I have been teaching for over 30 years, well almost 40 now actually. It always has been and I am sure will continue to be one of my favorite things to do. I especially love to teach older adults who have carried the message that they cannot create, that they certainly can. My belief is that everyone can create and it is a God given, divinely placed and gift to each of us in our human existence. It saddens me a great deal when I hear stories of folks who have carried the message for all of their lives that they should not even try to be creative. That someone gave then that message, probably when they were children forming their opinions of themselves and that they have lost all of those years with that misinformation. Because everyone can create.

For drawing I have always leaned on Betty Edwards book , Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain, to assist in breaking down that old false notion that may be in the way of one’s creative spirit. Our brains are magnificent things but our old, outdated thoughts can prevent us from liberally creating. Part of what this book presents is the idea of the left side of the brain, kind of our computer side that holds information to help us expedite things and manage information in an organized way. The left side is the step process part, where each step follows the next and holds the language, mathematics, temporal, analytical, logical, symbolic and (important to realize) the judgmental side. Symbols can be strong in our left processing and it makes it hard to see things as they are and then the judgement steps forward to underline that, analyzing that we are not doing it “right”.

The right side of the brain is working to help us see how things all fit together, the wholeness. It is non judgmental as it doens’t have infomation to compare with, as it is in the now of the looking and experiencing that wholeness. It is non temporal, and that is why when you are creating hours can pass with you being in the feeling of flow. It is intuitive and I feel this is allowing your spirit to be responding to your creative process. It doesn't not see in symbols, rather shapes and how they relate to each other.

There are exercises that I use in teaching that help access the right side of the brain. One is a blind contour drawing. A typical exercise is drawing your own hand, as it is a wonderful model that you don’t have to pay and is with you all of the time! In this exercise we look at our non dominate hand, seeing through our fingers and hold it steady off of the table. Then, with pencil in hand, the process begins by blindly, NOT looking at the paper but only at your hand, drawing very, very slowly around the entire contour ( outside edge) of your hand, not lifting the pencil or peaking until your are finished. Some other conditions to help the right brain, is not to speak until all are finished, as speech is a left brain consideration. The pace of going very slowly as this is an non temporal exercise and we tend to try to do things fast. And mostly, its an excercise in viewing, in seeing, which the drawing that I teach is 99% about improving how you see. Then practicing. The combination of observation with regular practice, in an atmosphere of self acceptance is the magic carpet to success in my humble opinion. After a while of doing this, your left brain gives way more to your right brain and there is so much satisfaction that comes from this transition being in that nonjudmental zone! There are many more exercises that I use, some that I have developed myself through the years.

I share this, if you are thinking of learning to draw and have been resistant to the idea, you can find great pleasure in it, I promise. And, the world you experience will be more colorful, more interesting and beautiful every day.

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Why I love to teach Art and Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain