first thoughts
Well it looks like I get to start of the discussion, the pressure is on.
I am really glad that we are reading this book--I finally understand the reasoning behind some of the ideas that I was taught and some of the things that I do naturally when I draw. The idea in Chp 7 about the basic unit really puts into words a technique that I have used to help with size and proportion, but it added more information to help me refine my technique.
I am really interested in the information in Chp 3 about the brain and how it relates to our thinking. The sentance on page 41 really shows my frustration with the current educational system-- "American scientific training through graduate school may entirely destroy the right hemisphere". This is followed by the awareness of the effects of inadequate training on the left side of the brain, but no one really cares if the right side is not trained properly. Our schools just don't realize the importance of creative thinking and because there is no way to test this knowledge it is placed at the bottom of the heap.
I completed the vase excercise and experienced the same frustration as the author and had to stop my pencil to straighten out my thoughts. It was interesting to actually feel the conflict of the left and right brain, something that I had never really noticed before.
Ok, I'll stop for now. Hopefully this will get us going.