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Betty Edwards: world-renowned

The Theory
Try This! educator in the field of art
Drawing Courses Betty Edwards is the author of the best-selling non-fiction books Drawing on
the Right Side of the Brain (latest edition: The New Drawing on the Right Side
Course Feedback
of the Brain) and Drawing on the Artist Within, Color and The New Drawing on
Drawing Tips the Right Side of the Brain Workbook.
Drawing Resources Her work has reached well over 3 million worldwide. Dr Edwards books are
Books now drawing classics and used as text books in schools and colleges
internationally.
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Packed with Not a practical

First published For those
right-brain "how-to-draw"
in 1979, this interested in
drawing book but
classic work mastering
exercises, fascinating if
has been in colour theory
advice and tips. you are
print ever since and learn how
A practical interested in
and has sold to use it in
workbook that creativity and
2.5 million paint, pastels
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copies world- and other
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viewfinder. drawing.

The following material is based onThe New Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain (Harper Collins Publishers, 2001) by Dr Betty Edwards (© Dr Betty
Edwards). It is used with permission, from Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain Inc.

The Origins of the Theory

The Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain® story begins in the late
1960s where art teacher, Betty Edwards, was puzzling over the fact that many
of her students struggled to learn to draw when they were mastering new
skills in other disciplines.

Another puzzle was that students, who had struggled, suddenly seemed to
learn how to draw from one week to the next but could not explain why this
was so.

Betty Edwards began to explore what happens when she was drawing. Her
work with her students was illuminated by research published in 1968 by
Roger Sperry and colleagues. Dr Edwards developed her theories into a
doctoral thesis that later formed the basis of her book, The New Drawing on
the Right Side of the Brain, first published in 1979. You can read about the
development of her theories in this book which is still in print and has been
revised and updated several times since.

The Global Skill of Drawing

After the book was published, Dr Edwards had another 'aha' moment. She
realised that drawing is made up of just five perceptual skills and that
together, to form a global skill.

What does a global skill mean? Other global skills are reading, driving,
learning to ride a bicycle etc. Can you remember how difficult it was learning
these skills? But now, I bet you read a newspaper, ride a bike or drive your car
without even thinking about it.

Learning to draw follows the same process. Just as once you had to learn the
alphabet and how a sentence was constructed before you could learn to read…
with drawing, if you learn the component perceptual skills of drawing you will
be able to draw a perceived object ie. something you can see 'out there'.

What are the Perceptual Skills of Drawing?

1. The perception of edges
2. The perception of spaces
3. The perception of relationships
4. The perception of lights and shadows
5. The perception of the whole, or gestalt
The last one is a bonus as it just evolves out of learning the first four skills.

It Doesn’t Take Long to Learn to Draw

Dr Edwards also realised that you can actually learn these perceptual skills
pretty quickly – in fact, in as little as five days. Once these skills are learned
you simply need to practise them and improve them – and of course, master
the specific techniques of other media that you might want to try.

Dr Edwards developed the 5-day Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain®
course to teach these perceptual skills. The course has been refined and
developed over the years by Betty Edwards and her son, Brian Bomeisler.

Brian Bomeisler continues the work his mother started and you can find out
more about his work here.

Dr Betty Edwards’ Work on Creativity

Dr Edwards’ argues that the right brain’s strengths are undervalued and
under-trained in our left-brain oriented culture, with its emphasis on the “3Rs”.
She also believes that by training the right brain we can learn to use both
sides of the brain more effectively and more efficiently according to their
strengths.

Dr Edwards’ has presented hundreds of workshops, seminars and lectures for

public schools, art associations, university students, technical and scientific
staffs and corporate groups. She has presented seminars in creative problem
solving to corporations such as The Walt Disney Company, Digital Equipment
Corporation, Apple Computer Company, IBM, Polaroid, AT&T Bell Labs,
American Advertising Associations, Saatchi & Saatchi, GE, American Dental
Association, and the American Institute of Architecture.

Dr. Edwards is Professor Emeritus, California State University, Long Beach.

Although now retired, through her books, workshops and seminars Betty
Edwards continues to make a huge impact upon the fields of art education and
creative problem-solving.

If you would like to find out how you can attend a Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain® course, as developed by Dr Betty
Edwards, in the UK

click here

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© Anna Black, London, UK 2007

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
is a registered trademark of
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Inc.,
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SBI!