Comments on: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (Betty Edwards) http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/ Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:01:21 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Ray Saunders http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-905359 Ray Saunders Sat, 02 Oct 2010 09:33:39 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-905359 Ch. 10 Response: This chapter moves into the concepts of shade and light, which is a bit anticlimactic since we have been discussing color values for weeks. The key to grasping the concept of shade are the terms that are used to denote relative values of shading such as “highlights,” “full shade,” “crest shade,” and “reflected light.” These all describe relative values of light and shade that allow a 2-dimensional drawing to take on 3-dimensional appearance. The chapter also addresses the craft of properly applying “crosshatching” to a drawing, which is how shading is applied to a drawing. The chapter also discusses using the above concepts to realistically depict the human face. The full frontal view is perhaps the most readily grasped since it presents challenges of proportion, but not challenges of perspective. Ditto for the silhouette view of the human face. The ¾ view of the human face, however, requires mastery of both proportion and perspective, and separates the artists from the cartoonists Ch. 10 Response: This chapter moves into the concepts of shade and light, which is a bit anticlimactic since we have been discussing color values for weeks. The key to grasping the concept of shade are the terms that are used to denote relative values of shading such as “highlights,” “full shade,” “crest shade,” and “reflected light.” These all describe relative values of light and shade that allow a 2-dimensional drawing to take on 3-dimensional appearance. The chapter also addresses the craft of properly applying “crosshatching” to a drawing, which is how shading is applied to a drawing. The chapter also discusses using the above concepts to realistically depict the human face. The full frontal view is perhaps the most readily grasped since it presents challenges of proportion, but not challenges of perspective. Ditto for the silhouette view of the human face. The ¾ view of the human face, however, requires mastery of both proportion and perspective, and separates the artists from the cartoonists

]]> By: Ray Saunders http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-901740 Ray Saunders Sun, 12 Sep 2010 17:11:15 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-901740 Chap. 8 Response: I have taken courses in mechanical drawing, do I am familiar with the concept of perspective. I am totally unfamiliar with the practice of sighting, and I think it will take me many months to become skilled in reliably estimating points of perspective and ratios. I did take to heart the quote on p. 156 by Robert Henri. If you start becoming a sloppy artist, you'll get comfortable being a sloppy artist. Chap. 8 Response: I have taken courses in mechanical drawing, do I am familiar with the concept of perspective. I am totally unfamiliar with the practice of sighting, and I think it will take me many months to become skilled in reliably estimating points of perspective and ratios. I did take to heart the quote on p. 156 by Robert Henri. If you start becoming a sloppy artist, you’ll get comfortable being a sloppy artist.

]]> By: Ray Saunders http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-901739 Ray Saunders Sun, 12 Sep 2010 17:05:53 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-901739 Chap. 1 Response: A key point of Chap. 1 is that drawing, although it may appear to be a “magical ability” to the general public, is in fact a learnable skill. This proposition seems reasonable. My personal experience has taught me that skills can be acquired through training. Also, history teaches the same lesson. For example, the concept of “courage” is thought to be an innate attribute of character. Most people believe either a person is courageous or is not. The Roman Army, however, developed a rigorous training regime that once imposed upon rather ordinary human material, produced soldiers with uniformly predictable responses to stress. Once properly trained, the Roman soldier would respond to orders in battle with seeming disregard for his personal safety, thus exhibiting behavior that was virtually indistinguishable from that of an innately courageous person. Of course the distinguishing fact was that the ordinary Roman soldier was probably very frightened by the proximity of danger, but followed orders because the punishment for doing otherwise was invariably worse than the damage likely to inflicted by the foe. That is what he learned in training. Chap. 1 explains that this general concept (that one may be trained to acquire capabilities that seem at first glance to be unattainable) applies in art. Most people are aware that that there exist artistic protégées for whom no rigorous training is needed to bring forth the most awe-inspiring artistic creations. Chapter 1 suggests that it is reasonable to believe that through training less talented people (like, for example, me) may be brought to the point of creating art that begins to approximates the output of the natural prodigy. The other main point of Chap. 1 is that through the application of certain principles of training, the art student t will be brought into an altered state that will free the right brain to achieve its full level of capability. This proposition does not surprise. I work in a field that is extremely analytical and detailed, governed by a myriad of rules and principles. Yet through practice I am able to size up a particular situation as a whole (in other words, grasp the “gestalt”) and project a likely put come. This is not a conscious effort. Rather, I just know how a given situation will be resolved, and I can make quick decisions about how many assets to devote to the situation given its probable outcome (i.e., is it a “winner” or “loser.”). In a sense in my field I am able to achieve an altered state, one that is achievable only through long and hard practice, I look forward to attaining a similar state regarding the creation of art. Chap. 2 Response: I greatly enjoyed doing the pre-instructional self-portrait exercise. I recognize that it is intended t be a data point in the continuum of development as we gain skills in the class. Also, I realize that there are methodical approaches that will be taught in the class that are not available to me yet. My self-portrait was not guided by any of these techniques, and therefore has a rather free-form and amateurish appearance. All that is fine because I simply enjoyed the pleasure f the drawing exercise. But I do look foreword to honing my drawing skills. Chap. 3 Response: Much of this chapter was old news for me. I studied biology and understand the different characteristics of the brain hemispheres. Also, I am aware of the bias in society about “handedness” and the stigma generally placed on “lefties” in human history. (Hopefully things are changing since the invention of baseball that makes a left-handed pitcher with good speed and a decent curve ball a valuable commodity.) So, the biological aspect of the chapter I understand, and ditto the cultural aspect. The concept that drawing is essentially a right brain function that benefits from the suppression of the left brain’s influence seems plausible and I’m eager to give the theory a try. Chap. 4 Response: This chapter was fascinating. I see exactly the point that a simple shift in how we view an image changes our perception entirely. The face/vase conundrum I have seen before, and so it did not surprise me that my brain at one instant saw a vase and the next a face. I did the workbook exercise and tried to complete the complementary form to the vase/face. I found that if I viewed the object as a face, I had trouble tracing the complementary form. Once I saw it as a vase, I had no problem. I suspect that there might be some deeper significance regarding how I internalize faces, and that there is some related inhibition about easily copying a “face” in profile as opposed to an inanimate object. Of course, that might just be me. I do want to say that the upside down exercise was great. I drew the horse in the workbook, and was amazed at how I was able to concentrate on simply the form of the upside down figure, and ignore totally its “itness.” The figure, in my mind at least, was not really a horse while it was upside down; it was just a shape. And because it was, I was able to quickly and accurately render a similar likeliness. It was really amazing. I’m looking forward to Saturday’s class to do the other upside down drawing exercises. That may be very important for me because I want to do realistic art. Chap. 5 Response: Chap. 5 was more of a history lesson of the developing artist’s mind, and contained less functionally useful information than the preceding chapter. I did recognize the stages of development because I went through them myself, and in fact stop developing my drawing skills at about age 12. I did find interesting the section that discussed the considerations that interfered with seeing things clearly enough to draw them. I concur that our minds pigeonhole objects and then move on. We pretty much have to operate in that fashion just to get through the challenges in life – unless we want to be an artist. So I suspect a big part of this class will be re-learning techniques for seeing things as they are. Chap. 6 Response: I must admit that upon first read, the concept of pure contour drawing seemed an exercise in futility. Why bother the draw anything if you cannot see where your pencil is moving? But I did try it and did experience the brain shift. By moving my hand holding the pencil while looking solely at my hand, a sort of disassociation did take place in my mind as I lost all the usual points of reference (the spatial relationship between me and the “symbols” mentioned in Chap. 5). Once that occurred, I was able to concentrate solely on the physical features of my hand. I must say, however, that the resultant pictures did not strike me as particularly beautiful ... just strange. I did not actually do the picture plane/hand exercise because the syllabus indicates that is an in-class exercise. But I see the concept and understand how the picture plane will be a valuable tool for learning to draw realistically. Chap. 7 Response: The discussion of negative space was enlightening. I “get” Bugs Bunny crashing through a closed door. Also, I followed completely the notion that by drawing the negative spaces adjacent to the positive forms of an object, a drawing of an object can come into being (almost as a process of elimination as all the negative spaces are accurately depicted). The Basic Unit concept (which I shortened immediately to the “BU”) resonated immediately – probably because it’s a catchy phrase for me since I follow baseball and there is a pitcher called the “Big Unit.” So the phrase stuck, and I was able to analogize the concept to the theory of relatively in physics. What I mean is that in drawing the first object depicted is the BU, and everything else is depicted relative to the BU. I am excited about doing the transfer operations in class whereby an object drawn onto the picture plane is transferred to paper via reference to the grid pattern on both surfaces. That is the type of artistic skill I hoped to gain when I signed up for the class. Ray Saunders Chap. 1 Response: A key point of Chap. 1 is that drawing, although it may appear to be a “magical ability” to the general public, is in fact a learnable skill. This proposition seems reasonable. My personal experience has taught me that skills can be acquired through training. Also, history teaches the same lesson. For example, the concept of “courage” is thought to be an innate attribute of character. Most people believe either a person is courageous or is not. The Roman Army, however, developed a rigorous training regime that once imposed upon rather ordinary human material, produced soldiers with uniformly predictable responses to stress. Once properly trained, the Roman soldier would respond to orders in battle with seeming disregard for his personal safety, thus exhibiting behavior that was virtually indistinguishable from that of an innately courageous person. Of course the distinguishing fact was that the ordinary Roman soldier was probably very frightened by the proximity of danger, but followed orders because the punishment for doing otherwise was invariably worse than the damage likely to inflicted by the foe. That is what he learned in training. Chap. 1 explains that this general concept (that one may be trained to acquire capabilities that seem at first glance to be unattainable) applies in art. Most people are aware that that there exist artistic protégées for whom no rigorous training is needed to bring forth the most awe-inspiring artistic creations. Chapter 1 suggests that it is reasonable to believe that through training less talented people (like, for example, me) may be brought to the point of creating art that begins to approximates the output of the natural prodigy.

The other main point of Chap. 1 is that through the application of certain principles of training, the art student t will be brought into an altered state that will free the right brain to achieve its full level of capability. This proposition does not surprise. I work in a field that is extremely analytical and detailed, governed by a myriad of rules and principles. Yet through practice I am able to size up a particular situation as a whole (in other words, grasp the “gestalt”) and project a likely put come. This is not a conscious effort. Rather, I just know how a given situation will be resolved, and I can make quick decisions about how many assets to devote to the situation given its probable outcome (i.e., is it a “winner” or “loser.”). In a sense in my field I am able to achieve an altered state, one that is achievable only through long and hard practice, I look forward to attaining a similar state regarding the creation of art.

Chap. 2 Response: I greatly enjoyed doing the pre-instructional self-portrait exercise. I recognize that it is intended t be a data point in the continuum of development as we gain skills in the class. Also, I realize that there are methodical approaches that will be taught in the class that are not available to me yet. My self-portrait was not guided by any of these techniques, and therefore has a rather free-form and amateurish appearance. All that is fine because I simply enjoyed the pleasure f the drawing exercise. But I do look foreword to honing my drawing skills.

Chap. 3 Response: Much of this chapter was old news for me. I studied biology and understand the different characteristics of the brain hemispheres. Also, I am aware of the bias in society about “handedness” and the stigma generally placed on “lefties” in human history. (Hopefully things are changing since the invention of baseball that makes a left-handed pitcher with good speed and a decent curve ball a valuable commodity.) So, the biological aspect of the chapter I understand, and ditto the cultural aspect. The concept that drawing is essentially a right brain function that benefits from the suppression of the left brain’s influence seems plausible and I’m eager to give the theory a try.

Chap. 4 Response: This chapter was fascinating. I see exactly the point that a simple shift in how we view an image changes our perception entirely. The face/vase conundrum I have seen before, and so it did not surprise me that my brain at one instant saw a vase and the next a face. I did the workbook exercise and tried to complete the complementary form to the vase/face. I found that if I viewed the object as a face, I had trouble tracing the complementary form. Once I saw it as a vase, I had no problem. I suspect that there might be some deeper significance regarding how I internalize faces, and that there is some related inhibition about easily copying a “face” in profile as opposed to an inanimate object. Of course, that might just be me.

I do want to say that the upside down exercise was great. I drew the horse in the workbook, and was amazed at how I was able to concentrate on simply the form of the upside down figure, and ignore totally its “itness.” The figure, in my mind at least, was not really a horse while it was upside down; it was just a shape. And because it was, I was able to quickly and accurately render a similar likeliness. It was really amazing. I’m looking forward to Saturday’s class to do the other upside down drawing exercises. That may be very important for me because I want to do realistic art.

Chap. 5 Response: Chap. 5 was more of a history lesson of the developing artist’s mind, and contained less functionally useful information than the preceding chapter. I did recognize the stages of development because I went through them myself, and in fact stop developing my drawing skills at about age 12. I did find interesting the section that discussed the considerations that interfered with seeing things clearly enough to draw them. I concur that our minds pigeonhole objects and then move on. We pretty much have to operate in that fashion just to get through the challenges in life – unless we want to be an artist. So I suspect a big part of this class will be re-learning techniques for seeing things as they are.

Chap. 6 Response: I must admit that upon first read, the concept of pure contour drawing seemed an exercise in futility. Why bother the draw anything if you cannot see where your pencil is moving? But I did try it and did experience the brain shift. By moving my hand holding the pencil while looking solely at my hand, a sort of disassociation did take place in my mind as I lost all the usual points of reference (the spatial relationship between me and the “symbols” mentioned in Chap. 5). Once that occurred, I was able to concentrate solely on the physical features of my hand. I must say, however, that the resultant pictures did not strike me as particularly beautiful … just strange. I did not actually do the picture plane/hand exercise because the syllabus indicates that is an in-class exercise. But I see the concept and understand how the picture plane will be a valuable tool for learning to draw realistically.

Chap. 7 Response: The discussion of negative space was enlightening. I “get” Bugs Bunny crashing through a closed door. Also, I followed completely the notion that by drawing the negative spaces adjacent to the positive forms of an object, a drawing of an object can come into being (almost as a process of elimination as all the negative spaces are accurately depicted). The Basic Unit concept (which I shortened immediately to the “BU”) resonated immediately – probably because it’s a catchy phrase for me since I follow baseball and there is a pitcher called the “Big Unit.” So the phrase stuck, and I was able to analogize the concept to the theory of relatively in physics. What I mean is that in drawing the first object depicted is the BU, and everything else is depicted relative to the BU. I am excited about doing the transfer operations in class whereby an object drawn onto the picture plane is transferred to paper via reference to the grid pattern on both surfaces. That is the type of artistic skill I hoped to gain when I signed up for the class.

Ray Saunders

]]> By: BomChul.com » Blog Archive » Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-843046 BomChul.com » Blog Archive » Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:01:31 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-843046 [...] anyone can draw if they learn how to really see. Here is a slideshow of the five day process. And another review of the book that I [...] [...] anyone can draw if they learn how to really see. Here is a slideshow of the five day process. And another review of the book that I [...]

]]> By: Velázquez (Self?) Portrait Rediscovered | Gazetem Sanat http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-818367 Velázquez (Self?) Portrait Rediscovered | Gazetem Sanat Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:35:27 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-818367 [...] shift into that mode of seeing that accompanies drawing and painting from life. (See my posts on Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, The Face of Leonardo? and Marie-Denise [...] [...] shift into that mode of seeing that accompanies drawing and painting from life. (See my posts on Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, The Face of Leonardo? and Marie-Denise [...]

]]> By: Communication Skills | Communication Skills http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-698264 Communication Skills | Communication Skills Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:37:28 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-698264 [...] lines and colors :: a blog about drawing, painting, illustration … - Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy - the joy of being Salvador Dalí - and I ask myself in rapture,”What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?” - Salvador Dalí … [...] [...] lines and colors :: a blog about drawing, painting, illustration … – Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy – the joy of being Salvador Dalí – and I ask myself in rapture,”What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?” – Salvador Dalí … [...]

]]> By: Communication Skills- A smorgasbord of new articles I’ve discovered for you…bon apetit… | Communication Skill Blog http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-698150 Communication Skills- A smorgasbord of new articles I’ve discovered for you…bon apetit… | Communication Skill Blog Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:53:32 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-698150 [...] lines and colors :: a blog about drawing, painting, illustration … - Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy - the joy of being Salvador Dalí - and I ask myself in rapture,”What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?” - Salvador Dalí … [...] [...] lines and colors :: a blog about drawing, painting, illustration … – Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy – the joy of being Salvador Dalí – and I ask myself in rapture,”What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?” – Salvador Dalí … [...]

]]> By: click http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/01/drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brainbetty-edwards/comment-page-1/#comment-678651 click Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:01:22 +0000 http://www.linesandcolors.com/?p=149#comment-678651 Sehr informative Seite. Vielen Dank für die Infos! Sehr informative Seite. Vielen Dank für die Infos!

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