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Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

The Official Website of Betty Edwards
  • Home
  • Welcome
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 The Alhambra in Granada, Spain

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain

Did Artists Lead The Way In Mathematics?

May 14, 2017

Decades ago, on a working visit to Spain, I visited the Alhambra, the Moorish complex of palaces in Spain, mainly built in the 14th century near Granada.  I recall feeling overwhelmed by the beauty of the tilework, by the colors and the seemingly infinite variety of interlocking patterns. 

Author Henry Adams, in this article, puts it well:  that the tilework “dazzles the eye in a hypnotic way that’s strangely blissful.”  Equally dazzling, as Adams points out, is the mathematical reasoning that underlies the tile artists’ designs.  The author poses an interesting question:  Did Artists Lead The Way In Mathematics?

~ Betty Edwards  

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Betty's Blog

Occasional writings, links, and items of interest from and about Dr. Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain®.


  • March 2018
    • Mar 6, 2018 “The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal” Mar 6, 2018
    • Mar 2, 2018 Happy Holi Day! Mar 2, 2018
  • January 2018
    • Jan 15, 2018 A Reader Sees the World with a New Perspective Jan 15, 2018
    • Jan 14, 2018 The Benefits of Art Therapy for Cancer Patients Jan 14, 2018
    • Jan 2, 2018 The Resilience of Art and Artists Jan 2, 2018
  • December 2017
    • Dec 21, 2017 The Little-Known Reason Red and Green are the Colors of Christmas Dec 21, 2017
  • November 2017
    • Nov 18, 2017 Why Can't Drawing Skills Be Part of a Medical Education? Nov 18, 2017
    • Nov 7, 2017 Michelangelo at the Met: See It If You Can! Nov 7, 2017
  • October 2017
    • Oct 22, 2017 An Artist, Chef, and DRSB Student Oct 22, 2017
    • Oct 6, 2017 In The Name of Michelangelo: You Can Help Restore His Tomb! Oct 6, 2017
  • July 2017
    • Jul 18, 2017 Seeing the World Through a Different Lens Jul 18, 2017
    • Jul 15, 2017 How to Find the Best Drawing Pencil Jul 15, 2017
  • May 2017
    • May 21, 2017 Before-and-After Drawings from an Artist in Costa Rica May 21, 2017
    • May 14, 2017 Did Artists Lead The Way In Mathematics? May 14, 2017
    • May 14, 2017 Medieval Doodles! May 14, 2017
    • May 1, 2017 Traveling? Bring Your Sketchbook! May 1, 2017
  • April 2017
    • Apr 30, 2017 Drawing Basics: Drawing Without Symbols on the Right Side of the Brain Apr 30, 2017
    • Apr 28, 2017 The Magic of "Before" and "After" Apr 28, 2017
    • Apr 20, 2017 #5 on the List of 20 Best Creativity Books (To Help You Generate Useful Ideas) Apr 20, 2017
    • Apr 15, 2017 Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain...in China! Apr 15, 2017
  • March 2017
    • Mar 15, 2017 How To Get The Brain To Like Art Mar 15, 2017
  • February 2017
    • Feb 9, 2017 Why we fall for forgeries, even when the piece itself doesn't pass the eyeball test. Feb 9, 2017
    • Feb 7, 2017 Betty's Blog: #9 in the Top 25 Drawing Blogs on the Web! Feb 7, 2017
  • January 2017
    • Jan 25, 2017 Profile Drawing: Brian Bomeisler, drawn by Betty Edwards in 1980 Jan 25, 2017
  • November 2016
    • Nov 19, 2016 15% Holiday Discount on DRSB Products! Nov 19, 2016
    • Nov 6, 2016 An Update From A Former Student Nov 6, 2016
  • October 2016
    • Oct 10, 2016 Exhibition at the British Museum: French Portrait Drawings Oct 10, 2016
  • September 2016
    • Sep 10, 2016 An Interview With Betty Edwards Sep 10, 2016
  • August 2016
    • Aug 16, 2016 Are Replicas Changing the Way We Experience Art? Aug 16, 2016
  • July 2016
    • Jul 10, 2016 Why We Do The "Difficult" Drawings Jul 10, 2016
    • Jul 1, 2016 Found: A Gorgeous New Shade of Blue! Jul 1, 2016
  • June 2016
    • Jun 13, 2016 “Artists have the job of concentrating experience, not just letting everything rush past, but summing things up contemplatively.”–Katharina Fritsch Jun 13, 2016
    • Jun 7, 2016 The question is not what you look at... Jun 7, 2016
    • Jun 3, 2016 The Artistry of a Great Chef: Jacques Pépin Jun 3, 2016
  • May 2016
    • May 6, 2016 Better Aging Through Practice, Practice, Practice..of Drawing! May 6, 2016
  • April 2016
    • Apr 23, 2016 The Power of a Sketchbook Apr 23, 2016
    • Apr 21, 2016 What's Lost As Handwriting Fades Apr 21, 2016
  • March 2016
    • Mar 23, 2016 At What Age Can You Teach A Child The DRSB Method? Mar 23, 2016
    • Mar 22, 2016 What We Do (And Don't) Know About Left-Handedness Mar 22, 2016
    • Mar 22, 2016 Drawing Without Symbols On the Right Side of the Brain Mar 22, 2016
    • Mar 15, 2016 Will our left brain ever be able to understand how the right brain works? Mar 15, 2016
  • February 2016
    • Feb 26, 2016 Negative Space in Calligraphy Feb 26, 2016
    • Feb 24, 2016 9 Things That Happen When You Carry A Sketchbook With You Nonstop Feb 24, 2016
    • Feb 8, 2016 The Divided Brain / Iain McGilchrist Feb 8, 2016
    • Feb 7, 2016 Betty Edwards in 1977: The Art of Putting the Brain to Work Feb 7, 2016
  • January 2016
    • Jan 26, 2016 Artist Coles Phillips and His Use of Negative Space Jan 26, 2016
    • Jan 25, 2016 Master Artists' Sketches of Hands Jan 25, 2016
    • Jan 24, 2016 From a High School Student in China Jan 24, 2016
    • Jan 23, 2016 Let Computers Compute. It's the Age of the Right Brain. Jan 23, 2016
    • Jan 23, 2016 Le Corbusier on Drawing Jan 23, 2016
    • Jan 17, 2016 A Message from Betty Edwards Jan 17, 2016
    • Jan 17, 2016 4 Students Who Learned to Draw Jan 17, 2016
    • Jan 9, 2016 Rembrandt's Self-Portraits in 2 Minutes Jan 9, 2016
  • November 2015
    • Nov 13, 2015 STEM vs. STEAM Nov 13, 2015
  • October 2015
    • Oct 7, 2015 33 Things Your Brain Doesn't Know About Itself Oct 7, 2015
  • September 2015
    • Sep 26, 2015 Cartoonist's Take on "Drawing From The..." Sep 26, 2015
    • Sep 26, 2015 Jeremy Tarcher, 1932-2015 Sep 26, 2015