Things we see normally look weird upside-down. Sometimes we can't even recognize them. You might even be wondering what the drawing below is supposed to be.

Take a careful look. What do you see?

If you can't figure it out, try standing on you head.

It's Pablo Picasso's The Dog. Twentieth century artist Pablo Picasso produced a collection of simple but interesting line drawings of animals. This is one of them.

The whole purpose of this drawing lesson is to confuse your brain. To not give it what it really wants - a picture it can understand and give a name to. One part of your brain is a little bit bossy (the left side) and always wants to take over. It's the other part of your brain (the right side) that we want for drawing - the side that's "right" for drawing.

Draw
Try not to turn your drawing over until you are finished with it. Think about what you see rather than what you are drawing and how the lines curve and fit together. Begin drawing.

After Drawing
Turn your drawing over. You'll probably be surprised how good it is!

Let's try another lesson: Lesson 4: Upside-Down Butterfly

For Teachers
The logical left brain wants to take over. It wants to name the parts of the dog and draw them as the left brain remembers them. The goal of this lesson is to ease the left brain out of the task and allow the right brain to take over. It's really the best side for drawing. The left brain may not be happy at first though in the end it will admire a job well done.

Lessons in this "Learn to Draw" series are based on ideas from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.