More Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain

Working through this book is a little like flossing your teeth, taking your vitamins each day, or eating a big salad without any ranch dressing.  I can't say that I am having fun.  I also have been encountering a lot of internal resistance prior to each exercise.  Some of this is the internal critic.  Some of it is the instructions are so long that sometimes I'm just tired by the time that I've read through them.  I'm also finding that there is a lot of good information in the book, but I don't find the way it's presented to be engaging.  I am using the version from 1999.  The concepts presented aren't dated.  They are really good and effective.  The way they are presented seems dated, but I want to learn and it's my January project so I am slogging along.  

Today, I did the negative space exercise with a chair. 

Here are some in process pictures.

This isn't quite the same angle as my viewpoint, but it did clarify some of the wonkiness.

I went a little rogue and  did not focus as much on the negative space and tried some quick fixes.  It's still wonky, but I learned a lot during the process and wanted to be done.  Chairs are hard and when I picked one with armrests I knew that it would be a harder one. 

Rather than moving on in the book, I think I'm going to work on some drawings like this in the next several days, while at the same time not being so fussy on any one drawing.  

On a different, and much more positive, note, yesterday morning was one of those magical winter mornings where everything was outlined in the light dusting of snow and the light was beautiful.  It was all the more special, since I didn't know it was supposed to snow so my first glance out the bedroom window was pure magic. 

I quickly got out of bed, got dressed, fed the cats, and headed out to walk around my neighborhood.  It was a welcome respite from all of the anxiety, angst, and so on over the current of the union.  

Here is the neighbor's magnolia. I could take pictures of tree branches like this one outlined in snow all day long.

Plants are so interesting when flocked with snow. 

I saved the best for last.  I love the structure of coneflowers when they are in full bloom or when it's just the seed head.  In a weird way, these and a lot of other structural looking plants make me thing of Louis Sullivan ornamentation. 

This was the coolest thing of all.  I have no idea what connected these flowers prior to the snow. It was just really cool to see the snow strands connected some of the flowers with each other.