Face Inversion Impairs the Ability to Draw Long-Range,but Not Short-Range,Spatial Relationships Between Features

Abstract

Art instructors have promoted the idea that reproducing upside-down models facilitates drawing accuracy. However, perceptual research has demonstrated that face inversion impairs the perception of long-range and, to a lesser extent, short-range spatial relationships between features. This suggests that drawing an upside-down face model might impair, rather than facilitate, drawing performance with respect to the accuracy of depicting the spatial relationships between features. In this study, participants drew an upright and upside-down face. Participants were less accurate in drawing the long-range spatial relationship between the eyes and mouth when drawing the upside-down face than when drawing the upright face. In contrast, they were equally accurate in drawing the short-range spatial relationships between the (a) eyes and eyebrows, (b) nose and mouth, and (c) two eyes when drawing the upright and upside-down models. This result fails to empirically validate the effectiveness of drawing models upside-down for the purposes of facilitating drawing accuracy.