The photo was 3" x 5", and the actual size of my drawing is approximately 18"  by 12".  Fun picture to draw, lot of detail in it, and I did better in some spots than others.  If you zoom in on the window area you can see the coal oil lamps that they had for sale, plus other items.   I Really enjoyed drawing this picture and seeing Dad's reaction to it, when he seen it, that was  well worth the effort!    ;-)

  I started drawing this picture in my class, and after sitting through another class (that I hadn't signed up for),  my art teacher came over to see how I was doing.    I didn't realize I had been working through two classes!   She realized I was not aware that my class had finished two hours earlier, and that I was "really concentrating", on this picture, really into the "right side of the brain", as the title of the book states.    I was totally surprised to see "none" of the other students in  MY class in the room.  The class that was there,  all enjoyed a laugh at my expense, but I also had several people standing around admiring the picture of the duck!   So I  guess, they didn't mind that much!

  This picture was drawn using a wood carving model that another artist had  brought to the studio to display for our class and other classes. 

  My art teacher coerced, pleaded, twisted my arm,  almost begged me into entering both pictures in the Macon County Town and Country Art Show at Millikin University!   I did win a Red ribbon my "OILFIELD STORE" drawing.

  A few weeks later I also entered both at the Macon County Fair, I won the Third Premium Fine Arts ribbon on the "OILFIELD STORE", and Honorable Mention Fine Arts Award for the "BLUE WINGED TEAL DUCK" drawing.

This book has an unusal concept.  You concentrate on very small pieces of the subject you are drawing.  So much so, that the left side of your brain says,"I'm not doing this anymore"!  Then the right side of your brain takes over.  Its like reading a good book, and not being able to put it down, before you realize it,  quite a bit of time has past and you've read the book!

The book had several things to practice to trick our collective brains into giving up, and letting the right side switch into gear!   I'll put some samples up here on the webpage later, although they won't look like much, you can  get an idea of the fun we had.

  The trick that I enjoyed the most this really planted the thought in my mind that I could actually draw, was where we drew a picture of an object and the object you were drawing was upside down and you had to draw the object that way, (upside down), (no, not me..the paper)!   ~ one millimeter at a time 

  It really works!   I've tried it out on my young nephew and nieces and it was unbelievable how it worked even for the kids!  Well, come to think of it, they probably had it easier doing this, than I did.  :-)

  I used an old greeting card that we had not thrown away yet, was amazed when I turned over the finished work after I had finished drawing,  it looked almost exactly like the card that I drew it from!

  Here is another example, this is a drawing that Mary Ann drew and was included in her booklet for the Art Studio.  I turned this lion on his head..and drew him the same way as I did the card above and it came out pretty darn good... this practice does tend to actually make you believe you can draw something that actually looks like what it is supposed to look like..  ;-)

  It takes a bit of practice to get to that point, but it paid off in being able to get the confidence that you could draw something if you put your mind to it.  "THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN" that is!

  I really enjoyed this mode.. real easy to work with.. shading is great.. or can be.. if ya do it right..  and its fairly cheap to get the materials for it!  

  This Clematis vine and flowers were in my Aunt Paulines side yard and I noticed them, so I stopped and took a photo of them.. then later.. took the art class.. and this is as far as I got with drawing them..  something else came up.. and I got lost on the artwork for awhile... (think its called surgery!)   lol

  Just haven't got back to it.. got interested in "ham radio" and " storm spotting" and got off track...  I am going to try to get back "on track" and finish this one..and maybe do others... but until then.. you can enjoy this one! lol