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Drawing Matters, Oct 2011
October 29, 2011
Hello

Welcome to Drawing Matters, I'm delighted to include details of next year's drawing courses. 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 2012

  • Quantity over Quality The importance of just drawing without worrying about outcome...

  • Forthcoming Exhibitions Details of forthcoming exhibitions in London which have just opened booking.

  • 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 2012

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.



LONDON: Monday 2nd April to Friday 6th April 2012

WHERE? Amadeus Centre, Shirland Road, Little Venice, London W9
HOW MUCH? £495

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT £50 off
Special Course Fee price of £445 if you book and pay in full before 18th December 2011

Course fee includes:

  • 35 Hours of teaching
  • The Drawing Portfolio (RRP Over £80)*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: Monday 4th June to Friday 8th June 2012

WHERE? Amadeus Centre, Shirland Road, Little Venice, London W9
HOW MUCH? £495

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT £50 off
Special Course Fee price of £445 if you book and pay in full before 1st February 2012

Course fee includes:

  • 35 Hours of teaching
  • The Drawing Portfolio (RRP Over £80)
    You can find out more about the contents of the Drawing Portfolio below





NORTH WALES: Saturday 11th August to Thursday 16th August 2012 This course is residential

WHERE? Trigonos, Nantlle, North Wales (nearest train station is Bangor)
HOW MUCH? £495 plus accommodation and full board

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT £50 off
Special Course Fee price of £445 if you book and pay in full before 1st March 2012

Course fee includes:
  • 35 Hours of teaching
  • The Drawing Portfolio (RRP Over £80).
    *see note below


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. (£370 for 5 nights full board for single ensuite to £305 for 5 nights full board single with shared facilities plus twin rooms at 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



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)

[Participant on Trigonos residential course]"Food - Absolutely Fantastic. Accommodation - Stunning Location, Comfortable Rooms and Brilliant Friendly Staff. Course - Really excellent. It was a hard learning curve, having to learn lots in a short period of time but Anna was an excellent teacher and she really helped to give me confidence and pull me through. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will definitely continue with drawing in the future!"

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)



EMPHASIZE QUANTITY NOT QUALITY TO IMPROVE

A ceramics teacher split his class in two at the beginning of term.
To Group 1 he said: "You are going to be graded on quantity. At the end of term I'm going to bring in some scales and simply weigh the amount of pieces you have made.The person with the heaviest quantity will get an A".
To Group 2 he said: "You are going to be graded on quality. By the end of term you only need to have produced one pot but to get an A it must be perfect."
Come the end of term, a curious fact emerged...the works of highest quality were produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the 'quantity' group were busy churning out loads of work, they were learning from their mistakes. Whereas the 'quality' group sat theorizing about perfection and ended up with little to show for their efforts.
(Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland)

So why not see if you can let go of the need for every drawing to be perfect...you'll learn far more by drawing a little every day and let go too of the thought that 'good work' is synonymous with perfect work. Try it and see what happens
Here are some suggestions:
  • Keep a sketchbook (I know I say it virtually every month but is important!)
  • Make a commitment to draw something every day for an agreed length of time. It can be a simple doodle or a complex drawing, but a some form of mark on the paper…
  • Don’t judge your work. Perhaps agree with yourself that you’ll review your work at the end of the week or month.
  • When you review your work if you find you are hyper critical, always balance each negative comment with one positive. Start with the positive comment and (and remember the fact that you did any kind of drawing is a positive) if you can’t think of anything else then stop with one comment of each type
  • When reviewing your work, imagine it is your best friend asking you for your opinion and comment on it as if you were seeing someone else’s work.
  • I find it easier sometimes to take a quick snap of a piece of work with my phone and then look at it - the photograph gives it (and me) some distance so I’m more objective about it.
  • Date your work so you can get a sense of timescales and improvement.
  • If you have a smartphone or device, investigate digital drawing apps.
  • Remember you can draw with anything pen / biro / pencil…
  • We are aiming for quantity not quality - if we do that improvement will happen all by itself




Forthcoming Exhibitions

There are some great exhibitions coming to London in 2012 and booking is now open for:

LUCIEN FREUD at the National Portrait Gallery

Find out more here

DAVID HOCKNEY at the Royal Academy
Find out more here



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


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, UK

Contact Anna here

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