TAKING ON MODIFIED FOCUS DRAWING
ASSIGNMENT ONE
LOOKING AT THE PAPER
We do need to look at the paper eventually. So now that you know how to focus and record a contour with all its authenticity, you can draw and look at the paper. This is just to check where you’re going, not to make an evaluation.
When you really look at something with your Right Hemisphere you “see” what is authentic. The Right Hemisphere is able to see the visual information as it really is, in all its intricacy. The Left Hemisphere scans visual information and comes up with a symbol which is a representation of the real thing, such as the symbol for an eye. We all recognize it but we know it’s not a “proper” eye. You have been processing visual information with your Right Hemisphere since you were born. The Right Hemisphere is your unconscious mind. All information goes in but you are unable to consciously retrieve it. It pops up as intuition. “I just had a feeling about that guy.” “This house feels creepy.” – you’re Right Hemisphere may think.
We are going to make all that visual unconscious information conscious and be more aware of what we are seeing. You are learning how to see the visual information as it really is and not a scanned symbol. Your artist is maturing! Well done for your persistence – that’s what it takes!
Let’s draw. Check you’re PRB (Posture, Relax, Breathe) – any frustration from you know who? Do your evaluation…”Thankyou LH, it’s understandable that you’re there…” It works! Your PRB in sync with your evaluation is your safe place. It will bring you back to your Right Hemisphere where there is no anger or pain. It is always in the moment calmly being with you.
Place the picture of the donkey upside down on the desk beside you. Your Left Hemisphere resists the drawing process – too hard, too unsafe! It looks at the donkey with horror – “I can’t draw donkeys, look at those teeth, I can’t draw teeth!” It looks at the whole thing and becomes overwhelmed, so we need to access your safe place, your Right Hemisphere. “Thank you LH, I’m just looking at this little line and it goes like this.”
Breathe, relax, calm down…PRB. We turn the picture upside down so we are less likely to see it as a donkey and more inclined to see it as a series of abstract shapes in relation to one another. Everything we draw is simply that, a series of abstract shapes in relation to one another. The LH cannot relate to abstract shapes, they are meaningless to its analytical nature and so it switches off. This leaves you with your RH, which just looks at every little piece of abstract and visual data moment by moment without judgement and records it. Phew!
Look at the highest point of the donkey, ie – the third hoof. Decide where it is in relation to the rest of the page. I think it comes about one third of the way along. That’s where you start drawing…P…R…B…
Complete all four legs before moving up the body. Record the contour and check the paper to see where you’re going, keep your pencil on the paper and change your internal monologue to visual language. RH responds to simple language, “I’m just looking at this little line and it goes round here and up here…wow, there’s a straight line.” LH lifts the pencil off the paper all the time because it’s hesitant about where to put it, “I might put it in the wrong place!” Yes you might but that’s ok. It’s ok right now to be putting the line exactly where you’re putting it. I don’t care about how ‘good’ it is. I want to encourage you to manage your LH. Know that you are not alone in this. As I write this paragraph I’m thinking, “What if no one applies to do this course? OMG!!” Thank-you so much for turning up. You made my day!
When you get to the head, the LH may feel very disturbed. We have a powerful symbol for the head which actually looks nothing like it. The LH is terrified of drawing the face for good reason! It is not the easiest thing to draw because we are having to override some very well trodden brain circuitry in the form of our symbol. Ok, so let’s override it. “I don’t need to work anything out, I’m just looking at this little line right now and recording it. I’m going very slowly and noticing every little shift in direction, every straight line.”
We see everything as rounded and curved with the LH, but with the RH we ‘see’ the straight lines and the shifts in direction. There are many straight lines in nature and recording them as they really are gives your drawing authenticity and authority. It makes it look realistic.
Remember you are overriding your symbol. Is your brain hurting? It’s working really hard – remember PRB. Repetition is the best way to anchor your new circuitry so practise doing upside down drawings of photos in magazines. Don’t worry if they look “weird” or “bad” or “wrong”, that doesn’t matter, you are building new pathways. Please post another two upside down drawings and remember to make comments about how the process worked for you. The more interactive we are, the more we learn. Use colouring in books if you like. They are ideal!
ASSIGNMENT TWO
Choose three images below to draw modified focus drawings. Remember to keep the pencil on the paper and change your internal monologue to visual language. Be kind to the self that may feel overwhelmed by the task. You will need to make the shift to the Right hemisphere…breathe, relax and focus on one little contour. Keep you’re focus mainly on the flower, just check the paper to see where you’re going and override any negative judgements with you’re evaluation. Whatever you draw is the best thing you could be drawing right now!
52 Comments on “Class 1 Drawing for Absolute Beginners – Unit 4 Classroom”
The assignments are not compulsory! If you want to extend yourself do everything but if you feel pushed for time just do what you can , you will still make progress. We can be flexible with the time, i.e. it can be extended if necessary., I know this is a busy time of year.
My very fat donkey
Yaay, a donkey, he’s a darling! You’ll see as more donkeys come in that they are all very different, each has it’s own personality.
Some tips; have a go at keeping the pencil on the paper as much as you can. LH wants to lift it all the time to put in a preliminary line so it knows where it’s going, but as we know LH is never going to know where it’s going in the present because the present is mysterious. RH loves mystery! It’s raison d’etre is to experience the mystery of each present moment through the senses. So…you can say, “this contour goes right here, right now and in this moment it’s a mighty fine place for it to be.” You’re learning…Keeping the pencil on the paper as you observe, then record moment to moment, will maintain the connection with RH. Remember to go slowly then you will be able to observe the contour.
Ok so here are my 2 attempts at the donkey. And yay, I am so impressed I managed to produce these. Never thought I could. And it was such fun to do. The first one, on the RHS, was a bit big so I had to squash in his ears. The second one is more the right size. Neither expression is quite the same as the original, but hey, I managed to draw these and I think they are amazing. Thanks for your help and encouragement. Now for those more difficult flowers.
You’re welcome, it’s a pleasure for me to share this. How wonderful!! Yes, they are amazing, well done! What you have done is extraordinary, you have drawn a hoof in perspective, a foreshortened hoof, one of the most challenging subjects for the Left Hemisphere. Foreshortening is when a subject is coming towards you. Our symbol for a horse with legs is, (see below). For the LH, all legs are vertical, they may be bent but they’re all upright. Of course in the real world of visual antics, legs come in all kinds of weird shapes.
Try standing in front of a mirror and put your arm straight up above your head. Notice how long it is, and the hand is up there on the end of it. Now bring your arm down slowly in front of your body so that it is sticking out in front of you at shoulder height. Where has your arm gone? Notice how you can see your hand, especially if you flex your wrist so that the whole palm is visible and the fingers are vertical. You can now see that your arm measures one or two centimetres…visually. Your arm is in perspective, i.e. it is foreshortened. Yikes!! LH can’t get this in terms of drawing (it is symbol oriented and all legs and arms are upright or hanging down).. so it opts out leaving your visual, spatial RH to quietly get on with what it does best…process and in this case record visual information. It doesn’t register “weird”, “ridiculous”, it just gets on with observing and recording abstract shapes , moment by moment.
Now you’ve experienced this marvel of your own mind – congratulations, I’m delighted. Notice how your whole brain was suffused with joy after completing this.
Symbol for a horse,
My Shells
Wow! You’re drawing Marg, I’m delighted for you. These shells look like shells and your contours are fluid, I can see you’re keeping that pencil on the paper more…great progress. What a source of pleasure it is! Thankyou…
Thanks for your comments and really excited that the hoof was so clever!! I will go and look at my hand and arm in the mirror.
I have now done 3 of your pictures – not as impressive as the donkey and again not quite the right scale and shape in places but they are much better than I thought I could do.
Here are the shells and the iris
Whoops, not sure if I have already sent a second message but I can’t see it now so perhaps I forgot to push send!
Anyway, I have also attempted the very detailed rose which I deliberately chose to be very challenging. I had a bit of trouble deciding where to start but opted for the base of the stem. And drew it over 3 separate sessions as some of the detailed bits were quite detailed! Anyway, here it is and hopefully a bit similar to yours – I could see the right hand side of the picture was a bit too big and spread out but just kept on going and I am happy with it.
I kept wanting to turn the page around to finish the head-but resisted and it works!
Your flowers and shells are fabulous Jenny. Notice how you are drawing complex foreshortened leaves, i.e. like the donkeys hoof, you have drawn them coming towards you, describing the under side of the leaf and the upper side as it curls over. You are observing and recording what you see. You’re applying all the strategies, I’m very pleased!
Well done with your donkey Rosemary – he’s great! Have a read of the blurb related to Jenny’s donkey, it talks about the complexities involved in drawing the foreshortened hoof. I can see that you drew it seemlessly along with everything else. And well done all of you with the head – a horses head in perspective, i.e. turned three quarters. The eye on the left presents extreme challenges! You saw it as a series of little abstract shapes related to the ones around it, and drew it! I’m very excited about the drawings coming in.
That comment may feel like pressure to LH, “Oh no, I have to do “good” drawings all the time, ” Just do whatever you do and know that it’s the best place to move on…you can have faith in this process.
Rosemary, congratulations for resisting LH’s urge to draw the head right way up. We have powerful symbols for the head and LH simply doesn’t believe it can be drawn without paying attention to naming all the features and working out how to draw them. Nothing needs to be worked out right now.
The amazing thing this course is doing for me is teaching me to see!
I walk the gardens here at Parkwood almost every day. It now takes me about 5 times as long because I keep stopping to marvel at the contours and the colours of the plants and I have just noticed that each duck in the flock has different colours and patterns on its feathers.
It is beautiful. Thank you Kimbra.
Still not clever at posting things though. Thank you Paul for your help.
Thankyou for passing that on Marg, You put it so beautifully, I feel the same. May we all slow down…:)
My Iris
Kimbra, are we turning the flowers and shells upside down before we start drawing?
thanks, Rosemary
Have a go at drawing them right side up using the same techniques you used in the donkey. But you can do some upside down if you want.
Beautifully observed iris Marg, you are seeing the shapes in relation to one another. It’s a pleasure for me to see all these drawings!
Unit five is now available, now that you have till March you can take your time but I recommend you keep up the momentum to some degree, to maintain the connection with RH. We’ll give three weeks for this unit as it falls over Christmas.
Merry Christmas everyone! ???
So many adorable donkeys here! They all have a different personality indeed!
Here is one from me… Two things that I have found challenging:
1. My hand didn’t move the way I intended to, especially the big parts and long lines (legs, body and even ears). I really enjoyed working with the small details of the face as it was much easier to control the movement of the pencil. Not sure why this was happening – is it a focus issue, muscles, posture? I’ll try drawing at a different desk to eliminate the possible posture issue ?
2. My mind was trying to suggest what way it would actually be better to place the line to balance it with the rest of the image. I had to resist and follow the actual contour ?
Merry Christmas Ella, lovely to see your donkey! I understand what you are saying about feeling you had more control drawing the face. Yes, I think it is to do with the way you’re holding the pencil, I’m sure your posture and desk are fine. The pencil hold I described in the notes may not apply to you, so I suggest you do what feels natural and just have the intention of relaxing your grip a little but not so much that you feel wobbly. The face of your donkey is beautifully observed and rendered and I can see that you felt at ease with it. The legs are very well placed in relation to everything else, just a little thin in places, particularly above the knees.
Would you like to come round in January sometime and I can help you find a way to hold the pencil that gives you control and flexibility? I’m one hundred percent sure that we can resolve this for you. Well done for following the contour and we do also check spatial relationships to balance with the rest of the image – there is an opportunity for you to do this in the next unit! Would you like to make a time to come round? You are all welcome to do this.
Hi Kimbra, thank you for the comments. Yes, I would love some help with finding the right way of holding the pencil. I’ve been practicing with the donkey a bit more. This time I let myself hold the pencil naturally and noticed that I tend to hold it differently deppending on the line I’m drawing. I think it helped a bit but the lines still often moved a different direction than I intended.
Another observation… my brain has got a terrible memory for details! I look at a line I’m just about to draw, noticing the way it’s going, the angles, the size, relation to the other lines, etc. I start drawing it on paper, a tiny bit of the line starts appearing OK but then I realise I don’t remember where it should go next at all! so, I have to stop very often and draw little by little. The bends get better but then I lose focus on the relation of the line to everything else. Very frustrating. So, I’ve started cheating ? I look at a line and put little dots on paper where the start, finish or bends should be. Also, I have noticed there is quite a lot of analising going on in the head “this line is longer than that line and should be on such angle and it shoul stop there..” etc. and, while drawing (and after) I can see where I’m going (or went) wrong. So, my guess is I have completely failed switching off my LH ? Hmm.
But I’ll keep practicing ?
Ella, this is a very fine drawing, it completely meets the brief! I understand what you are going through, this is a new process and you have several new learnings to apply. The analysing you are doing is Left Hemispheric because it involves thought, but it is appropriate because it is the language that activates RH. It may feel over analytical because it is conscious i.e. you are choosing to think in terms of spatial relationships and the nature of the contour, ‘this line is longer…” etc. The more you maintain this visual internal monologue the more it will become automatic i.e. it will be archived in to your unconscious mind (RH) and will come up when you need it, as intuition.
You are engaging a beautiful process that activates both hemispheres for a common purpose, with LH remaining in a subordinate role i.e. the role of activating RH by using visual language. As you move deeper into RH, the words will fade and you will be aware of thoughts moving through your mind but you won’t attach to them. Your focus will be perceptual and spatial. RH is a very fragile state and can shift with the slightest stimulation from your internal and external environment, back to LH. Know that you can choose to return to RH any time by breathing slowly and gently focusing on something i.e. your breath, your relaxed shoulders or if you are drawing, the contour. This is the mindfulness aspect and you can repeat it any time during your day. See how long you can softly focus on your slow breathing, with a warmhearted attitude towards yourself!
Your two donkey drawings are a record of your developing spatial and perceptual awareness, notice how the second is more authentic i.e. the spatial relationships are much more acutely observed. Fantastic progress Ella!!
…and more… the confusion and frustration related to recording the seen contour is a normal part of the process. Your memory is not accustomed to retaining the visual information long enough to record, so do exactly what you are doing, just draw very small contours at a time, looking as much as you need to. Remember to breathe and relax while you are doing this and it will get easier. Your alpha brain waves which are activated by RH, optimise your visual memory! So look as much as you need to but do every movement very slowly and with relaxation. I know this feels foreign Ella and I also know that you will get it. I’ll hold that space for you. 🙂
Hi Kimbra,
Here is my donkey “on steroids” J 🙂
Ella has already described her experience. I had pretty much the same issues and challenges. Another thing I have noticed is I was constantly switching from one donkey’s body part to another. For example, once I have finished the first leg, I have started drawing the lower body and then back to the other legs again…or after finishing one eye I have switched to the ear and hair and finished the second eye pretty much at the end of the drawing process.
I have a feeling that this is my LH is analysing the best strategy and that’s why I jump from one body part to another.
I will keep drawing 🙂
Cheers,
George
Great donkey George, thanks for posting. There is some very challenging drawing here – we are drawing a three quarter donkey’s face, which means that the right hand side of it’s face is foreshortened i.e. turning away from us. This means that all the shapes on the right are visually different from those on the left. Our symbol tells us that all eyes are round, but in this case they are elliptical, circles in perspective with irregular contours. You have managed this foreshortening very well!
Generally there’s no rules about the order in which we draw the shapes that make up the donkey. I suggest that students start somewhere at the top of the image if it is an animal or human being and at the bottom if it is a plant with a stalk or trunk. Then, you can move from each shape to the one next to it, just as you did. You drew the eye then the shape next to it i.e. the ear and hair. You don’t have to do both eyes before completing the rest. Ideally we are using the Right Hemispheric process; moving from one abstract shape to the next, not naming it and using visual language to describe it. The Left Hemisphere will want to talk about the features, “How do I draw that eye?” “Now I have to finish the face before drawing the ears.” So if you find yourself naming the parts of the donkey and worrying if you’re drawing it right, then you are using your LH, whereas if you are talking about the line, the contour, the shifts in direction, and moving slowly from unnamed shape to the unnamed shape next to it, then you are using your RH.
I can see that you accessed RH because your drawing is well proportioned. The legs are a little short but don’t see this as a problem, it is part of the process of learning. I don’t always observe things accurately first time either. You and Ella have both drawn very credible donkeys!
Hi Kimbra and happy new year!
Thank you for your feedback and explanations. Knowing that I’m not doing anything wrong helped me relax more and enjoy the process more!
My shells and flowers are attached. I have also done a Totoro drawing just to try. I drew everything upside-down except one of the flowers (the one with many petals) that I drew last. Funny, I’ve started enjoying drawing things upside-down and the LH was too scared to do it the right side up ? I talked to it as you teach, breathed, did my best at seeing it as just abstract lines, etc. and the flower turned out better than I/LH expected ?
Totoro.
Wow, Ella! Superb drawings and so glad to hear you are managing LH so well, I’m very pleased.
Cute little Totoro, who is Totoro??
Hi Kimbra,
Thank you very much for your feedback. It helped a lot.
Just a couple of observations:
1. I am getting better results when the image has lots of small details. E.g. I like my second flower much more even thought it was more challenging.
2. I am still struggling with fear and frustration at the beginning (always trying to breathe and relax). However, half way through the drawing it goes away.
Here are my shells
Flower 1
Flower 2
I love the result! My pride and joy ha ha 🙂
Thank you, Kimbra! =^_^=
Totoro is a character from My Neighbour Totoro animated movie from 1988. He is a forest spirit. The story is simple but the movie is very sweet and heartwarming, interesting character designs. Aimed at children but adults love it too 🙂
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92a7Hj0ijLs
I can lend a BlueRay disc to you, if interested (English dubbed unlike the trailer J).
Congratulations George, these are beautiful drawings and I can see you are accessing RH. Fear and frustration are normal to begin with, it can take 5 – 10 mins to access RH. As you continue, LH will come on board more, as it begins to feel safe with the process. Remember to be kind to it and acknowledge what a great job it does keeping you alive. You have every reason to feel proud.
Thanks for the info about Totoro Ella, I love the idea of him being a forest spirit, one of Graeme’s fairies?!! 🙂
Yes! One of those fairies! 😉 According to the story, only young children can see Totoro 🙂
Sweet, 🙂
My baby donkey (also a mis-heard lyric from the Beatles song “Ticket to Ride” my baby don’t care… sing it!!)
PS My LH had a complete tantrum about drawing the face. Whew!
sustained focus.. looking at the paper
Your left hemisphere feels everything from discomfort to fear about learning to draw. (I’ve been there; I understand.) It sees everything as a one dimensional diagram, so imagine it’s suffering when confronted with a donkey’s foreshortened head! Foreshortening means looking at something in visual perspective i.e. when it is turned away from the viewer or receding – the donkey’s head is doing both! The reason LH is highly confronted by the face is that it identifies powerfully with facial expression. In cave days our capacity to read facial expressions could be life threatening. A manic facial expression may mean death!! Your emotions, whatever they are, are understandable. Just notice how beautifully you handled a horse’s foreshortened hoof, first on the left, one of the most challenging subjects to draw.
So… your LH is responding to drawing a face with fear, because if it gets it just a tiny bit wrong, the whole expression changes and can look very weird, very frightening, bringing up anything from frustration, through to fear. What you felt during that process, whatever it was, is entirely understandable. LH is trying to keep you safe. Good on you for admitting to it. Many people can’t admit to those feelings. Acknowledging them is the first step towards making the shift to RH, which is oriented, through the breath, moment by moment to perceiving the world (in this case a donkey) in all it’s miraculous, authentic, wondrous complexity.
Your left hemisphere is self absorbed and lives in a virtual world of it’s own making, replaying it’s impressions and concerned only with itself. Your right hemisphere is concerned with everything outside the self – the whole world. We don’t vilify the left, it’s a necessary aspect of the whole…we just don’t have to believe it all the time. You’re discovering this; you couldn’t have drawn such a magnificent donkey, face and all, if you hadn’t managed your LH and activated your RH. 🙂
I’m enjoying your modified focus hand, it has all the accuracy, authenticity and sensitivity of a right hemispheric drawing. Well done! Notice the intricacy of the contours, all those little bumps and indentations express the nature of your unique hand.
Here’s the iris
a shell
leucodendron
another copied drawing from a book – i think it could be a leonardo da vinci drawing – do you recognise it? anyway REALLY enjoying drawing. i know i’ll get better. thank you kimbra xx
Yes, you will get better – no doubts about that. These drawings are beautifully “seen” and sensitively recorded. The Leonardo is magnificent, I love the subtle dark accents and shading you’ve put in there, delicate yet powerful – right hemispheric! Well done. :):x
Hi Kimbra
Can you please review my Lily and provide feedback?
Regards
Tessy
Hi Kimbra
Practising the toning. Learning slowly.
Cheers
Tessy
You have managed the drawing very well Tessy, there is some complicated foreshortening in that lower petal. You applied all our learnings! Your stamens are a little too far to the right, we want to see that they are growing out of the stalk. When drawing these you can imagine where they go behind the petals to connect with the stalk. The unit on negative space will help you draw the positive shapes.
Have a look at the negative spaces between the petals and leaves – they can tell you how accurately you’ve drawn the positive shapes i.e. the petals and leaves. You’re drawing is generally quite accurate. Notice the leaf at the top bends down further, but otherwise the relationships are well proportioned. It’s great that you’re exploring tone – I can see the light tones, the mid tones, the dark tones and the 5% black and white. Good on you Tessy! Keep drawing. 🙂