Learning to draw

kiran

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Peat says it can be helpful to draw or sculpt every week rather than overwork the rational side of the brain. (Anyone here have the exact reference?)

Also, have any of you learned to draw based on this advice, and how did you do it.
 

charlie

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Great post!

I would love to learn how to draw!
 

Rachel

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kiran said:
Peat says it can be helpful to draw or sculpt every week rather than overwork the rational side of the brain. (Anyone here have the exact reference?)

Also, have any of you learned to draw based on this advice, and how did you do it.

Here's a fantastic resource, the classic book: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Sid ... 1585429201

Some snippets from the book's Amazon page:
crucial updates based on recent research on the brain's plasticity and the enormous value of learning new skills/ utilizing the right hemisphere of the brain;
new focus on how the ability to draw on the strengths of the right hemisphere can serve as an antidote to the increasing left-brain emphasis in American life-the worship of all that is linear, analytic, digital, etc.;
an informative section that addresses recent research linking early childhood "scribbling" to later language development and the importance of parental encouragement of this activity;
 

Rachel

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Ray-Z said:
Kiran: Sounds like a great idea.

Rachel said:
Here's a fantastic resource, the classic book: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Sid ... 1585429201

Good call, Rachel. :thumbup:

I was going to recommend that book here, and also (when I have time) discuss some of its ideas in the creativity thread.

Thanks! Please do share your thoughts when you have the chance, Ray-Z!
 

charlie

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Fantastic! Thank you, Rachel! I am going to order that book in the near future.


Ray-Z said:
I was going to recommend that book here, and also (when I have time) discuss some of its ideas in the creativity thread.


Ray-Z, looking forward to it! :thumbleft
 

Birdie

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I'm an artist. Painting, drawing, throwing pots (ceramics)... Now, I am knitting with some Kaffe Fasset influence. There are lots of choices so you can find one you like. A few days ago I made one of those funny potholders with a $5 loom from the toy section in Wal Mart. I enjoyed choosing the colors and making it free-form.

Also, just thinking of colors and shapes in your kitchen or dining room, as well as looking outside or at paintings can fit into this.
 
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kiran

kiran

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I believe you also need to buy/make some equipment if you do get that book. Like viewfinders and a picture plane.
 

charlie

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kiran said:
I believe you also need to buy/make some equipment if you do get that book. Like viewfinders and a picture plane.

Thanks for pointing that out, kiran.
 

charlie

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kiran said:
I believe you also need to buy/make some equipment if you do get that book. Like viewfinders and a picture plane.

Little clarification here. No real special equipment is needed. You can get away with a #2 pencil and cheap drawing pad. If you really want to get exact you can get some drawing pencils, charcoal and a couple other things which I was able to get a drawing kit for $7 at walmart that covered it all.

This is straight from the book which I have in hand. BTW, this book rocks.
 
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kiran

kiran

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Charlie said:
Little clarification here. No real special equipment is needed. You can get away with a #2 pencil and cheap drawing pad. If you really want to get exact you can get some drawing pencils, charcoal and a couple other things which I was able to get a drawing kit for $7 at walmart that covered it all.

This is straight from the book which I have in hand. BTW, this book rocks.

Thanks for nudging me there.

I tried the first exercise in upside down drawing, it came out pretty decently (except for the head...)

The thing I really noticed was my reading speed was massively increased right after that hour I spent drawing. Too bad it's such a short lived effect though. I also think the point that the book makes is legitimate, that you'll take any excuse at all to avoid drawing.
 

charlie

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You are very welcome.

Yeh, I been avoiding drawing the last couple of days. It was really hard for me to sit through the entire upside down drawing, I gave up. :( Gonna work on that though.
 

Combie

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I used to draw when I was young, was really into graffiti, but lately I've been giving serious consideration to taking up playing the flute. Same sort of thing I would imagine.
 

Birdie

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In one art group, we did a drawing by leaving the pencil on the paper for the entire drawing. Added to that, we looked at the subject, and not at the paper we drew on. I came out with one I liked of my husband in the kitchen at the cutting board. Then I did the knife block.
I do like him in the kitchen amap.
 

Greta

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I like drawing, but i find it very natural, with this i mean, that i don't think at all while doing it.
I guess the good part of it, it's forgetting about the world.
 

CoolTweetPete

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I have recently made it an item on my to-do list to draw 2-3 times a week.

I'm not particularly good at it, but it doesn't matter, I find myself losing track of time while I'm doing it. There truly is something very transcendent about it.
 

CoolTweetPete

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Greta said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/98180/ I like drawing, but i find it very natural, with this i mean, that i don't think at all while doing it.
I guess the good part of it, it's forgetting about the world.

Definitely something very meditative about the experience. I'm sure a neuroscientist would say that it turns down the medial and parietal parts of the brain, which are involved in self-representation.

Same thing psilocybin mushrooms do. :ninja
 
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Greta

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CoolTweetPete said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/98186/
Greta said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/98180/ I like drawing, but i find it very natural, with this i mean, that i don't think at all while doing it.
I guess the good part of it, it's forgetting about the world.

Definitely something very meditative about the experience. I'm sure a neuroscientist would say that it turns down the medial and parietal parts of the brain, which are involved in self-representation.

Same thing psilocybin mushrooms do. :ninja

It's weird! As a teen i used to say that i didn't know how i did it, as felt like while drawing i wasn't there, really weird xD
But I guess that's the good part :)
 
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montmorency

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CoolTweetPete said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/98185/ I have recently made it an item on my to-do list to draw 2-3 times a week.

I'm not particularly good at it, but it doesn't matter, I find myself losing track of time while I'm doing it. There truly is something very transcendent about it.

I can certainly relate to the losing track of time.
That book also got me back into hand-writing.
 
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Ideonaut

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montmorency said:
CoolTweetPete said:
post 98185 I have recently made it an item on my to-do list to draw 2-3 times a week.

I'm not particularly good at it, but it doesn't matter, I find myself losing track of time while I'm doing it. There truly is something very transcendent about it.

I can certainly relate to the losing track of time.
That book also got me back into hand-writing.

I draw and idea-sculpt all of the time--whenever I use language--with ideograms. neoideograms.wordpress.com
 
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