Learning to draw: Does the inversion technique work?

Abstract

Several methods for teaching draftsmanship include exercises based on Edward?s ?inversion? technique, the practice of copying from upside-down originals. We tested the technique by asking 40 artistically untrained participants to copy either upright or upside-down drawings of a face or a car. Our results indicate that participants were faster when copying the car in comparison to the face, but not when copying upside-down in comparison to upright images. In addition, they were more accurate in capturing the global proportions of the image in comparison to the local proportions of its parts. However, neither the face nor the car were copied more accurately in the upside-down relative to the right-side up condition. These results provide no evidence that Edward?s inversion technique promotes greater resemblance to the original stimulus image. Implications for the cognitive psychology of drawing and for the pedagogy of the visual arts are discussed.

Temporal-and orientation-based properties of the relationship between imagination-and observation-based face drawings.

“…In Studies 2 and 3, we assessed differences in absolute drawing errors between upright and upside-down drawings in the attempt to replicate prior findings (Day & Davidenko, 2018; Ostrofsky, Kozbelt, Cohen, et al, 2016; Viviani & Bruno, 2017); and for the first time, between upright and sideways drawings. With respect to the comparison of upright and upside-down observation-based drawings, we replicated in Study 2 the prior finding that reproductions of the eye-mouth distance were less accurate in upside-down drawings relative to upright drawings, and that there were no significant differences between these two types of drawings with respect to errors in reproducing the nose-mouth distance and the interocular distance (Ostrofsky, Kozbelt, Cohen, et al, 2016).…”

“…Additionally, in Studies 2 and 3, we assessed whether observation-based drawing errors differ or not between reproductions of upright-versus rotated-oriented models. Despite art instructors' claims that drawing upside-down models improves drawing quality (e.g., Edwards, 2012); past research has demonstrated that upside-down model rotation either impairs or has no effect on the drawing of spatial relationships between facial features (Cohen & Earls, 2010;Day & Davidenko, 2018;Ostrofsky, Kozbelt, Cohen, et al, 2016;Viviani & Bruno, 2017).…”