Right Brain vs. Left Brain

Leo- the Laboring Artist…..He’s been drawing and painting since he was a child. He’s become quite good, as it so happens the work that really sells is what bores him to make. It’s a juggling act, does he paint the things that pay the bills or does he paint what makes him happy? He’s not complaining, he makes time for the things that matter and he’s got a plan.

Some articles suggest that before we enter school, our left brain and right brain functions are more even. That school plays to the more left brain ways of learning. I think in school that is the way it has to be if you’ve got a class of 30 or so students. I don’t think we lose our “right brain” activity, I think we stop trusting it. It’s always there in the background. There are exercises you can do to get your “right brain” more involved, which may help in getting over a block.

1981- Roger Sperry (Nobel Prize winner) suggested that the two halves of the brain actually house two different realms of consciousness. It’s been suggested that people, in general, are primarily either right brain thinkers or left brain thinkers.

• Left Brain: Doctors, Scientists, Lawyers, Mathematicians
• Right Brain: Artists, Dancers, Musicians, Architects

The main theme to emerge... is that there appear to be two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather separately in left and right hemispheres respectively and that our education system, as well as science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect. What it comes down to is that modern society discriminates against the right hemisphere.

-Roger Sperry (1973)

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS	RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic	uses feeling
detail oriented	“big picture” oriented
facts rule	imagination rules
words and language	symbols and images
present and past	present and future
math and science	philosophy & religion
can comprehend	can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
knowing	believes
acknowledges	appreciates
order/pattern perception	spatial perception
knows object name	know object function
reality based	fantasy based
forms strategies	presents possibilities
practical	impetuous
safe	risk taking

So if I'm Left-Handed, Does This Mean My Right Brain is Dominant?
No, hand dominance is not directly related to brain dominance. And, remember, just like you don't do everything with only the one hand, so your brain doesn't do everything with one side, although there is generally a preference. However, a significant number of artists have been and are left-handed, more than would be suggested by the one-in-ten occurrence of left-handedness in the population. While those who are left handed do exhibit a greater propensity for right-brain dominance, being right handed does not preclude your right brain from dominating. (From this article)

Our right brain is visual, intuitive, playful, subjective, emotional, timeless, spontaneous. It deals with humor, imagery, physical activity, art, music, and dance. It is passive whereas the left side is aggressive. I think the more “right brain” activity I can bring into my life, the better. As long as I can keep my female emotional side in check! LOL!!

Another sign of hope for us beginner's is that we can learn to tune into our Right Brain (see book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain). When kids are about 10-11 yrs old, they enter the “stage of realism” where the child wants to draw something that looks real. Some kids are able to make the transition into the right brain thinking and tap into that part which helps them “see” what they are trying to draw. While many other kids get frustrated and give up. Later, when these kids are adults and want to draw again, their art will resume right where it left off, at the “stage of realism” level. This book helps make the conversion into Right brain thinking.

This book also talks about:

• Upside Down Drawing
• Negative Space Drawing
• Crossing Over: Experiencing the shift from Left to Right

I may just have to dig around in my basement for my copy!

What about you? Are you more right brain dominant or left? What tricks have you learned to compensate for your right or left brain dominance?

Related Links:

• Left Brain, Right Brain
• More Links for Right Brain Left Brain
• An Artist's View
• Right Brain Characteristics