Creativity Through Drawing

I struggle with the whole left-brain, right-brain thing. As a child I was fairly creative – always concocting stories and finding creative ways to make mundane chores seem like fun. But over the years, I learned how to be more practical, and took up a technical profession – software developer. Now, I’m an instructional designer (a person who develops on-line training for companies). I tend to spend a good portion of my days on a computer (for work and play). But I often ask myself, "Am I a creative person? Can I really function from the creative side of my brain?"

I fantasize about creating real art. I even took a beginning drawing course entitled “So You Thought You Couldn't Draw” by Sandra Angelo. Using Sandra’s workbooks and her direction, I learned how to draw using photographs as my source and inspiration in just six weeks. My first real success was an eye. My next big accomplishment was a baby face from a magazine:

At the end of the course I drew a picture from a photograph of my mom and dad’s wedding photo. It turned out pretty nice – for someone who was just learning to draw.

It took over 40 hours to create this drawing. As I added shadowing and experienced each feature of my parent's faces, I found myself recognizing the quirks and subtle facial distinctions that I share with each of them. Creating this drawing was a very personal and intimate experience. It was like being able to stroke their faces for 40 hours. If you ever want to remember someone in your life, then drawing them is the best way to make that experience happen. It's interesting what memories came to mind as I applied the thousands of pencil strokes it took to make their resemblances.

As I move through this creative journey of paper and books, drawings and photographs, I’m learning how I see the world and how the world touches me. My left-brain and right-brain are starting to communicate more and I am beginning to struggle less and accept myself and the world more.