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| This is the 6th Drawing Made Easy Summer Art Workshop the I have held in my hometown, Ormoc PI. As a facilitator of this workshop I have encountered a lot questions from parents and the most asked is, "After the workshop will my child learn how to draw?" And I always answer with, "If the child is interested and enthusiastic with drawing, why not?" I have named this summer art workshop Drawing Made Easy to get the message across that unlike what most people believe, knowing how to draw is not a talent but a skill that can be learned (much like learning how to play the piano, dance ballet or ride a bicycle) and no, it is not that impossibly difficult:) It is a matter of tapping the right side of the brain, the creative side, which is often neglected by our school since words and number work on our left brain. |
| This is why in the DME Summer Art Workshop there are activities and exercises that students may find weird for the reason that these are not the conventional lessons they get from the art class in elementary and high school which do not teach the rudiments of realistic drawing. The lessons in DME are based on what I have learned from the fine arts university that I went to, my own A-ha! experience in drawing and the past 8 art workshops I have handled. In DME Summer Art Workshop students are taught awareness of space, lines, proportions, relationship of lines & space and tonal values. I strongly believe that in order to be creative, firstly, the students must not be inhibited in his relationship with the canvas (or paper) and not too concerned if he has made too many erasures, or his line jagged and circle misshapened. |
| In DME Summer Art Workshop the students will be made to make evaluation drawings both on the first and last day of the workshop. Most noticeable improvement always is the size of the drawings, which would indicate newfound confidence and awareness of space. Children make small drawings because they are often intimidated by the whiteness of a clean, blank paper so they try to make them as unobtrusive as possible. The improved size and composition is a sign that the right side of the brain is working because some of the characteristics of the right brain is spatial (space) and holistic way of seeing. It would follow that there will be an inprovement in how the student sees proportion also which is very important in making a realistic drawing (copying an image of his subject on paper.) The big bonus is that whatever improvements the students make does not stop at the end of this workshop, the lessons learned will always be at the back of their minds as they continue to draw. However just like all other skills, it can never be stressed enough how practice, practice, practice and enthusiasm will always play a major role in the advancement of the student's budding drawing skill. |
| The artist/facilitator with the Drawing Made Easy class, 1999 |
| DME culmination activity, 1999 awarding of certificates Ormoc Superdome Lobby |
| DME culmination activity, 1999 art exhibit Ormoc Superdome Lobby |
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