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15. Finally, when the drawing begins to become intensely interesting, like a complicated and beautiful jigsaw puzzle gradually taking shape under your pencil, you will be really drawing.

After you have finished: This is your first “real” drawing and I can assume with some confidence that you are pleased with the results. I hope you now see what I meant about the miracle of drawing. Because you drew what you saw on the flat picture-plane, your drawing appears authentically three-dimensional.

Furthermore, some very subtle qualities will show in your drawing. For example, a sense of the volume—the three-dimensional thickness—of the hand will be there, as well as the precise tension of certain muscles or the pressure of a finger on the thumb. And all of this comes from simply drawing what you see on the plane.

In the following group of drawings, the hands are three-dimensional, believable, and authentic. They seem to be made of flesh, muscles, skin, and bones. Even very subtle qualities are depicted, such as the pressure of one finger on another, the tension of certain muscles, or the precise texture of the skin.

I’ve included some demonstration drawings by me and others of our teaching staff. As you see, these drawings are done on a toned ground, which we’ll also be using in the next exercise.

Before we move on to the next step, think back on your mental state during the drawing of your hand. Did you lose track of time? Did the drawing at some point become interesting, even fascinating? Did you experience any distraction from your verbal mode? If so, how did you escape it?

Also, think back on this basic conception of the picture-plane and our working definition of drawing: “copying” what you see on the picture-plane. From now on, each time you pick up the pencil to draw, the strategies learned in this drawing will become better integrated and more “automatic.”

You might want to do a second Modified Contour Drawing of your hand, perhaps this time holding some complex object: a twisted handkerchief, a flower, a pinecone, a pair of eyeglasses. For this drawing, you can again work on a lightly “toned” ground.

The next step: Tricking L-mode with empty space

So far, we have located some gaps in the abilities of the left hemisphere. It has problems with mirror images (as in the Vase/Faces drawing). It can’t deal with upside-down perceptual information (as in the upside-down Stravinsky drawing). It refuses to process slow, complex perceptions (as in the Pure and Modified Contour drawings). We used those gaps to give R-mode a chance to process visual information without interference from L-mode.

The next lesson on negative space is designed to reestablish your grasp of the unity of spaces and forms in composition, which you had as a child.

7

Perceiving the Shape of a Space: The Positive Aspects of Negative Space

IN THIS CHAPTER, we’ll take up the next component skill of drawing—the perception of negative spaces. You will use your new skills of seeing and drawing complicated edges in order to draw the edges of negative spaces.

This exercise will be a stretch for some, a joy for others. There is an antic or whimsical quality to seeing negative spaces. In a sense, you are seeing what is not there. In American life, it is often a new experience to realize that spaces are important. We tend to focus on objects; we are an objective culture. In other cultures, working “within the space of a problem” is common practice. My aim is to make spaces become “real” for you and to provide a new experience in seeing.

In this chapter, you will also learn to find and use a “Basic Unit” that will enable you to correctly size the first shape you draw. And you will dip into lights and shadows by working on a toned ground.

Let’s quickly review the five basic skills of drawing. Remember, these are perceptual skills: The perception of

• Edges (line of contour drawing)

• Spaces (negative spaces)

• Relationships (proportion and perspective)

• Lights and shadows (shading)

• The