Drawing Ability Has Psychological Basis In Perception And Memory, Researchers Say

By: Natalie Wolchover
Published: 04/24/2012 05:57 PM EDT on Lifes Little Mysteries

Since the dawn of human art-making, the divide has been clear: There are people who can effortlessly sketch an object's likeness, and people who struggle for hours just to get the angles and proportions right (by which point the picture is scarred by eraser marks, anyway). What separates the drawers from the drawer-nots?

Ongoing research is revealing the answer to this longstanding question. It seems that realistic drawing ability hinges on three factors: how a person perceives reality, how well he or she remembers visual information from one moment to the next, and which elements of an object he or she selects to actually draw.

If you're stuck on stick figures, the good news, according to researchers at the University College London, is that people can improve at all these mental processes with practice.

First, people who can't draw well aren't seeing the world as it really is. When we look at an object, our visual systems automatically misjudge such attributes as size, shape and color; research over the past three years shows at least some of these misperceptions translate into drawing errors. Paradoxically, in other circumstances the misperceptions help us make sense of the world. For example, objects appear larger when they are closer than when they are far away. Even so, the visual system practices "size constancy" by perceiving the object as being approximately one size no matter how far away it is. The visual system, "knowing" a distant object is really bigger than it appears, sends false information to the brain about what the eyeball is seeing.

People who have the most trouble judging apparent size, shape, color and brightness may also be the worst at drawing, recent research by Justin Ostrofsky and his colleagues at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York suggests. Those who draw well are better able to override these visual misperceptions and perceive what their own eyeballs are really seeing. [Red-Green & Blue-Yellow: The Stunning Colors You Can't See]

However, inaccurately perceiving the image is only part of the story, said Rebecca Chamberlain, a psychologist at University College London. Chamberlain and her colleagues recently conducted experiments investigating the role of visual memory in the drawing process. They believe that drawing skill results in part from an ability to remember simple relationships in an object ? such as an angle between two lines ? from the moment the angle is perceived to the moment it is drawn. Additionally, "drawing seems to involve focusing on both holistic proportional relationships as well as focus on detail isolated from the whole. Perhaps it is the ability to switch between these two modes of seeing that underpins successful drawing," Chamberlain told Life's Little Mysteries.

Furthermore, as detailed in December in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Ostrofsky and his colleagues found significant evidence that skilled artists are better at selecting which elements of an object need to be included to convey the object's form. And once the artists have selected an important element, they are better at focusing their attention on it and ignoring extraneous details nearby.

The devil is in the details, and the researchers are still working out the interplay between all the factors that affect drawing accuracy. However, they can all be learned. "There is no doubt that practice is an important component of being able to draw," Chamberlain said. While some may be predisposed to be better at perceptual accuracy and visual memory than others, "the rest of us use tricks to emulate this." [6 Fun Ways to Sharpen Your Memory]

In research presented at a recent symposium at Columbia University and soon to be published by Columbia University Press, Chamberlain and her colleagues found practicing drawing significantly improved people's abilities over time, as rated by other people who participated in the study.

Based on their research, the psychologists recommended the following techniques for getting better at drawing: Focus on scaling a drawing to fit the size of the paper; anchor an object in its surroundings by showing how it sits in space; focus on the distance between elements of the object and on their relative sizes; and focus on the size and shape of "negative space," or the empty space between parts of the object. Lastly, they recommend thinking of "lines" as what they really are -- boundaries between light and dark areas.

As Chris McManus, a member of the research team, noted, "There are few human skills which don't improve with practice."

Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover. Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries and join us on Facebook.

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Comments

[Dragontech]

10:05 PM on 05/21/2012

I've TRIED to draw things as I see them, and I cannot get my hands to follow the line I want to draw. My hands shake, my fingers wander and what I get on paper has NO relation to what I am seeing. I have trouble getting a straight line using a ruler. However, like many others I can sure recognize skill in others. And I do enjoy good art. If I am to attempt any art though, it has to be culinary. I can cook like nobody's business!

[Gronkie]

03:43 PM on 05/19/2012

One of the reasons that I enjoy art so much is that I am horrible at it myself. When I see someone else capture the essences of a subject, knowing that I couldn't even come close, it almost like seeing magic being done.

[Ametista]

08:52 PM on 05/04/2012

I have told a lot of people who cant draw that their problem is what they draw: they draw what they think they see, not what they really see. The best way to learn this is by masking off a 1 inch square from a picture in a magazine or whatever. It will looks like nonsense. Draw the nonsense in the square as accurately as possible. That is what drawing is, drawing exactly what you see instead of trying to make it look like you think it should.

[Susan Shaffer]

09:37 PM on 05/21/2012

what about the other HP story about the guy whose drawings are more realistic than photos? he takes ages to do them. Surely art is also about interpretation.

[Leroy Twarogowski]

07:55 PM on 05/03/2012

Myths and generalities!..Drawing..or painting "well"....is far removed from the notion that art well done is realistic.....

[skykam]

07:46 AM on 05/02/2012

Anyone can learn to draw if given the proper training. I highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Dr. Betty Edwards. I believe they also have a website where you can look at before-and-after drawings. I was lucky enough to attend one of their training classes and can assure you the improvements they tout are very real.

[Tunghoy]

06:20 AM on 05/01/2012

If you're using a mobile device, do not click any of the links above. They all go to the Life's Little Mysteries site, and that site will appear as a bouncing, jumbled mess.

[Felicia Hunter]

09:50 PM on 04/30/2012

I was amazing at drawing growing up, lost it, but still dabbled in the arts by going to college for photography (graduating in 2009), but failed badly in school all the time.. My brother on the other hand (same father and mother), can not draw to save his life but is currently in college for chemical egineering and had a 4.0 for the past 15 years of school.

[Make love not war]

07:41 PM on 04/30/2012

I only wish Hitler could have drawn a little better, maybe that way he might have gotten into art school and changed his career plans :(.

[ConfuciusSay-]

02:23 PM on 06/17/2012

I've seen his art. It was pretty bad. But he probably should have stuck to painting.

[sagcoopersmith]

12:01 PM on 04/29/2012

Today I am finally a painter and I owe everything to my ability to draw. When you are given a gift, you should use it! I did not use mine for many years, but despite the ongoing skepticism of my relatives, I know this is what I was "meant" to do. Drawing comes naturally to me (but even Igor Stravinsky had to practice...don't rest on your laurels!). Some artists are seriously jealous of others who can draw. They are the "abstract" artists who can't draw a whit. The real abstract artists are those who learned how to draw and then spun off from there. Many people do not realize that Picasso drew realistically (and representationally) at age 14. If you like drawing and you want to draw, there has not been a better time than now to get to it. There is a definite resurgence of respect for those who draw and it is a cheap and rewarding thing to do with your time. I sell a lot of paintings now and my "competitors" do not understand why. The reason why is........because I can DRAW and the viewer responds favorably. Some people sing, some people draw...if that's you, don't let negative people hold you back from doing what you were meant to do.

[kendallcougs]

08:15 PM on 05/01/2012

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I have long thought that the ability to be GREAT at something is inborn, to an extent. That a non-drawer may be taught how to draw, may even draw very well, but that person will never be great. Would you say that is accurate, or do you think I'm in left field on that? I would like to believe that I could become a great artist, but I can barely draw a straight line with the aid of a ruler.

[Ametista]

08:54 PM on 05/04/2012

Yeah I agree, even tryuly talented abstract painters were excellent at drawing first. Andy Warhol was great at it too, and look what he got famous for. Dali is my fave tho.

[crystalleaa]

03:26 AM on 04/29/2012

I just finished a drawing yesterday. First one in about 2 years and it turned out pretty good. I don't think I have forgotten much drawing wise but I had forgotten just how much fun it is to draw.

[Tunghoy]

05:59 AM on 05/01/2012

Way to go, congrats.

[UnderTheHedgeWeGo]

09:48 AM on 04/28/2012

When I was in grade school and through middle school I was recognize as being very good at drawing. I could draw a bottle (for instance) that was correctly proportioned and appeared to be three dimensional. I remember being asked "How do you do that" which always perplexed me a bit. My answer was always "How could I not? There it is, you look at in then you draw what you see on the paper." I had the feeling that I saw it "really well". I never cultivated the ability and as an adult being able to see, remember and reproduce the object on paper is simply gone. I can draw well enough but I am aware I can no longer "see it really well". So this article resonates with me. But, in the end, I suppose it's use it or loose it.

[firstsuf]

02:22 PM on 04/28/2012

similar experience here too, life gets too hectic and we are pressed to be disconnected from our inner focus just to keep up with pace of life. Then there are times when its just necessary to detach-to-reconnect, sort of meditating to get really relaxed and peaceful, if can focus then, and reflect through drawing, then not all is lost, our creative self is alive and re-aligned, saves ones sanity from all the nonsense.

[Seliotis]

02:52 PM on 04/27/2012

To draw you must see, not assume. When we see a face we see structures that have labels in our minds: eyes, nose, lips, etc. You need to look at shape, line, colour, as well. Look at a person's face and you might be surprised to see that the eyes are half way between the chin and the top of the head. When you started paying attention to proportions and lines, shapes, etc., your drawing will improve.

[Mike Wedmer]

01:29 PM on 04/27/2012

One overriding factor that allows some Artists to have stronger abilities than others, is that some Artists, actually maintain memory of what the Volume or "Shape" of an object is, -vs- focusing on secondary details.
For Example, a Waste Basket. Whether it is a Mesh basket, or a solid can or an old school garbage can, they all start out as a basic cylinder shape. So, by creating the basic Cylinder/Tube shape on paper, you have completed half of the drawing already. After that, it is a matter of simply locking in the final shape, THEN concentrating on the details. Many Artists who would struggle to draw that, but end up with a beautiful rendering, tend to also be the ones that are more focused on extranious details first. Its like being dyslexic.
Same with doing faces. By creating the SHAPE of the head first, it is easier to both place objects in their proper place, but to also get a closer likeness. Yet, some people will completely render each eye. Then the nose. Then the mouth and so on. It is better to work the SHAPE of an object. The rules exist no matter what position it is within the perspective range of the picture.

[Sara Lira]

04:27 AM on 04/27/2012

My husband can't draw! And he also can't picture anything that I describe to him. He always ends up saying "oh, I see now! I couldn't picture it before it was done". I visualize things all the time that's the only way I get things done. If I can't picture it in my head I can't do it.

[Dragontech]

10:09 PM on 05/21/2012

I'm the opposite, I guess. I can SEE it from the description, but to really know, understand and appreciate it, I have to have tactile appreciation (touch it) I believe they call it kinesics, the learning by touching/doing.

[GoldenGateCA]

05:29 PM on 04/26/2012

There are lots of techniques to improve drawing. I have seen even middle aged people go from stick figures to decent drawings of faces in one weekend at an intensive drawing class. A set of rules that can be learned in a few minutes can improve your face drawing a lot (eyes are actually in the middle of the head vertically, bottom of nose is half way between the eyes and the chin, the distance between the eyes is about one eye, etc.) Perspective drawing takes longer.