As a child your drawings were amazing. Watching the lines and shapes coming from your crayons was one of your favorites moments. Your mom was there to encourage you every single time. The reality was yours to bend it at your will. Later in life, your sketches were dull, not even close to what you see. You felt discouraged and you never tried to draw something again. Now, you think that you'll never learn how to draw well. Will you believe me if I say that you are wrong? 

Photo by Radu Florin on Unsplash

Let me tell you a story

I'm an enthusiastic drawer, all my homework notebooks are sketched, I draw on napkins too, but I couldn't say that I'm a good drawer or even e mediocre one. I don't have an inborn talent for this. I only have a good eye for beauty from my experience as a user interface designer, but nothing more.

"How did you learn to draw?", you may ask. Hmm, I just got my hands on a book and I start drawing things. If you want to draw, you should start practicing right now. I downloaded an amazing book (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain) and I was ready to challenge myself. 

Read, read, read

Page after page, chapter after chapter and I finally found the secret. To draw something you have to see it ‘“right”. Well, it doesn't sound so revealing, but it's god damn true. We are used to perceiving things based on simple symbols learned from childhood, and every single time when we try to draw something, we draw that symbol instead. To draw something you have to free your mind from these thoughts and give yourself the freedom to represent the images as you see.

The mind workout

I found in this book some exercises to train my mind to see things in a certain way. The first of them is to draw a subject upside-down. If we don’t know what we are drawing we will not try to use our learned symbols. The second one is to draw without looking at the paper. This will help with the perception of edges and curves. And the last one that I tried was to see through a small window frame to know where the limits of the picture are. I practiced these three exercises a few times and now it’s easier than never to draw almost anything, at least in a pleasable way.

Photo by Jack Chung on Unsplash

Some cool effects that I experienced

After some time, I found out that  I’m more aware of things around me. I see them in a way that I never experienced before. The shift to the right side of the brain can take you in a mindful state, you become aware of every line and shape. Very cool, if you ask me!

Also, I found out that drawing is so relaxing. It helped me to control my stress and anxiety during the day, and if I draw before going to bed, I manage to sleep better.

And finally, you can show off in front of your friends and maybe guide them to see the things as you do. 

The proof

I'll leave here some samples from my training to inspire you to read this book and try something out by yourself. 

'Till next time!