I am working on this lesson right now. I keep turning my pad all kinds of ways to get the correct line. Can anyone give me any additional pointers on this lesson? And yes I know....practice practice practice!! lol

Pammy, you can stand on your head to get the correct line if that's what it takes to get it right.

The purpose of symmetry, in what I teach anyway, is to provide the mind/eye/hand skills to produce an object that is symmetrical. Yes, that sounds obvious, but think of what else has symmetry - that cup you're drawing, a vase, a ball, a face. By splitting your image in half, and producing one side first, then the other, you'll ensure that your drawing is balanced.

The other reason for doing it this way is to encourage the right side of the brain to take over. The left side is analytical and wants to label things, this exercise is abstract shapes and doesn't let the left side of your brain label them because it doesn't know what they are. So the right side, the creative side, takes over and looks at shape and tone.

So how to create those shapes? Relax and concentrate on your task. There is no law that says you have to have your paper a certain way to achieve the results that you want. Do whatever is comfortable to get the shapes that you want. In complex shapes such as these, you may find it difficult to create those shapes without turning your paper, but try it without turning. It will feel awkward and difficult at first, that's the left side of your brain telling you that it's not right. Ignore that and keep going, soon your right side will take over and let you finish the task.

I can relate to that, Pammy..

Jeanette, you are so knowledgeable.. Thank you for that information. I understand it a lot better now. I will go back and try that symmetry again. A lot.. My left brain is really stubborn and my right brain gets tired of fighting for it's rights. LOL Someone told me to try turning the paper upside down and it would be easier. It didn't help.. Now I will just keep trying until my right brain learns something..

Turning your paper upside down works the same way Cyn. Its a tool to make the left brain not recognize shapes and label them so that your right side can create.

It does take time and patience but once you're in 'the zone', believe me, you'll know it.

I'd suggest another little symmetry exercise just to illustrate how it has a practical use. Draw a bowl - just a plain ordinary bowl - or a glass if you'd prefer. Create it using simple shapes. The lines you create will form the limits for your object.

Lines I & J will indicate the bottom of the object, lines G & H the bottom of the ellipse, lines K & L, the top of the ellipse. You can make these lines any size you want, depending on how big you want your object to be. With me so far?

Lines C -D and E - F form the width of your object. Line A - B is your centre line. You can measure this or just eyeball it.

Then start to define the shapes within those lines that will create your bowl or your glass. If this were a real drawing, I would leave the construction lines in, deepen the lines of the actual object and transfer it to my good paper to continue on with it.

Sorry for the lined paper but I did this quickly at work just to show you what I meant.

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Oh, thank you, Jeanette. That's a great quick tutorial. (My favorite kind) LOL I will try that. That really helps and makes it much easier to do until my right brain takes over ..

That was a great exercise almost like using my grid LOL but much simpler.

These techniques are useful tools to make sure that your object sits in the place you intended and that ellipses and proportions are correct.