From JOHN RALPHS
Your correspondent F. G. Grisley (Letters, 3 July) would no doubt be
interested in the experiment carried out by Rodolfo Llinas with the help
of an artist friend, Arnold Gross. The artist was asked to draw a large
sketch of the face of a young woman, using mainly his elbow and shoulder
joints. He was then asked to draw a similar sketch, but on a much smaller
scale (about 1:10), with his drawing hand resting on the table (that is,
using finger movements alone). The small drawing was then photographically
enlarged and superimposed on the larger.
The accuracy of the degree of register between the two is remarkable.
It would seem that the ‘picture’ is complete in the mind of the artist,
and whichever muscles are used they merely transfer this picture to the
surface. One could postulate that if the artist had practised drawing with
his foot to acquire the required degree of control, the same picture would
result. If this is true of a drawing, which is ‘invented’ each time by the
artist, it should certainly be true of the far more ‘reflex’ process of
writing.
John Ralphs Ledbury, Herefordshire
