down to is that modern society discriminates against the right hemisphere." —"Lateral Specialization of Cerebral Function in the Surgically Separated Hemispheres," Roger W. Sperry. In Neurosciences Third Study Program, F. Schmitt and F. Worden (Eds.), Cambridge, M.I.T. Press, 1974.
  • Howard Gardner, Harvard professor of psychology and education, refers to the linkage of art and creativity: "By a curious twist, the words art and creativity have become closely linked in our society." —Howard Gardner, Creating Minds, 1993

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  • The format controls composition. Put another way, the shape of the drawing surface (most often rectangular) will greatly influence how an artist distributes the shapes and spaces within the bounding edges of that surface. To clarify this, use your R-mode ability to image a tree, let's say a Christmas tree, and fit it into each of the formats in Figure 7-8.
  • What are we to do? The answer: don't draw the chair at all! Instead, draw the easy parts, the negative spaces. Why are the negative spaces easier? Because you don't know anything, in a verbal sense, about these spaces. You have no pre-existing memorized knowledge of spaces, and therefore, you can see them clearly and draw them correctly. And, even more important, by focusing on negative spaces, you can cause the L-mode again to drop out of the task, perhaps after the usual protest, and again see things clearly.

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  • A Reminder Drawing is a global skill made up of five component skills—the perception of: ✦ Edges (Contours) ✦ Spaces (Negative Spaces) ✦ Relationships of Angles and Proportions (The two-part skill of perspective) ✦ Lights and Shadows (Values) ✦ The Gestalt (The Whole, which is greater than the sum of the parts)
  • In order to access the right hemisphere mode, you must present your brain with a task that your left brain will turn down.
  • In learning perspective drawing, you will again apply the main strategy of this course, which I cited in the reminder on page 138. The reason is this: perspective drawing requires that you overcome your left brain's dislike of paradox. It knows what it knows and does not like contradiction. Let me explain, again using the example of drawing a cube. A cube is comprised of squares and right angles. That is a matter of accepted, broad knowledge. But to draw a cube in perspective, while it is sitting at an angle on a table in front of you, requires you to draw the cube as you see it on the picture plane. That image of the cube includes some oblique angles and some sides of varying widths that your left brain will protest cannot be part of a cube (Figure 8-1). It will protest—and protest some more: "All sides of a cube must be equal in height and width, and all angles must be right angles. Moreover, a cube always has these properties: they are unchangeable." But if you ignore these protestations and draw the angles and proportions as you perceive them, your drawing, paradoxically, will look like a cube made up of equal squares and right angles. Because you have drawn the cube in perspective, it will be perceptually correct. I believe that the necessity to accept paradox is largely the reason learning perspective in drawing causes anxiety and distress. In a left-brained sense, perspective requires that you draw "lies" in order to portray "truth," to recall Picasso's famous comment. But in a right-brain sense, perspective requires that you draw what you actually see in order to portray perceptual reality. It's a difference of point of view.

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  • Recent research has shown that the language-based brain hemisphere (the L-mode) can cause some problems in human thinking. Roger Sperry himself said that the left brain is aggressive and competitive with its silent partner—and often with other people's brains as well. The question of which brain mode will be first to respond in most situations is which hemisphere gets there first, and most often it is the quick, verbal, competitive left brain—whether it is suited to the task or not. Furthermore, if a question comes up to which the left hemisphere does not know the answer, it sometimes simply makes up an answer, or it will even prevaricate with great aplomb.
  • To try out this observation, find a person's face shown in frontal view on the television screen—someone who is talking, perhaps answering questions. Focus for a moment on the dominant eye (most often, the right eye, controlled by the left brain), and then shift your direct gaze to the other eye, controlled by the right hemisphere. In many cases, you will clearly see a difference. The subdominant eye often appears to be more hooded by the eyelid, less bright, and, in a sense, unavailable. If the person speaking is dogmatically committed to his/her pronouncements, the subdominant eye (usually the left eye) can appear to be almost oblivious to the words being spoken, as though it has given up trying. With other speakers, it is comforting to observe nondominant eyes that are still alert and participating.
  • Decades ago, Professor David Galin proposed that we revise education in the following ways: ✦ First, teach children about their own brains and the differences between the major thinking modes of the brain. ✦ Second, teach children to be able to look at a problem and decide if one or the other brain mode would be most appropriate, or both modes working alternatively or cooperatively. ✦ Third, teach children how to access the appropriate mode or modes and how to prevent interference by the inappropriate mode.
  • In my 1986 book on creativity, Drawing on the Artist Within, I explored the five stages of creativity in relation to drawing and brain-hemisphere functions. I suggested that the stages may occur because of shifts in right- and left-hemisphere emphasis: ✦ First Insight: R-mode leading ✦ Saturation: L-mode leading ✦ Incubation: R-mode leading ✦ Illumination (The Aha!): R-mode and L-mode celebrate the solution ✦ Verification: L-mode guided by R-mode visualization
  • "Creativity moves through different phases. Trying to produce a finished version in one move is usually impossible. Not understanding this can make people think that they are not creative at all." —Ken Robinson, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Capstone Publishing, 2011), p. 158