Here’s three things about me as a teacher, and why I teach drawing differently:

I am unusually structured (for an artist).

Creative people are known for being slightly messy and chaotic, right? That’s not me at all! I need my desk to be cleared and my stuff to be organised, before I feel the quietness of mind I need to create. I am actually very structured and analytical.

While this may be a bit unusual for an artist, as a teacher it allows me to clearly present what I know about drawing and seeing, making it easy to understand and easy to implement for my students.

I’m not about to make things complicated.

My teaching method consists of simple & practical exercises, that focus on three basic steps: putting the everyday, functional way of looking on hold, creating a clear mental picture, and transferring that mental picture to paper.

I strongly believe that all the information you need to make a beautiful lifelike drawing, is right in front of you. That’s why I don’t use the general rules of thumb that many drawing courses teach. You know the ones, like: “the lower arm is one and one quarter heads long” or “the lips are located one third of the way down the bottom quarter of the face”.

I feel those guidelines can be counterproductive, because they let you fall back on what you know, instead of what you see. I’m in no way against drawing aides, and we use them in my workshops, but only those that assist in the process of learning how to see.

I’ve been there.

Confession. I’ve never been someone who fills up a sketchbook a week. I absolutely know what it’s like to experience resistance around drawing or other forms of creativity. And I’ve struggled with fear of failure, too.

But, I’ve developed some great techniques to help me bust through any obstacle that could stop me from drawing. On most days at least! And I’m passionate about sharing those techniques with you.