Carving on the Right Side of Your Brain

I recently purchased the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. I thought improving my drawing might also improve my wood carving.

The book points out that in learning to draw, children are taught to see things in symbols. Larger shapes are broken down into squares, circles and triangles that they can more easily draw. They put these shapes together and then do some fine tuning to get a final drawing.

Most people never get beyond this type of drawing which, although helpful in learning to draw, eventually creates limits preventing them from really drawing well.

Why? Because symbols are perceived from the left side of your brain, the side involved in language and reasoning, but drawing is a global skill which is best controlled by the right side of your brain. To improve drawing you must learn to break free of the left side of the brain and see and draw using the right side of your brain.

This is taught through the book with such exercises as drawing a picture which is turned upside down. When upside down, it is difficult for the left side (the reasoning side) of the brain to perceive the detail of the picture. It doesn't match the preconceived images so the left side of the brain doesn't know what to make of it. This allows the right side of the brain to work. You are able to draw what you see rather than be controlled by the left side of the brain which tries to interpret what you see into preconceived ideas and symbols.

Another thing you notice when drawing with the right side of your brain is that you lose track of time, you get in a zone where you are unconscious of what you are doing. You just do it.

This is something most of us have already perceived in some context or another. For instance, when driving occasionally you may find yourself suddenly much further along in your journey than you thought. Your mind zoned out while you continued to drive. There may be no conception of the time that has passed.

In sports you can also get this feeling. You forget everything around you and are just playing the game without conscious thought. When you are in the zone, you are generally playing better than normal.

How do these concepts apply to woodcarving? Most people approach woodcarving as a craft to be learned. They use an instruction book which takes them step by step through the carving process on a particular figure. Another common learning tool is to take classes with a carving instructor who supplies a rough-out or band sawed blank. The instructor will generally have at least one finished example and pictures for the carver to follow. The carver will spend a great deal of time and energy comparing his carving to the original trying to copy it exactly.

When doing this, the carver takes measurements, compares the shapes of the body parts to the original and carefully critiques his work as he goes. He often goes astray. Then the instructor stops by to check his progress. The instructor eyes it, and will often turn it this way and that and just start carving here and there making corrections. He'll provide a few words of wisdom on carving techniques, some instruction on what the carver should do next, and then goes on to the next person.

Once the instructor moves on the carver tries to remember exactly what the instructor said and often still feels lost on how to make his carving look like that of the instructor.

Many carvers never get past this way of carving. They may get frustrated that they never seem to advance like some of the other carvers, but they keep trying, taking more classes and reading more books.

Now don't get me wrong, I think classes are very helpful, especially for the novice carver. You do learn techniques from the instructors. Learning from a number of instructors can give you a well rounded carving education. And carving books are great. They can give you inspiration and ideas for carvings and instruction on useful techniques. But to do your best work, you need to get away from thinking about techniques and copying someone else's carving. That is carving on the left side of the brain. You need to carve on the right side of your brain.

Practice techniques until you feel comfortable with them. You need to have the basics down. Then try carving without a model. Just carve from an idea. Dont' concentrate on any one area too long. Look over the carving judging it as a whole, look at each part as it relates to the whole. Don't measure; don't think too much, just carve.

After you have done this, you may carve from a model, but don't try to copy it exactly. Don't measure while you are carving. Look at the model then start carving. Don't look at it again. When you free yourself up to just carve rather than copy, you free yourself from the criticism that goes along with trying to duplicate another carving.

The picture with this article is a little hillbilly character that I carved. This was a club project. The band-sawed blank was provided by a member of my wood carving club with finished examples to copy from. During the meeting I worked to copy the model. I got it pretty well roughed out. I took it home and worked on it some more to the point that it was basically done.

I didn't like it. I was carving on the left side of my brain. I had tried to copy the original and although it looked similar it was not the same. The original wasn't really my style anyway. So I did major surgery. I like the flat plane style. So, I just cut away all the detail of the carving as I cut large flat planes on either side front and back. I then just carved what I wanted without reference. I got in the zone and before I knew it, I had a new carving which I really liked.

So quit copying and measuring. Get in the zone, carve on the right side of your brain. You'll likely find that your carving skill will greatly improve.