Weekend Drawing Class with Paulette Purser Yields Portraits

L-R: Patricia Hanwright, Barbara McIntosh, Nola Conn, Arleene Sommer and Keren Gunderson draw from the right side of the brain, focusing on model Yannis Vassilopoulos. The group took the drawing class with visiting artist Paulette Purser.

Weekend Drawing Class Yields Portraits

by Paulette Purser

Anyone can draw was the message Paulette Purser’s two-day weekend drawing class in Princeville advertised. Ask any of the participants, and they will excitedly say that this is what was delivered.

Since 1987, Purser has been on a mission to share methods found in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Dr. Betty Edwards with as many people as possible.  An accomplished artist who has trained in many schools, Purser feels strongly that drawing can and should be taught to children between the ages of eight and 12 years, when their brains are craving realism.

“After all, most people can talk, but need to be taught to read and write,” says Purser. “Most people can see, but many need to be trained to draw their perceptions.

“Learning to draw is easier than learning to walk, and humans usually learn to walk by the age of two.”

As a local columnist for the Times Picayune in New Orleans once wrote, “People who think they can’t draw probably haven’t met Paulette Purser. She can change that way of thinking … fast!

“It is not often that we have an opportunity to share something new with as much personal potential. So, consider art a challenge and let Paulette “Draw” you out …”

Recently, after just 12 hours of instruction, Nola Conn, Keren Gundersen, Patricia Hanwright, Barbara McIntosh and Arleene Sommer drew realistic portraits of live model Yannis Vassilopoulos in just one-and-a-half hours. Their left brains were pleased with a job well done.  They “know” they can draw now.

They also understand the difference in visual and verbal brain processing, and that one needs to suppress the dominant, verbal processing portion of the brain in order to access the visual processing portion. Once accessed, they can now employ the five right-brain skills learned during the class and see and draw better — much better, better than they ever thought possible.

Purser returns each summer to Kaua`i to teach. Contact her at paulettepurser@gmail.com, or visit online at www.paulettepurser.com.