STEPS

Print this worksheet or draw your own.

Use a colored marker or a highlighter for this exercise.

When we talk about memories, we often mean memories of facts or events:

• When is your grandmother's birthday?
• What is that actor's the name?
• What is your friend’s phone number?
• What is the capital of France?

There is another kind of memory that is largely unconscious, but very important.

We learn and remember essential skills, such as walking, using chopsticks, or riding a bicycle.

The mirror-tracing activity is a visual and motor test that involves learning a new motor skill.

The task is:

Move a pencil to trace the given design while looking at your hand only as a reflection in a mirror.

Drawing is a learned skill that requires visual and proprioceptive feedback to control muscle movement.

By concentrated effort, can we overcome a reversed visual field and follow new rules?

Can we learn these new rules and improve with practice?

Once you are done - practice more:

Try writing your name in cursive, and then trace in while looking in a mirror...

drawing lines

Line drawing is a skill that can be developed with practice.

Line drawing is a primary skill for any drawing.

Each line has length, direction, start and end points, and other characteristics.

The common mistake in line drawing is "hairy" or "chicken-scratch" approach.

Learn to avoid it.

Ghost lines

Ghost lines (or air drawing) is a technique that will help you develop clean line drawing skill and get a feel of line's length and direction.

Holding your pencil over a paper, follow the direction of a line that you are attempting to draw. Do it a few times - back and forth. Then draw the actual line with the same hand motion.

Draw a few parallel lines. At this point your hand will "know" how to work the muscles for this particular line and you will notice that it gets easier to draw it.

Draw 2 sets of start and end points.

Carefully and slowly connect the first two with a straight line.

Before you draw the second line - practice the air drawing a few times. Then draw the line with one stroke.

Did you notice the difference?

The same air drawing technique can be used to complete shapes and find missing corners.

Do over each existing line with "Ghost" drawing until you get the feel of it.

Then move your hand and air-draw the missing line.

Then draw the actual lines.

Practice more shapes and lines.

exercise

Practice more line drawing.

Copy the lines from the left into the outlined area.

Try to keep proportions and directions.

Utilize air drawing technique.

First, look at the lines.

Divide them mentally into groups. What would be the logical way to group them?

Designate area for each group.

Mark start and end points.

Air draw each line before drawing. Get a feel for direction and length.

Draw the lines lightly.