Betty Edwards
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Dr. Betty Edwards taught and did research at the California State University, Long Beach until she retired in the late '90s. While there, she founded the Center for the Educational Applications of Brain Hemisphere Research. Her work has been cited in scholarly journals, and she is also an Art teacher and the author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (originally published in 1979).
Edwards uses the findings of modern brain research as an organizing principle for her system, and is especially guided by Cerebral hemisphere and split-brain research which suggests that the two hemispheres of the brain have different functions (see Lateralization of brain function). She proposes exercises to bring out the creative abilities of the right side of the brain, as opposed to the analytic and logical abilities of the left brain.
Although some consider her underlying theory to have elements of pseudoscience, others claim the exercises and learning techniques of her system are effective in teaching the basic principles of realist drawing, even to people who have previously exhibited no drawing ability.[citation needed] A practical advantage of her teaching method is that while the exercises themselves are based on classic systems of drawing instruction, she presents them in a simple and logical manner that makes them easier to learn.
