Hello and welcome to the August issue of Drawing Matters In this month's newsletter you will find:

  • I'm afraid UK courses for 2009 are now finished however I'll be announcing dates for spring 2010 in due course. Depending on the time of the month when the email goes out, those on the mailing list often get a head start on booking so if you want to be one of them please contact me to be added to the mailing list.

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

  • We're on Facebook Learn to Draw Right now has a page on Facebook so drop and see what's there...

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

  • Virtual Life Class Apologies to people outside the UK who tried and failed to watch this last month on my recommendation. I didn't realise there were territory restrictions. However, I have extracted the key learning from each session and will feature it here. This month, artist and sculptor Maggi Hambling talks about life drawing.

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 2010

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!

UNITED KINGDOM
There will be no more courses in the UK this year but I'll be announcing dates for 2010 shortly. Courses will be in central London (non-residential) and also as residential in North Wales.


UNITED STATES
If you are interested in courses in the United States with Brian Bomeisler, there are still courses here for 2009 so follow the link at the bottom of the page.

MAILING LIST
If you would like 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


"Course overall was wonderful with incredible improvement. Easy steps building on each other..."

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)



Visit Me on Facebook!

Just a reminder that Learn to Draw Right now has a facebook page. I've been looking at ways I can stay in touch more frequently and so here I'll be announcing course dates,posting photographs and drawings plus any other relevant information that maybe comes up between newsletters or isn't really appropriate for the newsletter.

I've posted quite a few student drawings plus class photographs so if you want to have a look do stop by.

Visit the Learn to Draw Right on Facebook here

You can keep in touch by just becoming a Fan by clicking on the relevant button.

Hope to see you there!

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.

The group is in its infancy so don't be shy... Facebook is free to join and you can visit the group here



Virtual Life Class: Maggie Hambling

Maggi Hambling is a British artist and sculptor. Here are her thoughts on drawing from the recent Channel 4 Life Class tv programme.
  • Drawing from life is the best training for the hand to execute what the eye is seeing. Your eye is on the truth while your hand is executing. When you look away you are drawing from memory [Anna says - which is when you are more likely to resort to using memorized symbols rather than drawing what you actually see]
  • Short poses are great way to warm up and get your eye in at the start of a session.
  • Whole secret is keeping your eye ON the subject.. which is the truth rather than on the paper which is were the 'lies' begin to build up.
  • When drawing from life, look for the interconnecting curves that link the different parts of the body... draw those sweeping curves first.
  • Draw everyday. Everyone can find 30 minutes to draw in a day. Draw anything, with anything on anything. Just draw.
  • You can draw with anything - biro, pen, pencil - it is always worth having a go and not worrying too much about materials.
  • Look at great drawings - visit museums or look at online museum collections [Anna says - visit the website for links to Old Master drawing collections online]
  • Use an easel when you can - If you are right handed, set the easel up on the right and if you are left-handed, set it up on the left.
  • Drawing is a battlefield - and so it should be if it's to have life in it!
  • Drawing occupies the whole of you - you cannot multi task when drawing!
  • Drawing is about concentration and being optimistic that the right kind of marks will appear!
  • Every time you draw it has to be a new thing. Looking at the knee or whatever it is as if for the first time. You are going on an adventure...
  • You will draw rubbish - often! You can kill a drawing, bring it to life, kill it again, over and over but at a certain point it will die for ever. BUT you can't make the ones that DO work without suffering all those rubbish ones along the way. It's part of the process.


NEXT MONTH
Humphrey Ocean, portrait artist shares his thoughts.



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


Received this Newsletter from a Friend?

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from a friend and you'd like to subscribe to Drawing Matters yourself, just

click here


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

Contact Anna here