The Art of Drawing on the Right 18th April - 20th June

The Art of Drawing on the Right

with Jen Bruce BDes Hons

April 18th – June 20th 2012

Wednesdays 7.00pm - 8.30pm

The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, 25 Palmerston Place, West End, Edinburgh, EH12 5AP, 0131 625 0700

A ten week drawing course, inspired by the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. 

Learn to draw following a step by step process designed to give you the skills you need to be able to draw confidently and accurately from observation. Perfect for absolute beginners,especially those who think they can’t draw but would like to learn. For those experienced in drawing the course can help to enhance and refine the skills you already have.

Drawing can be a way to help you to relax and enjoy seeing the world in a new way. 

Class limited to 6 people to allow for individual attention.

I absolutely loved teaching this class, I'm a huge fan of Betty Edwards work and get really excited about her methods and the theory behind them.  It's great to see the development in student's work after only a few hours of tuition, and by the end of the course there is a clear improvement in drawing confidence when you compare drawings from the first week and the final week.  (The next course is starting soon:  October 3rd - December 5th 2012.  I'll post a flyer for it shortly.)  Below are some comments and drawings from students.

This has been the best art class I have ever done.  I love the way there is no pressure to show your work, but I wouldn't have minded anyway as it is all so relaxed.  I really like the way you wait for everybody and there is no nervous energy.  All the materials are great too.  

Thought the class was tremendous value with equipment and tuition.

I feel confident to start drawing again.  

It helps me to deal with the stress that I have had in my life recently.

student drawing before tuition

student drawing after tuition

student drawing before tuition

student drawing after tuition

student drawing after tuition

student drawing before tuition

student drawing before tuition

student drawing after tuition

student drawing before tuition

student drawing after tuition

Chocolate beetroot cake!

I'm experimenting with low gi but v tasty cakes, this one is made with agave nectar, wholemeal flour, goats butter icing and tons of beetroot. Hopefully it'll be as tasty as it looks....

Aberdour Festival Workshop

Thank you to everyone who participated in the artist book workshop last Sunday 22nd July.  The theme was the village of Aberdour itself, and we were using monoprint, collage and stick and ink to create the content within a concertina book structure.  There was a great deal of hard work and focus, indicated by many spells of quiet in the room....the big book that was created as a collaborative piece will hopefully be on display somewhere in Aberdour, venue to be confirmed...in the meantime here are some snaps of work in progress.

collage and monoprint in concertina book structure

letter stamps in red look great with the monoprint and collage

aberdour pier (below) and a busy road with people driving their caravans and motorhomes to the campsite above

gorgeous stick and ink drawing over monoprint

lovely monoprint textures 

some dinosaurs in the sea, look out for them the next time you're down at the beach...

Aberdour Festival Workshop

I'm running an artist book workshop this Sunday with Susie Wilson, as part of the Aberdour festival.  Check out the programme, there's loads of great stuff going on, and if you fancy making an artist book based on Aberdour pop along to the Church Hall on the Main Street.  The workshop runs from 10-5pm but we're happy for people to come and go if they want to see other things.  This link takes you to the programme:   http://www.aberdourfestival.org.uk

Susie and I will also have work on display in the exhibition space.

Aberdour beach

Coffee cake

I'm very proud of my cake creation, low gi sponge made with agave nectar, so no sugar at all, made up for by tons of sugar in the icing! (I'm sure that could be done with agave too, but I didn't have enough.)  Can't wait to eat it now...

paper page process exhibition

I was involved in an exhibition at the beginning of the year,  paper  page  process,  as part of the Artist Book Group at Patriothall Gallery at Wasps in Stockbridge.  We ran book making workshops, poetry readings and had a great sound installation as well as plenty of artist books and wall work.  The theme was the relationship between our artist books and our wall work which included drawing, painting, concrete poetry and photography.  The Sax Coburg Trio played at our opening, an AMAZING way to start the exhibition.  We got a good 4 star write up in the Scotsman, and my most recent book The Only Way Out is Through was described as an 'intricately cut and folded paper sculpture'.  

my space, plenty of mandalas!

The Only Way Out is Through

this is more of a box containing metal 'pages', is it a book?

the gallery space is fantastic and our work hung really well together

the sun shining through the window created gorgeous illuminated books

random beautiful things

There's a painting in here.