Joyce’s Musings

Everyone has the ability to use both their left and right brain hemispheres to accomplish tasks. However, there are some people that seem to focus on improving one hemisphere over the other. Growing up, I was one of these people, focusing almost solely on developing left brain, intellectual type stuff at the expense of anything right brain. With that went a great deal of my efforts in 3D animation, sculpture, art, writing, and poetry.

Over the last year, I’ve been working on amending this situation. A friend of mine lent me a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which discusses how to get your right brain hemisphere active and functioning in the process of drawing.

My early efforts were very primitive, since they were among the first dozen drawings I had ever done in my entire life. But as time went on, some of the concepts started to sink in.

Outside by ~joycem137 on deviantART

Outside was one of the first drawings I did that combined form and shading to create a sense of three dimensionality to the image. As I drew it, I entered a sort of trance state where I was more *feeling* where lines should go, instead of making conscious decisions about where to place my pencil.

After creating that, I decided to try creating another image, this time one of these Dr-Seuss like trees that I seem to constantly find myself doodling when I’m bored:

Seussian Tree by ~joycem137 on deviantART

A few days later, I attempted to combine conscious thought with this newly discovered abstract thought an create something a little more deliberately:

The Hall of the Faerie Queen by ~joycem137 on deviantART

I particularly like the way the perspective turned out on this one, especially with the vaulted ceiling.

Earlier today, I went out and bought some paints and brushes to try my hand at a watercolor painting. Here’s what came out:

Untitled Landscape by ~joycem137 on deviantART

Primitive… but not horrid.

It’s a nice feeling to have figured out how to create art and how to learn about creating more. It’s a neat little inexpensive hobby that I can do any time I like, and it gives me space to create things.