Conventional wisdom says that artists and writers are right-brained because they are creative, and computer wizards and accountants are left-brained because they are analytical. However, this is not entirely correct…
Many of the world’s great musicians and artists, for example, are considered to be highly left-brained. And there is a logical explanation for this. Playing music and doing fine art most often are about following a pattern that has already been created. For example, in the case of learning to play an instrument, it is following a musical score; in the case of art, it is copying something from nature.
In fact, many great artists who do still-life paintings or portraits have to have the subject in front of them; they would have great difficulty painting a scene from memory. Abstract art, however, is different. It is truly unique because it is not based on reality. This makes abstract art a right brain ability. This is where the concept of creativity and the right brain originated. Thinking or painting or creating something completely new, unique, or novel is what the right brain does.
So, rest assured. Your child can be either left-brained or right-brained and still be creative…
