This document provides an overview of the materials and exercises needed to learn drawing from the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". Students are instructed to gather basic drawing materials and complete three pre-instruction drawings - drawing a person from memory, a self-portrait using a mirror, and drawing their own hand - to assess their starting skill level. These initial drawings will likely rely on childhood symbols rather than accurate perception. The exercises that follow are designed to train students to set aside preexisting symbols and learn to perceive and draw what they actually see by focusing on edges, spaces, light and shadow, and other basic perceptual skills. Personal style will then naturally emerge over time as skills improve.

1. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
CHAPTER 2
FIRST STEPS IN DRAWING

2. Drawing Materials
• 11” x 14” Paper, 80lb
• One #2 ordinary yellow writing pencil with eraser at the top
• One #4 drawing pencil
• One non-permanent and one permanent 5 point black
marking pens
• #4B Graphite stick
• Pencil sharpener
• Erasers
• 3M Masking tape
• Clips
• Drawing board
• 8” x 10” piece of glass or 1/16” thick clear plastic
• Two viewfinders made by black cardboard
• 5” x 7” small mirror

3. Gathering these materials requires a bit of effort, but they
will truly help your learn rapidly.
These aids are so essential to your understandings of the
basic nature of drawing.
Once you have learned the basic components of
drawing, you will no longer need these teaching aids.

4. Viewfinders
It’s the perceptual aids that will help you “frame” your view and compose your
drawings.

5. 10”
8”
10”
8”
Construction paper or thin black cardboard
2” 1”

6. 10”
8”
10”
8”

7. Pre-instruction drawing
1. Make a record of your present level of drawing skills. JUST DO IT! Soon you
will know something.
2. The degree of criticism keeps pace with progress
3. The pre-instruction drawing provide a realistic gauge of progress

8. What You Will Draw
1. A Person, Drawn from Memory
2. Self-Portrait
3. My Hand
Materials
Paper
#2 pencil
Pencil sharpener
Making tape
Small 5” x 7” mirror
Drawing board
About an hour of uninterrupted time

9. Pre-instruction drawing #1
A Person, Drawn from Memory
1. Call up in your mind’s eye an image of a person
2. To the best of your ability, do a drawing of the
person. You may draw just a head, a half figure,
of a full-length figure
3. Title, sign and date you drawing in the lower
right-hand corner when finish

10. Even a trained artist would find it difficult,
because visual memory is never as rich,
complicated and clear as is actual seeing.
Visual memory is necessarily simplified, generalized,
and abbreviated

11. For a beginning student, drawing a person
from memory brings forth a memorized set
of symbols. It is caused by the so-called
symbol system of early childhood drawing,
memorized by countless repetitions.

12. Pre-instruction drawing #2
Your Self Portrait
1. Tape the mirror to a wall and sit at arm’s length from
the wall. See your whole head within its edge
2. Look at the reflection of your head
3. Title, sign and date your drawing when finish

13. Pre-instruction drawing #3
My Hand
1. Seat your self at a table to draw
2. If you are right-handed, draw your left hand in whatever position you
choose. Left-handed persons draw your right hand
3. Title, sign, date your drawing

16. The symbols repeated in both drawings: eyes, nose or mouth similar in shape
Your symbol system was controlling your hand even when you were observing
the actual shapes in your face in the mirror.

17. The “tyranny” 專制 of the childhood symbol system explains why people
untrained in drawing continue to produce “childish” drawing right into
adulthood and even old age.

18. Learning to perceive
is the rock bottom “ABC” of drawing
Instead of drawing skills, what you will learn is how to set your symbol system aside
and accurately draw what you see. It’s necessarily learned before progressing to
imaginative drawing, painting, or sculpture.

19. People came with different levels of existing skills.
The pre-existing drawing skills have nothing to do with potential to draw well.

20. The pre-instruction drawing represent the age at which the person last drew

21. Every student made significant progress in the five-days, eight-hour drawing workshops
with effectively using all five of the basic perceptual skill of drawings

22. Practice Perceiving and Drawing
Edges
Spaces
Relationship
Lights and Shadow
Gestalt

23. Styles of drawing are NOT taught in this book.
Each unique style is true self-expression in drawing. It’s
personal.

24. Style in drawing is similar to the development of an individual’s style in handwriting.
Your handwriting is a fundamental element of art: line.
Every time you write your name, you have expressed yourself through the use of line.

25. Personal and individual style is
embedded in drawing
Some people may be more painterly style
(emphasis on shapes), some people may be
more “linear” style (emphasis on line)
Though the exercises concentrate
on realistic drawing, a closer look at
realistic art reveals subtle
differences in line style, emphasis,
and intent.
As your skills increase, you will see
your unique style become firm and
recognizable.