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Isn't it amazing how our brain deals with uncomplete information? :D

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LAPSUS, a short by Juan Pablo Zaramella.

Great use of negative spaces. I love it!

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Shutting down your internal dialogue

One of the main points I got from the book is the following:

Silence your mind

Obviously, that sentence by itself is not enough to make outstanding drawings. Still, it's  one advice that can improve your performance in many different fields and activities.

I had always related that "skill" (or whatever you consider it) to meditation, taoism, etc. The first time I read about it as a way to improve your inner game was in the book The inner game of tennis (which I strongly recommend), by Timothy Gallwey. But first... 

What's your inner game?

A simple definition that I like is the following:

Your inner game is the way you talk to yourself.

All the time, no exceptions. Whatever you do you are talking to yourself. Sometimes in an encouraging way, celebrating your actual performance or just by telling yourself to focus.

It just happens that most of the time you would be doing better just by focusing instead of telling yourself to focus.

So... how shut down your internal dialogue and gain immersion?

I found that the tricks that Betty Edward gives in her book The new drawing of the right side of the brain are similar to the ones given by Timothy Gallwey.

Focus on what is really there.

Betty talks about by-passing your symbolic system, getting into your "creative mode" to see the real lines, spaces and figures, ignoring your preconceptions. And she actually gives you exercises to help you do that.

That feeling of immersion, enjoying the present, living in the moment (name it whatever you want), not only helped me drastically improve my drawing skills from kind of childish drawings to more realistic ones. Before that it had also made me enjoy more some of the best moments in my life. I'm still working on it, there's no reason I shouldn't as it makes me happier.

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If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.

Henry Ford

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Well, now it's over.

I'm sure you can correctly label them as the before/after drawing. :P

Anyway, being my first drawing using the graphite stick I think there's plenty of room for improvement and I think don't think of this one as my best work. Perhaps in the future I'll dedicate myself to improve my drawing skills a bit more.

The overall results are definitely positive. So whether you think drawing is some kind of magical skill that you'll never get... I dare you to prove yourself wrong.

I'd say it took me between 15 and 20 hours to read the book and do the drawings.

Now it's time to focus on my final exams. However, I might gather some time for the next challenge. :P

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The art of drawing

As I read through the last pages I found myself excited about finishing the book, because the last chapters suggested me new challenges to approach. It's also been a wonderful tool to make me look at art in a different way. 

At some points, Betty's way to explain the different topics shows her passion for art, teaching and the beauty of life. Like if she was excited about every single edge and contour she'd find, as if she was in some kind of LSD trance. Those parts were a delight.

People's faces have so many forms, spaces, lights, shadows, interesting curves and details... I had seen that before and I had started to forget it. Looking at them in what seemed to be a slightly different way... surprised me. Perhaps it's been induced by the author each time she said "artists find everyone beautiful". And I completely agree, it surprised me that now everyone looks more beautiful. It broadened the meaning I gave to the word artist. 

I really enjoyed the book and I'd totally recommend it.

And now... what's next?

The 1st of January I'll upload my final drawing and compare it with the first one I did before beginning the course.

Then I'll summarize the lessons I got from the book.

It will be time to start the new challenge. 

Will I stop drawing?

Why should I?

Happy new year! :)

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My first real-life portrait not based on a photo since I began the book. I guess I tried to draw portraits when I was a teenager, with little success, of course. 

Before starting the book I also draw a portrait but that time it was based on a photo. It will be the final drawing, at the end of this week I'll upload both to evaluate the progress I've done with the before/after comparison drawing.

I must admit I didn't expect such an improvement. I was a bit skeptical about the book itself and proving myself wrong is making me happy. But let's wait a bit more before jumping into conclusions.

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Ahh, I miss driving around Paraguay with this guy. Tons of fun!

I definitely feel more confident about my drawing skills. But I still have some challenges ahead. Colorful drawings are not an objective yet, before that I'd rather focus on drawing from memory or from my imagination. That can certainly broaden my options. :)

Anyway, as I'm getting to the end of the book (less than 100 pages left), I'm already thinking about what to do next. Perhaps focusing on my exams or maybe... mmm...

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Yesterday I didn't feel very creative and the drawing I did and won't upload shows that.

I'm enjoying how the author shows you how your brains is tricking you. Using illusions to prove his point and help you overcome the barriers and difficulties that appear.

How true it is that we don't believe what we see but see what we believe.

It happens all the time.

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Simple or whatever.

The chapter about negative space is interesting. I read a lot of times that the use of negative space in architectural photography is quite important, but I never dedicated any time to that. I may do it now.

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In this video (click on the title of the post), they show another approach to the divided brain. Whether it focuses in detail (related to the Left brain) or it tries to get a grasp of the whole thing (related to the Right one).

I always though drawing was something really "holistic" and it made sense, if you connect it with the "creative side". Now, focusing on the details, letting everything fall into place slowly... it makes me wonder. Ah, perhaps after this week I should take a neuroscience course. :P

Definitely, it can't be over-simplified.

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The book is quite interesting indeed. Even in the concepts of how the split-brain divide the tasks isn't considered anymore as simple as analytical side Vs creative side, it got me thinking about how we respond to different stimulus and how we try to solve some problems.

And I'm already seeing progress!

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I like this one!

Copying upside down drawings is quite easy. :)

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I won't be uploading all my drawings, just the ones that I find somehow useful . :P

To draw this one, I had to copy from an upside down image of the original.

You can check the original here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stravinsky_picasso.png

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The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Hey!

I've decided to create this blog in order to share some of the stupid things a do with my life.

Few days ago I stumbled upon a drawing course that seemed interesting. Some people claimed that it had helped them with unrelated things such as photography or creative blocks. 

So I decided to give it a try!

This course is usually organized as a 5 days seminar. As I won't be able to focus only in the course (social life, family, studies, blablabla, boring stuff), I think I can have it done within a week. So I'll finish it before the 31th of December, no excuses! :)

We'll see with the results if it was worth the effort!