What's your stye?

The Artdog Image of Interest

Bryant Arnold's cartoon creates a great picture of how functions of the left and right sides of the human brain have been understood.

When I was a beginning artist and art teacher, theories about brain-sidedness had just begun to be popularized. I remember reading the first edition of Betty Edwards' book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (now in its 4th edition), and having my mind completely blown (as we used to say). Yes, I've already admitted I'm older than dirt in earlier posts. I stand by it.

Thoughts about brain-sidedness have shifted since then. There is not as clear a dichotomy as this image suggests, humans being humans, and cognitive processes being notoriously hard to pin down.

And yet.

As a teacher, I've no doubt whatsoever that different people learn in different ways. Interpretations of multiple intelligences or different styles of learning vary by theorist (or by who's putting together a new book and needs a new angle). But the fact remains that not everyone learns in the same way.

Whatever your style of learning, graduating from school doesn't make your learning style change or go away. The more you can learn about yourself and how you relate to the world, the more creative you'll be empowered to be!


IMAGE: Many thanks to Bryant Arnold, of Cartoon A Day, for the use of this image he created in 2012.