RVJ - Utilising Your Creative Brain

There are two sides to the brain. The left side is the practical side. It is there to ask questions, to organise, clarify, annotate, edit, evaluate and criticise. Whereas the right side of the brain is the creative, playful, imaginative, free, almost childlike side.

The image below is a great illustration found in Wired magazine, that shows the difference between the right and left sides of the brain. By using both of our "brains" we can reach the perfect balance between critical and free. We can be fun, think simply and work without restrictions. Then we can sit back and note what went wrong, won't work or is simply a bad idea.

This also helps us to develop our own visual language, by understanding what is wrong with what we have created and helping ourselves to improve. By being your own critic you can achieve a lot. There is also such thing as being over critical, because then you will restrict the right side of your brain in creativity.

RVJ - Reflective Visual Journal - Draw.

To draw means to work by hand, to problem solve, influence, record evidence and to develop ideas and technique. It also allows us to experiment with different materials and develop our visual language. A good example of a succesful artist who uses sketchbooks/RVJ's as a focal point of her work is Jill Calder. By looking at her sketchbook we can see that she has recorded her surroundings, with words and images, so that she can later come back to and develop as a final piece.
Here we can see that Jill Calder has drawn what she sees when she's on the tube or a train. This almost acts as a photograph but is more personal because she has drawn it. By doing this it enables the artist to work upon and develop further into a final piece. By not thinking "this will make a great exhibition piece" - The artist can do whatever they want, however messy or wrong it may be. This can then be used as a starting point for something big. Exploration helps us grow!