How to Draw

Drawing Upside Down

Introduction

Your brain is split into two halves called the left and right hemispheres. The left hemisphere rules the right side of your body and the right hemisphere rules the left. (That is why a blood clot in the right side of the brain affects the left side of the body in stroke victims.) There are many other functions that utilize both sides of the brain—cooking, driving, thinking, experimenting, inventing, and studying—to name only a few.

When you perceive empty space and have trouble recognizing it as a shape, the brain switches the problem over to the right hemisphere. The right hemisphere seems to be more flexible and interested in any unknown situation. In this lesson we will try an approach that helps us switch to the less dominant right side of the brain.

Because we are used to seeing the world upright, our brains develop almost a short-hand way of recognizing things. For instance, when out on a walk you may see many things - trees, birds, cars, etc. - but if you were to draw a 'tree', 'bird' or 'car' you would most likely use a symbol. The left side wants to simplify things. But if you can tap into the right side of your brain and remove the rules about what a tree should look like (has a few branches, a trunk, and some green leaves or is a green shape), you come much closer to drawing what a tree really looks like (has many branches, the trunk is often rough and there are many leaves or needles). Upside-down drawing is a technique that helps you turn off the left side and better use the right.


Check out this video:

http://youtu.be/QWWRMRZYygw

• A neat test to see if you use the right or left side of your brain more.