Welcome to Drawing Matters. All the courses for next year are now full but if you want to go on a waiting list in case someone drops out please contact me below. Those on my mailing list are always the first to hear about new course dates so if you are disappointed please contact me below and I will make sure you are on that list for next time. In this month's newsletter you will find:

• Information about the content 5-day Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain course, devised by Dr. Betty Edwards. This includes links for viewing a slideshow of participants' work and reading course feedback.


• UK Course Dates for 2011 Details of courses for this year


• Drawing Coach: The Importance of Contour Drawing and how to do it


• We're on Facebook Learn to Draw Right now has a page on Facebook


• Drawing Matters Facebook Group has now been created so why not join it and keep in touch with fellow artists around the world...

If your computer only allows you to view a text only version of this newsletter you can see the colour version with colour images here

I hope you will find Drawing Matters interesting and I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions from you. Please feel free to forward it to anyone who you think might be interested. There is a link at the bottom of the page where they can subscribe.
You can contact me here

Anna Black
Certified Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain instructor, operating under license from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (www.drawright.com)

Course Dates 2011

All places are now taken but please contact me if you'd like to be added to a waiting list.

NORTH WALES: 31st April - 5th May 2011 This course is residential

WHERE? Trigonos, Nantlle, North Wales (nearest train station is Bangor) HOW MUCH? £475 plus accommodation and full board

• 35 Hours of teaching
• The Drawing Portfolio (RRP Over £70).
  The contents of the Drawing Portfolio were designed by Dr Betty Edwards and Brian Bomeisler. It includes all the materials you will need for the course, including drawing tools unique to Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. These unique tools were developed by Brian Bomeisler based on those used by the Old Masters. The Portfolio and its contents are yours to take home and keep.
• The Course Fee does not include accommodation or full board. There is an additional cost for this which varies depending on the room.

Find out more and how to book here

• 35 Hours of teaching
• The Drawing Portfolio (RRP Over £70)*see note below.
  

  This course is now full. Please contact me if you'd like to go on a waiting list in case a place becomes available
  
  

  
  
  
  LONDON: 15th - 19th August 2011 This course is full
  
  WHERE? Amadeus Centre, Shirland Road, Little Venice, London W9 HOW MUCH? £475 plus accommodation and full board
  
  

  EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT £50 off Special Course Fee price of £425 if you book and pay in full before 1st April 2011

  
  Course fee includes:
  • 35 Hours of teaching
  • The Drawing Portfolio (RRP Over £70)*see note below.
    

    This course is now full. Please contact me if you'd like to go on a waiting list in case a place becomes available
    
    The contents of the Drawing Portfolio were designed by Dr Betty Edwards and Brian Bomeisler. It includes all the materials you will need for the course, including drawing tools unique to Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. These unique tools were developed by Brian Bomeisler based on those used by the Old Masters. The Portfolio and its contents are yours to take home and keep.
    
    UNITED STATES
    If you are interested in purchasing the portfolio separately or for courses in the United States with Brian Bomeisler, follow the link at the bottom of the page.
    
    MAILING LIST
    If you would like to be among the first to hear about new course dates in the UK as soon as they are announced please contact me to be added to the mailing list.
    
    View a slideshow of student drawings and class photos
    If you are interested in booking for next year but you are still sceptical that you will really learn the basic skills of drawing in just five days, why don't you view a slideshow showing some drawings done by participants on the course here (a new window will open)
    
    
    Read participants' feedback on the course devised by Dr Edwards and taught by Anna Black
    
    
    

    "I came hoping to improve my basic knowledge of drawing. I have to say that the course has exceeded any expectation I had.... The method of learning is almost magical in the extraordinary improvement I felt as each day passed. I am so delighted with what I have learnt... I honestly don't think I have any more words to convey exactly how amazingly transformative this course is."
    You can also read some participant feedback and a more indepth account of one participant's experience here (a new window will open)
    

    To find out more about how the course is structured and what you will learn, click here
    
    

    For further information and a booking form, click here
    
    
    Read what the media and other people have thought of Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain course here ( a new window will open)
    
    

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    DRAWING COACH: CONTOUR DRAWING

    “Learning to draw is really a matter of learning to see…and that means a good deal more than merely looking with the eye. The sort of ‘seeing’ I mean is an observation that utilizes as many of the five senses as you can reach through the eye at one time…It is necessary to have a fresh, vivid, physical contact with the object you draw through as many of the senses as possible – and especially through the sense of touch.” – Kimon Nicolaides The Natural Way to Draw

    Blind contour drawing is planned to consciously bring into play your sense of touch and co-ordinate it with your sense of sight for the purpose of drawing. Practising contour drawing is a vital step of learning to see – and so draw - and something that should become of the drawing process. I would strongly encourage you to make contour drawing part of your drawing practice. Here are Nicolaides' instructions:
    

    • Sit close to the object you want to draw
    • Focus your eyes on some point along the contour (outline or edge) of the object.
    • Place the point of you pencil on the paper
    • Imagine that your pencil point is touching the model instead of the paper
    • Without taking your eyes off the model, wait until you are convinced that the pencil is touching that point on the model upon which your eyes are fastened. Then move your eye slowly along the contour of the model and move the pencil slowly along the paper.
    • As you do this keep believing that the pencil point is actually touching the contour.
    • Be guided more by touch than by sight. This means that you must draw without looking at the paper and continuously look at the model
    • Don’t let the eye move ahead of the pencil, whatever the temptation. All you are interested in is the point you are looking at in that moment.
    • Your pencil and your eye will be moving really slowly
    • If the contour you are drawing leaves the edge of the paper and turns inside, glance down at the paper and take a new starting point. The new point should start at the point where the contour turned inward.
    • When you glance down at the edge of the paper to locate a new starting point you are not drawing.
    • Do not worry about proportions, they will take care of themselves
    • Do not be misled by shadows – you are following the edge of the form not the shadow.
    • You are not restricted to the outer contour of your subject – you may find yourself following contours within the object
    • Don’t worry about ‘finishing’ your drawing. Take the time you need and you will get as far as you will get in the time you have…
    “A contour drawing is like climbing a mountain as contrasted with flying over it in an airplane… it is a slow painstaking climb over it, step by step.”
    Adapted from: The Natural Way to Draw – Kimon Nicolaides
    
    

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    Visit Learn to Draw Right on Facebook

    Visit Learn to Draw Right on Facebook here
    You can keep in touch by just becoming a Fan by clicking on the relevant button.

    Also, there is now a DRAWING MATTERS FACEBOOK GROUP page you can join. This is interactive and like any group is only as good as its contributors so this is the place you can ask questions, answer other people's questions, share tips etc etc. here
    
    

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    Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain USA

    To find out about Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain courses run by Brian Bomeisler in the USA visit www.drawright.com
    

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    www.learn-to-draw-right.com
    Anna Black
    London, UK

    Contact Anna here

    
    
    © Anna Black, London, UK 2007
    Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
    is a registered trademark of
    Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Inc.,
    and is used here under licence

    
    SBI!