Since my mother, Betty Edwards, first published her book in 1979, it has been on the New York Times best seller list with more than 2.5 million copies sold.  It has been translated into 13 languages and is the world's most widely used drawing instruction book.   Her new book "Color - a course in mastering the art of mixing colors" was published in 2004 and is already being used as a comprehensive reference for the subject.  We have been teaching workshops for 25 years and have successfully taught thousands to master the art of drawing using Betty's approach.   

 

While the focus of the workshop is on drawing, absolutely no previous art training or special talent for drawing is necessary.

Learning to draw means learning to see things differently - to see in ways not frequently used in ordinary life.  Once learned, drawing can be used to record what you see either in reality or in your mind's eye, in a manner not totally unlike the way we can record our thoughts and ideas in words.  Many 20th century abstract painters who appear to draw and paint in a completely random fashion, had to learn to draw realistically before they were able to make the shift into abstract painting.  Picasso,  Willem de Kooning, Matisse, Mondrian and Jackson Pollock are a few examples of great abstract painters who first learnt to draw realistically.  

 

Whether you feel you have little talent and doubt you could ever learn; or you enjoy drawing but have not been able to progress beyond a child-like level, these workshops will show you how to gain and master drawing skills.  If you are already drawing as a professional artist they give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception.  Our instruction is specific in teaching the 5 skills needed to draw any perceived object, place or person.  It may seem that instruction concentrates heavily on portraiture for the final two days; this being one of the most difficult subject it incorporates all the drawing skills necessary to draw any other subject matter including still life, landscape...etc., and that information transfers easily to whatever subject you like to draw.   Landscape drawing involves the skills of sighting, or angles and proportion, which are the same drawing skills needed to bring any drawing into perspective, including the human face or figure.