Supplies: paper, 2B pencil, sharpener

This activity has two sections:• For Drawing Straight Lines• For Drawing Curved Lines

For Drawing Straight Lines 1. Draw several sets of straight

lines in your sketchbook.

Draw each set of parallel lines in a different direction so that you’re continuously changing the slant of your lines (refer to Figure 1 for ideas).

Straight lines can be drawn in any direction. However, the individual lines in these sets of lines need to be parallel to one another.

Identify Your Natural Hand Motions

Discover your natural hand movements for drawing straight and curved lines

Level: BeginnerFlesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 10.4Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease: 47.1Drawspace Curriculum 1.1.A5 - 4 Pages and 5 Illustrations

As an Aside

Right or left handedness often affects the directionality of an artist’s subjects, especially when they are drawing from their imaginations: • Right-handers tend to draw subjects (such as faces

in profile) facing the left, and left-handers tend to draw them facing the right.

• Right-handers usually render subjects in motion (such as a horse or car) travelling toward the left, whereas left-handers usually render them travelling toward the right.

Professional artists use their natural hand movements (motions) to enhance their drawings. Whenever possible, they also rotate their drawing paper to maintain their natural hand motions. Once you see how your natural hand motion improves your drawing abilities, you’ll be able to use it to your advantage.

As an Aside

ISBN: 978-1-927365-15-1Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior written

consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.

Pay attention to how you feel as you draw the lines. Certain directions might feel awkward, but there should be at least one motion that feels very comfortable for you.

The motion that feels most comfortable is your natural hand movement, and you should use it whenever possible.

2. Mark the set(s) that you found the most natural to draw.

3. Draw a few more sets of straight lines to confirm and become comfortable with your natural hand movement.

Figure 1

2 1.1.A5: Identify Your Natural Hand Motions

ISBN: 978-1-927365-15-1Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior written

consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.

There are three basic types of straight lines: • vertical (straight up and down and at

a right angle to a horizontal line) • horizontal (level and at a right angle

to a vertical line) • diagonal (slanting or sloping at an

angle).

As an Aside

Do not rotate your paper for these activities. Your goal is to simply discover your natural hand movements.

Caution!

As an Aside

Studies indicate that left-handed individuals have greater cooperation between their right and left brain hemispheres. Hence, left-handers are more likely to engage in creative professions, score higher on creative thinking tests, and display a greater capacity for divergent thinking than right-handers.

As an AsideBoth right-handers and left-handers are among the greatest artists ever known. For example, Pablo Picasso was a righty and Leonardo da Vinci was a lefty.

For Drawing Curved Lines1. Use your index finger to follow the outline

of the first circle in a clockwise motion (Figure 2).

2. Use the same finger to follow the outline of the second circle in a counterclockwise motion (Figure 3).

Whichever feels most comfortable is your natural hand movement for drawing circular shapes and curved lines.

For most right-handed people, this movement is clockwise. Conversely, left-handed individuals are more likely to begin drawing curved lines in a counterclockwise direction.

Figure 4

Clockwise

Figure 2

Counterclockwise

Figure 3

31.1.A5: Identify Your Natural Hand Motions

And some people find both movements equally natural.

3. Run your finger along each line in Figure 4 to confirm your natural movement.

If your instinct is to begin at A, your natural hand movement is probably clockwise. If you prefer to begin with B, then your natural hand movement is likely counterclockwise.

ISBN: 978-1-927365-15-1Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior written

consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.

4. Draw a few curved lines to confirm and become comfortable with your natural hand movement for drawing curved lines.

Refer to Figure 5 for ideas. Figure 5

4 1.1.A5: Identify Your Natural Hand Motions

ISBN: 978-1-927365-15-1Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior written

consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.

It makes absolutely no difference what your natural hand movements turn out to be. What’s important is to know which movements are natural to you.

Knowing whether you’re naturally inclined toward clockwise or counterclockwise movements improves your drawing abilities, because you can then tell which way to rotate your paper when you draw curved lines and circular shapes.

Learning how to draw is much easier than trying to fully understand the complex brain functions involved in the drawing process.

The process of drawing requires a precise orchestration of both brain hemispheres and multiple brain functions, such as visual perception, perceptual processing, and fine motor skills.