Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain [antikvár]

Preface D rawing on the Right Side of the Brain was first published in July of 1979. Over the past decade, the ideas I expressed about learning to draw have become surprisingly widespread, much to my amazement and delight. College and high school art teachers, even junior high and elementary school teachers across the nation have incorporated many of the techniques into their teaching repertoires. Even more surprising, individuals and groups working in fields not remotely connected with drawing have found ways to use the ideas in my book. A few examples will indicate the diversity: nursing schools, drama workshops, corporate training seminars, sports-coaching schools, real-estate marketing associations, psychologists, counselors of delinquent youths, writers, hair stylists, even a school for training private investigators. I think this unexpected interest came from a growing public awareness that new research on the human brain might help expand our use of the brain's vast potential. One of the key discoveries of the research revealed the dual nature of human thinking—verbal, analytic thinking mainly located in the left hemisphere, and visual, perceptual thinking mainly located in the right hemisphere. This pioneering insight was the discovery of psychobiologist Roger W. Sperry, who received the Nobel prize in 1981 for his innovative studies, first published in 1968. My book, I believe, was one of the first practical educational applications of Sperry's work. Since 1979, many other writers have proposed applications of the research, each in turn suggesting new ways to enhance both thinking modes, thereby increasing potential for personal growth. During the past ten years, my colleagues and I have tried to polish and expand the techniques described in the original book. We have changed some procedures, added some, and deleted some. My main purpose in revising the book and presenting this new edition is to bring the work up-to-date for my readers. As you will see, much of the original work is retained, having withstood the test of time. But one important organizing principle was missing in the original text, for the curious reason that I couldn't see it until after the book was published. I want to state this previously unrealized principle in these first pages, because it forms the overall structure within which the reader can see how the parts of the book fit together to form a whole. This key principle is: Drawing is a global (or "whole ") skill requiring only a limited set of basic components.