NAC Feature: Drawing A New Perspective

Photo credit: National Arts Council (NAC), @nacsingapore, 2023, Feb 22.

As part of NAC Singapore’s movement to showcase how the arts shape lives in unexpected ways, one of our participants, Ying, shared how learning to draw changed not just her skills but the way she sees and engages with the world around her.

A maritime professional with no prior experience in art, Ying hesitated before signing up for our Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain programme. “My mum told me not to go and give my teachers a hard time!” she laughed, recalling how she, like many others believed that drawing was purely a matter of talent. You either have it, or you don’t.

But as she worked through the exercises, something shifted. Ying did learn to draw. More importantly, she discovered something unexpected: learning to see negative spaces helped her understand how to define her own boundaries. “I realised that negative spaces are just as important as the positive ones in creating balance, both in art and in life.”

She isn’t alone in this revelation. Participants from various fields have shared how the perceptual shift they experience in drawing translates into their professional lives. A radiologist told us that training his eye to see negative spaces has given him access to a new layer of data, making him more observant when analysing X-rays. Ying, too, found that drawing brought structure to her thinking and decision-making. “In corporate life, everyone is so anxious about everything. Engaging in art making helps me slow down and step away from that constant urgency.”

Like the many stories featured in NAC’s The Arts Can Inspire Your Everyday, Ying’s experience reminds us that the arts aren’t reserved for a select few with prior knowledge or formal training. “You don’t have to be knowledgeable about art to appreciate it,” she says. Learning to draw isn’t just about mastering lines and shading. It’s about unlocking a whole new way of seeing. It can shift your thinking, inspire new ways of working, and help you navigate daily life with fresh perspectives.

For those willing to take the first step, the results are often unexpected, but always rewarding.