4/16/12

I'm a righty.

My mom sent me this.  Thanks, Mom!


I took a drawing class when I was nineteen as a pre-requisite for the VisCom degree that I never got.  We did a lot of exercises from this book, which forces you to use the right side of your brain when you're drawing.  For example, instead of thinking to yourself, I'm drawing that table, you would instead focus on drawing the negative space around the table.  In focusing on the more obscure space around the subject, you let go of any pre-determined information about what a table looks like.  You end up drawing what is actually in front of you rather than drawing a familiar object, influenced by your own thoughts and memories.  It was a really fascinating book and it improved my drawing skills quite a bit.

Despite the improvement in my practical skills, my professor was endlessly frustrated with me and my style of drawing.  I have a tendency to work fast, with lots of thick lines and heavy shading.  My projects would be completed in half the time allotted. After a few days of heading out early, she started bringing in books about super realistic looking drawings (like this) and giving me extra assignments.  "Try drawing something like this," she'd say much to my chagrin.

And I'd tell her that if I wanted a picture like that, I'd take a photograph.

I'm definitely right-side dominant, but on occasion my left side kicks into high gear and all I want to do is fill in spreadsheets and do math (a rarity as of late).  How about you?


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