Let’s try the impossible – by getting you to draw something

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Today’s Blog Post


Let’s try the impossible – by getting you to draw something

Yesterday I wrote about the Right Brain/Left Brain and creativity. I wrote about the new group of artists that are now launching brilliant artistic careers from Fraserville. I wrote about the delight that they are experiencing with picking up a pencil and putting a line on to a sheet of paper.

Now I just bet that you thought they were painting, working with colours and canvass. I just bet that you envisioned that they were able to draw people and places and things as the pencil glides across the sheet of paper. And most of all I just bet that you are saying, “I could never do that! I can’t draw!” Then you laughed.

I know that you are able to create and draw and use your hidden abilities.

If I could convince you that you could draw, maybe even get you to pick up your pen or pencil then start drawing something simple… would you try?

Maybe if I could speak to your very logical Left Brain, and then kindly convince it that maybe with some very simple actions the “REAL YOU” inside of you could possibly, just maybe, even with the smallest amount of faith….begin to draw something.

I believe that will happen if you try.

Please don’t tell me that, “I could never do that!” Because I know that you can.

Why would you even want to try? Well for no other reason it would make the long telephone calls from that one special person that needs to talk and tell you everything… much easier to take and listen to.

For another reason it could help the grandparents to be the most amazing grandparents in the eyes of their grandkids… instead of being a rather over weight adult that does mostly nothing. Sorry… but that was the mental picture I just had… !!! Maybe you are not over weight but rather just doing mostly nothing in the eyes of your grandkids.

So where would I start?

There are basically only Five Things to note… to see… to use in order to draw something. It is really so simple that it may blow you away and you will respond with, “I can do that!”

Are you ready… take a deep breath and savour these words.

First – There is the perception of the edge
Second – There is the perception of the space
Third – There is the perception of the relationships
Fourth – There is the perception of light using shading
Fifth – There is the perception of the whole

These are the basic steps that any artist uses. With the greatest artists in the world these are steps that are followed a million times over. In every drawing or painting these steps have been followed.

Now as a budding, hidden, shy, or handicapped artist… you can use them too.

Here is all that you do.

Look at something in your room – a lamp, a book, a desk… whatever you can see. Now look closer. Does the something that you are looking at have an edge? Look closely at one point on the edge of that something, place your pencil on a scrap of paper… then draw the shape of that edge…moving down or over… turning the corner… going up again… then down… going all the way around the edge of what you are looking at. Now when the line keeps going all the way around and arrives back at where it first started… you will be amazed that you have a lamp, or a book, or a desk or whatever you saw captured on your paper.

You have just perceived the edge.

Next, with another piece of paper… look at the object again… look inside of the borders or edge. How many spaces can you see? There will be circles and lines joining and other rectangles… each is another line inside the edge… and between the lines are spaces. What shape are the spaces?

Now your amazing Left Brain just knows that you CANNOT DRAW A SPACE… but you can put a line around the space… and put that space inside of the edge.

Now see the space next to the space that you just have drawn. Put a line around that space the way that it is connected to the first space.

Whoa! Space after space they are all connected… and fit inside an edge. And each space has an edge.

Looking closely at anything you will perceive the space. A tree is not just branches… and the trunk… but it is all the spaces between the branches… all the sky showing through and the shape of that piece of sky… and the shapes if each bit of each branch. You will never look at a tree the same again!

Now try to look closer and see how the edges and space come together. As you draw a line here and then over there… just little lines… then look back again what you are drawing… looking only at a little at a time… you will begin to see an amazing thing happening… right in front of you is the Lamp, the Book and maybe the DESK – ON YOUR PAPER! You are amazing!

You have just perceived the relationship between the objects that you have looked at.

Now if you were to take another few minutes you could draw the Lamp on the Desk beside the Book… AMAZING!

NEXT… if there is some light coming through the window near the desk… it is causing the Lamp to be light on one side and not the other. Or if the Lamp is turned on you can see the light on the top part but it will be dark on the under or lower parts… the books will be light on one side… and dark on the other… and the desk will have similar contrast.

Let go of the pencil a little and change positions from writing to holding it on its side… so the side of the pencil is flat on the paper… making a much bigger line… and softening the way that the line comes off the pencil. If you have made the larger line… take your finger or thumb and run it across the pencil mark. The pencil line will smudge.

Now are you ready?

Place the flat pencil over the area of the place where the Lamp or Book or Desk is dark… rub some pencil marks there and the smudge it with your finger… until you fill in the dark areas. Add more pencil marks if you run out... then smudge some more.

You have now perceived the light and dark by adding shading to your new drawing.

Hokey Mokey… as you hold up the new piece of art work… and see the whole you have just completed the five steps.

Now granted the thing may look a little lop sided… may not be perfect… but they are better than the last time you tried to do that.

Most people start to draw by looking at the whole scene and then jump right in… only to be really frustrated because everything looks terrible in the end. Left Brain will shut down that from ever happening again and you will shout, “See I told you… YOU CAN’T DRAW!”

Most people try to do step Five instead of One – first.

All you need to do is look closely… and draw slowly… and then the Right Brain will shout… “Look what I did! I CAN DRAW!!!!”

Finally… the very last thing to do is SIGN IT with a date placed on it as to when you drew it… then Keep it!

A Promise…
If you will try to draw something… I will publish it on this Blog for the world to see. I promise.

All you need to do is Draw It, Scan it and then Send it.. and I will publish it. Or if you have no scanner… send it by snail mail….

And best of all … it will cost you nothing!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Source:
http://www.drawright.com/vaceface.htm
http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm
http://drawsketch.about.com/od/suppliesbooks/fr/draw_right_side.htm