New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Color in drawingChapter Eleven, "<strong>Drawing</strong> on the Beauty of Color," was a newchapter in the 1989 edition, written in response to many requestsfrom my readers. The chapter focuses on using color in drawing—afine transitional step toward painting. Over the pastdecade, my teaching staff and I have developed a five-day intensivecourse on basic color theory, a course that is still a "work inprogress." I am still using the concepts in the chapter on color, soI have not revised it for this edition.I believe the logical progression for a person starting out inartistic expression should be as follows:From Line to Value to Color to PaintingFirst, a person learns the basic skills of drawing, which provideknowledge of line (learned through contour drawing ofedges, spaces, and relationships) and knowledge of value (learnedthrough rendering lights and shadows). Skillful use of colorrequires first of all the ability to perceive color as value. This abilityis difficult, perhaps impossible, to acquire unless one haslearned to perceive the relationships of lights and shadowsthrough drawing. I hope that my chapter introducing color indrawing will provide an effective bridge for those who want toprogress from drawing to painting.HandwritingFinally, I am retaining the brief section on handwriting. In manycultures, writing is regarded as an art form. Americans oftendeplore their handwriting but are at a loss as to how to improve it.Handwriting, however, is a form of drawing and can be improved.I regret to say that many California schools are still usinghandwriting-instructional methods that were failing in 1989 andare still failing today. My suggestions in this regard appear in theAfterword.INTRODUCTIONXXI