Becoming Left-Handed

**lavhoes** · December 21st, 2003, 02:53 AM

When I was little I was rather ambidextrous, but my teachers insisted that I chose a dominant hand so I chose my right hand, since it was the popular thing to do. Now, years later, I don't think I've chosen wisely, as everything I do is left-centric. While I catch and bat and play sports and do everything with my right hand as the lead, my writing is atrocious and there's a huge mental block whenever I try to draw anything from mental inspiration. My vision fades as soon as my pencil-wielding right hand puts the lead to paper.

It's very frustrating, and I as a few others believe this to be the root of my lack of confidence when it comes to using a pencil.

So, I started using my left hand, and I've found myself to be a lot more confident in my drawing, even though all my lines are horrible squiggles. Whenever I have inspiration and I use my left hand, the vision of what I want to draw doesn't fade. I can see it clearly. It's almost like tracing what I can see in my mind's eye right onto the paper.

Thing is, since I lack control in my left hand, everything looks horrible. Yet every time I use my right hand it further cements that hand as being dominant, something that undoes whatever progress I make towards making myself left-handed.

Have you any advice on how to build control and motor skills with my left hand? I'm a quick learner, easily adaptable to any given situation, but I'm at a complete loss as to how to make this change permanent, something I feel will help my art tremendously.

**BadMange** · December 21st, 2003, 09:21 AM

Get yourself a copy of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. It'll teach you to switch on your right-side even though you're right hand is dominant. To try and make the switch now, after years of using your right hand, will set you back several years, possibly a decade (depending on how old you are).

-Bad Mange

**sic1** · December 21st, 2003, 11:31 AM

I attempted to exercise my right hand (as I'm a lefty) in class one day when I was bored (that's everyday, basically)

I was trying to write out the alphabet, draw ellipses (because the circles came out ellipses), and straight lines. It was kinda fun, but I still think the motor skills I've developed with my left are too great (even though I have terrible handwriting with the left), for me to stop and draw with the right.

I think in your case, you're more left handed, and right brained, as that book would suggest. I believe I'm the opposite. :/

**TheYellowDart** · December 21st, 2003, 11:38 AM

First of all, if you are normally (writing/eating) right handed, and play sports (hockey, baseball, etc) left handed...you're doing the right thing!! (or vice versa) All of your power and control comes from your right (or 'normal') hand so it should be at the "butt" of your 2 handed instruments (hockey sticks/bats)....

As for drawing...Ron Lemen a while ago had our class try to flip figures and then he did it with his opposite hand. Of course, no one in class really used our opposite hands, but we did flip our figure drawings. It makes you slow down and really think and you tend to only put down what you need.

However, at work I started drawing all last week with just my left hand. I had some dogbones at the beginning but soon they all started coming up in their apperences, no where near my right hands abilitiy, but still, my left hasn't had as much milage with a pencil/pen. So keep doing it!! If you think about it, its the exact same thing as drawing with your normal hand, you're just not used to it and put a lot of stress on yourself about it. As soon as you get your other hand working, you can switch on and off I suppose...I did it with my feet for soccer. I forced myself to learn to use my left foot because it makes you that much more versatile. So the drive was there to learn, and since I used it every game, it came up in skill/accuracy/power in about a month and now its as good as my right foot.

I have also found that drawing with your opposite hand for about an hour before you need to "hit a good drawing" is very helpful. I'll draw every morning at work for about an hour with my left hand, switch over to my right and not only does it seem easier, my drawings improve a lot. Strange, but most things are. Pce.
-Dart

**acuna_read** · December 21st, 2003, 01:04 PM

If you really want to use your left then bandadge up your right hand.
Might have already sorted it out or though of this but it seems the quickest way to try and solve this

**BadMange** · December 21st, 2003, 02:24 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lavhoes
While I catch and bat and play sports and do everything with my right hand as the lead, my writing is atrocious and there's a huge mental block whenever I try to draw anything from mental inspiration.[QUOTE]

DART, since lavhoes is right-handed and not lefty (read quote above), the left hand be at the end of the bat/hockey stick. I'm right-handed and that's how I do it, as well as every other right-handed person I've ever seen playing baseball and hockey. I'd love to see someone swing a bat left hand over right, "righty" style. Hi-larious!

-BadMange

**TheYellowDart** · December 21st, 2003, 09:19 PM

On a baseball bat, a right handed person should put their right hand at the bottom of the bat, with the left above it, more towards the area the ball contacts.....

On a hockey stick, a right handed person should put their right hand at the top of the stick...."the top of" being the non-blade side.javascript:smilie(':evilbat:')
javascript:smilie(':evilbat:')

get it? that will give you more control/power/accuracy

**lavhoes** · December 21st, 2003, 11:36 PM

Argh, so many rules! Luckily I don't play sports all that much.

BadMange: I've gone through that book twice, both the old version and the new version. Definitely some good stuff. I've always considered myself a right-brained person, so this just cements further my notion that I may, indeed, be innately left-handed =D

sic1: After a few days, I'm starting to catch up. And it's really frightening. I mean, the handwriting still sucks, but I'm getting used to thinking as I write and drawing with my left hand. I haven't done anything with my right hand for a couple of days now, and everything seems to be progressing nicely.

Hopefully the years and years of right-handedness won't hurt me too much =D

TheYellowDart: I had an exercise like that too at one point...weird, eh?

acuna_read: First thing I did, actually. Weird...

Once I'm actually comfortable with the drawings I'm producing (I've been drawing, but really distracted and without vision, for the time being, but tonight I feel the call, and with a ton of ideas I'm sure tonight will be the night I really see what my left hand can do. It's already almost at the level of my right hand, which is really creepy, it's just kinda squiggly right now. Just...need...control...) I'll post some of the drawings.

Thanks for the support!

**Prometheus|ANJ** · December 22nd, 2003, 04:23 PM

I'm lefthanded and have always used my left hand for drawing. However, when I got a computer I started using the mouse with my right, cuz I didn't think it would matter. Now, 15 years later, I'm still using the mouse with my right hand. I can use it okay with the left but somehow I think it's too late to change. The neuronic pathways have been set it seems. My first (PC) CG's were Painter 3 and mouse. Quite cumbersome since the right hand isn't working well with the mouse either.

I would also play Quake better with the left hand, but there's also the matter of moving with the keys, so it's two controls I need to swap. I keep strafing when I want to shoot or jump.

**avalos** · December 23rd, 2003, 04:10 AM

Only advice I can give is use your left hand exclusively for writing and drawing. One needs to develop the fine muscle and motor skills involved with the hand, which takes time. Practice constantly with the left hand. Oh, as silly as this may sound, if you keep up a good regimen, remember to stretch/message your hand. It truly does help.
I had a teacher who wanted me, for some inane reason or other, to use my right hand. They had me hold bees-wax in my left. Of course, whenever he turned his head I would promptly put the bees-wax in my mouth (it was good stuff in the 2nd grade) and use my left hand. Oddly enough he would always give me more wax. Needless to say, I ended up with a lot wax sculptures at home and a fond disliking for the taste of bees-wax. As for sports, I throw right handed. However, I play first base so it would be better to say I catch left handed.