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Drawing Matters
July 28, 2013
Hello

Welcome to Drawing Matters. The last couple of months have been really busy, culminating in a 5-day drawing course in the beautiful mountains of Snowdonia, north Wales in the most glorious weather. There is one more drawing course for this year, which will be in London in August. It's fully booked but if you want to be among the first to hear about 2014 dates please email me to go on the mailing list.

  • 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

  • Drawing the Head Things to think about when starting a 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 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


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 the waiting list.


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?
"I have learned a huge amount, thank you. The accommodation was superb, as was the food."

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)


Drawing the Head

On the 5-day course we emphasize drawing portraits. We do this because catching a likeness requires the use of fine perceptual skills to distinguish what makes a person unique. The R-Mode (or right brain' also loves faces and finally, beginners often think drawing people is hard. When they discover they can do their confidence is increased. However, how do we go about drawing a head? Too often when we come to draw a head we forget that it is made up of a solid piece of bone unseen and yet informing everything that rests on it. To draw a convincing head it is important to let go of symbolic preconceptions of the head as a round shape and just draw what you see.
,
  • Begin by looking at overall shape of the subject’s head. Just look.
  • Notice the angle of the head. Is it tilted to one side or the other? Is it looking down or upwards or facing straight on?
  • Notice where the vertical centre line of the face is – and the angle it is (use a straight edge such as a pencil to get a visual sense of this) – and mark that lightly on your paper
  • Mark the highest point of the head.
  • What is the relationship between the width of the skull/head and its height from top to chin?
  • Then take a straight edge such as a pencil and, holding it flat to the picture plane, move round the outer edge of the skull/hairline. Notice how this outline is made up of lots of different angles.
  • Do the same thing again, but this time after you check each angle, immediately transfer that angle or line to your paper. I usually start with the angle of the highest point of the head and then move down either side, round the head, intersecting each angle. Don’t worry about the irregular joinings. You can smooth those out later. For now we want to build up the structure of the head with strong architectural lines that will inform the actual shape of the head.
  • Where does the neck join the skull? Notice the point of intersection and notice where that is in relation to the face as a whole - is it halfway up? A third? Look at your own neck in a mirror and notice where it joins the skull... Necks are always wider than we think!
  • Notice the angle of the neck – it’s rarely a vertical line.
  • Remember the skull? Have a look at an image of a human skull and notice how it is constructed – or better yet run your hands over your own face/skull while looking in the mirror. Notice the planes at the side. Feel the dips and hollows… all of those are likely to be in shadow while the bits that stick out the most, such as the brow ridge and cheek bones will catch the light… It’s all logical!
Drawing is simply about looking. There is no magic formula. Everything you need to know is right in front of you if you look. Every shape and line is connected in some way to another shape or line – vertically and horizontally. It is like connecting a big jigsaw… have fun! Next month we’ll look at how to place the features.

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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