Popular theory on right-side brain activity holds that the right brain is primarily responsible for the intuitive understanding of visual and spatial relationships. Designed to improve the way people see and record objects on paper, a set of visual exercises helps build the ability to draw. If you doubt your artistic ability or were told as a child that you could not draw, this is your opportunity to challenge that perception.
Students begin the class by drawing a self-portrait as a record of initial drawing skill. In subsequent sessions, the instructor guides students through drawing exercises on understanding edges and space, relationships between objects, and light and shadow. This new way of seeing and working becomes second nature with practice and can be used to pursue further development in the arts or added to the things you now know how to do.
Download the supply list for this class
Instructor Shahin Shikhaliyev is an artist who has taught similar classes in the Washington, D.C., area for many years.
6 sessions, 2 1/2 hours each
Smithsonian Connections
Students interested in visual and special relationships in art are encouraged to explore the work of Alexander "Skunder" Boghossian. Boghossian is known for altering the composition icons and rearranging pictorial order of the things he paints. The Smithsonian owns a number of his works allowing the viewer to trace his evolution and growth as an artist.
