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Left (other) Hand Drawing

Non-dominant Artwork
            At birth, everyone is assigned a dominant hand, left or right. As a baby and toddler we use both however for everything. We use them to eat, throw things, pick ourselves up, and other action. Once we begin school as a child we learn to utilize the hand that our genes consider dominant. We learn to write, to play sports, or even just getting used to basic actions as picking up a piece of paper and setting it on a table. We seem to favor our dominant hand no matter what the situation may be. In some cases however, the use of the dominant hand is taken, and what we know how to do is taken from us. There are many people throughout time, artists, musicians, etc., who have been deprived of their hand(s). But there have been those who have learned to cope. Unfortunately, through my research on the internet, I could not find a specific example of any major artists or musicians of which this happened to. But let’s think of the scenario in which it could happen.
Imagine you are a famous piano player. You tour the world playing beautiful songs for crowds filled with thousands of people. One day you’re just taking a walk, and then suddenly you trip. You land on one of your hands and you hear a snap. You can’t feel it. You rush to the hospital and there is nothing they can do. Your hand will heal and you can still use it (at a minimum) but you will never be able to play piano ever again. Your whole career has just gone down the drain.
Artists, some more famous than others, have had this happen to them too. However, what is different is that they did something about it. They taught themselves how to use their non-dominant hand. Obviously it would take time for them to be able to learn, but it worked. They were able to continue their life, as if it was a slight delay. I found a blog on the internet was written by a woman who decided that she wanted to be able to use her left hand as well as her right. She did not have an accident or any disabling her normal hand. She just wanted to learn. When she started, she took a picture showing her unusual writing that resembled a 1st graders writing. After a year, another photo showed a vast improvement in her writing, as well as another picture, taken 2 years after the original.
            Another blog told of a person’s friend who had suffered an injury to a finger on her dominant hand. To avoid her feeling alone, the blogger decided to draw opposite as well, until her injury healed. She shared picture of a random assortment of curves and how she was amazed at how well it turned out. But, when she tried flat sided shapes she was not impressed. So she stuck with curves and squiggles.
Both of these people show that you can start at any time learning to use you opposite hand to create art as well as sometimes; you may not need much practice to get it identical to your normal dominant hand.

 

Non dominant writing
http://animevenusfairy.wordpress.com/tag/non-dominant-hand/

Non dominant hand drawings (not really a gallery, but more of a critique on her own test  of using the non-dominant hand)
http://kim-creatingspace.blogspot.com/2008/10/non-dominant-hand-art.html
-Christian Garver

            Most would agree that having to use your non-dominant hand for any major task is rather, well, awkward. As a society, we are more right-hand dominant than left-hand. However, it is said that left handed people are more artistic, more naturally athletic, and even smarter, yet the left-handed people have still had to adjust to right-handed tools. Although, consider, what if a medical issue took the ability from your dominant hand, forcing you to use your less dominant hand? In the case of David Rosenak, who developed Parkinson’s in his right hand, he had to slowly ease himself into the process of using his left hand to paint. He started out with only minute arcs and brush strokes, and tried to go back to some earlier paintings to try to do minimal shading. He said it was a slow process, and the awkwardness was not only physically present, but mentally as well. On the other hand, in the case of Katherine Sherwood, a painter who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, causing her entire right hand to be paralyzed. At first, she refused to consider painting as a type of therapy, but as her desire to paint grew on, she finally gave in and was happily surprised. In contrast to David’s switch, it was easy for Katherine to begin using her left hand, and she said her left hand was even her better painting hand than her right was. She can feel a looser style in the way she paints, but she says she is just happy to be able to paint again. Both David and Katherine have experienced hardships that affected not only their lives, but their gift. However, they have succeeded in overcoming a great feat, and are great inspirations to several other artists who have, or even may, experience their same trials.
-P Chalk




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