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Drawing Matters, November 2012
November 25, 2012
Hello

Welcome to Drawing Matters. Below you'll find details of next year's courses although May is already full and the other two are filling up fast. If you are disappointed please contact me to go on a waiting list. In addition 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 Courses Details of courses in 2013

  • Practising from Life: Setting up a Self Portrait Some tips on how to set yourself up to draw a self portrait

  • 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 2013

If you've always wanted to learn to draw, Dr. Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain 5-day intensive course is a proven technique for teaching drawing - particularly to those people who swear they could never be taught to draw! This course is taught in the UK by Anna Black, certified and licensed by Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Inc.


Courses take place in central London (Little Venice), which are non-residential, and North Wales, near Bangor, (residential). The course lasts for 5 days and includes 35 hours of teaching and The Drawing Portfolio (RRP over £80).

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.




CENTRAL LONDON: Monday May 6th- Friday May 10th 2013 (9.30 to 5.30pm)
WHERE? Amadeus Centre, 50 Shirland Road, Little Venice W9 2JA (Nearest tube: Maida Vale (Bakerloo line))

HOW MUCH? £495

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT £50 off
Special price of £445 if you book and pay in full before 18th December 2012

Course fee includes:

  • 35 Hours of teaching
  • The Drawing Portfolio (RRP over £80).
    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.
Find out what is included here
This Course is now full. Please contact me to go on a waiting list.



NORTH WALES: Saturday 13th July to Thursday 18th July 2013

WHERE? Trigonos, Nantlle, North Wales (nearest train station is Bangor)
HOW MUCH? £495 plus accommodation and full board
Course fee includes:
  • 35 Hours of teaching
  • The Drawing Portfolio (RRP Over £80).
    *see note below


EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT £50 off
Get the Course Fee at the special price of £445 if you book and pay in full before 1st February 2013


ACCOMMODATION & BOARD COSTS
The Course Fee does not include accommodation or full board. There is an additional cost for this which varies depending on the room type. (£390 for 5 nights full board for single or twin ensuite to £320 for 5 nights full board single or twin with shared facilities (a limited number of twin rooms are available for people sharing at a reduced cost subject to availability).


THE DRAWING PORTFOLIO
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. You can find out more about the contents of the Portfolio here



CENTRAL LONDON: Monday Monday 12th August to Friday 16th August 2013 (9.30 to 5.30pm)
WHERE? Amadeus Centre, 50 Shirland Road, Little Venice W9 2JA (Nearest tube: Maida Vale (Bakerloo line))

HOW MUCH? £495

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT £50 off
Special price of £445 if you book and pay in full before 1st March 2013

Course fee includes:

  • 35 Hours of teaching
  • The Drawing Portfolio (RRP over £80).
    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.
Find out what is included here

UNITED STATES
If you are interested in purchasing the portfolio separately or for courses in the United States with Brian Bomeisler or courses elsewhere in the world, please click here

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)


What do people who have done the course already think?
"The course was everything I imagined it to be and more. Excellent tuition...Perfect mix of input and practice and right balance of support and challenge... This is the best drawing tuition I have ever had and will have a huge impact beyond purely the skill of drawing."

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)



Practising from Life: Setting up a self portrait

Although there is much learning to gain from copying an old master drawing or even a photograph the lessons learned from drawing from life are invaluable. However, obtaining a model can be tricky – family members aren’t always keen to be co-opted to sitting still for several hours (and can be unhelpfully over critical)! However, the self portrait offers never-ending opportunities to practise on a live model. All you need is a a small mirror you can tape to a wall and an adjustable reading lamp for directional lighting. If you can, I'd recommend leaving the mirror in place and then you can keep returning to your pose over a period of time rather than trying to finish in a shorter period.
  • Use an adjustable reading lamp to arrange directional lighting to cast strong light / shadow shapes. This not only creates mood and drama but having well-defined light/shadow areas will make it easier to get a sense of three-dimension when you are drawing. Also, if you focus on drawing the shapes of light and dark you will get the structure of the face for free - without all the angst of trying to draw a nose or another feature. You may want to darken the room to increase the impact.

  • You have two pose options for a self portrait – a full frontal or a three-quarter view. If you are drawing a three-quarter view you will need to be vigilant about holding your pose throughout your drawing as it is very easy for the head to creep round without you noticing. I would only do this once you are feeling more confident about drawing.

  • Consider the tilt of your head – it can be tilted forward or backwards (both of these poses have implications in terms of distortion) or your head can be tilted sideways. If you do want a tilt draw the angle of the tilt in lightly early on in the drawing at the top of the head, eye level, mouth, chin and shoulders to keep consistency throughout the whole drawing, otherwise your drawing might 'drift' back to upright as time passes.

  • Consider how much of the head you want to fill the frame. It is an artistic choice on how you want to crop your image – consider what type of effect and mood you want to create. A closely-cropped detail of a face will have a very different feel to a full-face portrait filling the paper.

  • If you are including background in your composition, don’t ignore it! Consider how you want to treat it in terms of light / shade and work it up along with the rest of the drawing. The background is a wonderful opportunity to explore the negative spaces around the head. These are invaluable.

  • Don’t forget to include the neck and some sense of the shoulders in your pose otherwise your head may be left floating in space.

  • Using removable tape mark where the feet of your chair rest on the floor so if you get up to have a break you can adjust your seat correctly.

  • Before you start drawing take several minutes to just sit and look at yourself. Get to know the pose, the angle of the head, perhaps even drawing it in the air so the body gets a sense of what you are seeing.

  • Finally, keep the whole drawing moving along at the same stage all the time – don’t get lost in focusing on the eyes for example to the detriment of the rest. If one area of the drawing is more heavily worked than elsewhere, that is where the viewer’s eye is going to rest.

The beauty of the self portrait is that no two are ever the same. The portrait will be influenced by your mood and so many other factors so regularly drawing yourself will give you myriad opportunities to view yourself in many different guises.

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

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

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