I decided to experiment and try drawing with my left hand and I found out something quite interesting…

If I say to myself ‘draw a cat’ and I hold a pencil in my right hand, I think of a cat, usually facing forward and sitting upright, I might imagine a circle for the head and maybe triangles for the ears etc, then I would flesh the image out.

However if I say to myself ‘draw a cat’ and I hold a pencil in my left hand, I see a cat, I see its eyes, its fur, its claws, moving through the undergrowth, a real cat.

This effect is very fleeting and hard for me to notice before my brain kicks in properly and mixes everything up but I have noticed it.

In other words, the left hemisphere of the brain seems to process information symbolically and the right hemisphere of the brain seems to process information naturalistically with both hemispheres being equally important (an experiment done and dusted by nature).

This is possibly why artists throughout history, who favour the right side, have often recommended drawing from nature – to enrich their passion.

I now often begin pictures with my left hand and move to my right when I know how it’s going, it adds a different angle for me.