new drawing on the right side of the brain workbook

To her and the students’ surprise they did much better when drawing something they couldn’t recognize consciously. She was teaching drawing in the late 60’s, and struggling to convey what she also saw as a skill that should be teachable, when she had an impulse to have the students copy a drawing by Picasso up-side down. Betty Edwards.Įdwards is professor emeritus of art at California State University. So when someone admires my drawing ability and says “I wish I could draw…”, I’m quick to say “You can learn if you really want to.” and back it up by recommending Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Dr. I understand the difference between learning a skill in a creative area and having the “talent” to carry that skill further than you might otherwise. My drawing skills, though, are probably beyond what they might be if I hadn’t always had an innate tendency to explore that avenue. I can write an essay, but I will never write like Tom Wolfe. I learned to play the guitar, but I will never play like Eric Clapton. Not that I don’t believe in “talent”, I think I have just enough “talent” to know what it is and what it isn’t. Because we don’t value drawing in that way, most of us (who haven’t been told that we have “talent”) stop drawing at about age 9 or 10 and our drawing skills freeze at that level. Drawing is a method of understanding and dealing with information about the world around us, a means of solving problems and changing perceptions. “Everybody can’t be an artist, why teach them drawing?” But everyone can’t be a writer, why teach them writing? Just like writing, drawing has applications and benefits that go beyond its use by professionals. We live in a culture (at least in America) that doesn’t value drawing as a worthwhile skill in the general sense. I have long been a firm believer in the idea that drawing is a skill that can be taught and not a magical gift bestowed on some individuals and denied others.

New drawing on the right side of the brain workbook