Upside Down Drawing

Upside down drawing is a fascinating study of learning to see while not identifying what you are drawing/seeing.

When I was learning to draw, one of the things I enjoyed the most was the different exercises I had to do.

Nothing gave me more of a thrill than to finish up with a drawing when I knew I couldn't draw it if I tried.

In the Betty Edwards book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," Betty provides an upside down Pablo Picasso sketch. It is the "Portrait of Igor Stravinsky."

This drawing is ideal for the exercise as all the lines join together and they form a type of jigsaw puzzle. The upside down Picasso sketch is the first one I ever did and I really enjoyed it.

Before I started, I drew a border on my paper with the same measurements as the picture. Then, away I went, focusing only on lines. I purposely kept my mind blank, refusing to try to identify what I was drawing.

Instead, I concentrated on the distance of the lines to the border and their relation to each other.

Negative space automatically plays a part because of squares and rectangles that are present in the drawing.

You can choose to draw the shape rather than the lines.

Negative space is the area around the object that you are interested in.

When I finished this upside down drawing exercise, I turned my drawing the right way up. I'll never forget the feeling of triumph that I experienced when I looked at the wonderful drawing before me.

At a time when I seriously doubted I'd ever be able to draw, this exercise was the starting point of my artistic adventure.

I had the confidence that I needed to keep going. I wasn't afraid to experiment. If I produced a failure, I wasn't deterred. I knew I could draw, I had already proven it!

There are so many ways to conquer drawing. We can trace, use a grid or we can do lots of exercises in art books, to name just a few.

Drawing upside down is a favorite exercise of mine. It trains your eyes to really see. You examine the length of a line, the curve in a line, distances from other lines, it's an excellent practice to perform.

You can do this with any line drawing or contour drawing.

I've put a couple of line drawings on this page if you would like to copy one right now.

Try to take notice of how your mind "turns off." Your academic brain doesn't recognize what it is you are drawing, so it hands the job over to the artistic side of your brain.

Ah, pure peace reigns. You will most likely notice the peaceful calm that takes over.

As with most exercises, if you're intimidated by a picture, try placing paper over the picture and just reveal one portion at a time. You'll only need to do this once or twice. When your confidence builds, you won't even notice the whole picture, you will only be seeing the lines you are copying.

That's the purpose of the upside down drawing exercise - to develop your ability to see only lines and shapes and their relation to each other.

You are not meant to recognize what the drawing is about. Avoid naming objects, at all costs, and your drawing skills will improve.

Copy the drawing just as you see it and don't be tempted to turn it the right side up, at any time, throughout the exercise. You can start anywhere on your page that you feel comfortable with.

It is fine if you wish to erase. Sometimes our judgment is a little bit out. Sometimes my hand has a mind of its own and it draws a line that I don't agree with!

Practice upside down drawing by copying images from any art books that you have. Most of all, have fun!

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