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RBR - Right Brain Research
The New Center for Creative Arts (Tokyo, Japan)

RBR offers year-round bilingual art and music courses for all ages and
levels. At RBR, we believe that everyone has the innate ability to draw masterfully. Our mission is to develop this potential by encouraging students to explore new ways of seeing and thinking in a unique international learning environment that is wholly supportive, non-competitive and fun.Since 1993, RBR has taught thousands of individuals.

Many have since taken up painting or piano where they left off 5 or 50 years ago. All have made new friends. Enriched their lives. And achieved heights of artistic expression they never thought possible. At RBR, art isn't about sitting down and drawing an object for hours on end. It's not about finishing assignments, or getting critiques. It's not even about accelerated learning, even though students invariably make astonishing progress in a very short time.

Art at RBR is about you. Specifically, it's about unleashing the full, awesome power of your brain so you can perceive things the way experienced artists and craftsmen do, and then pursue your own vision with heightened precision and sensitivity. Whether you're a newcomer or a professional, the process will amaze and enlighten you - and give you, literally, a new perspective on life.


Right Brain Workshops

Right Brain 5-day Workshop
Instructor: Kristin Newton
October 16,17,22,23,24
December 18-22 | 9:30 AM-6:30 PM
The fee is 89,250 yen for 40 hours of instruction

Maybe you are 100% certain that you can't draw, or maybe you are very competent and confident in your drawing ability. Maybe you are one of those who has had the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Dr. Betty Edwards on your bookshelf for the last 10 years, or maybe you have never heard of it. Our students have come from both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between.

This course is for everyone, from people who can't even draw a stick figure to professional artists, whether they are children or grandparents! Everyone makes progress. While we all love to draw as children most of us quit by the time we become teenagers out of sheer frustration. But anyone can learn to draw! Drawing is as natural as breathing once you understand the magical 5 steps that will attune your perceptual skills. And once you learn these 5 steps, you learn them for life. All you need is to untap that Right Brain in a totally supportive, encouraging, extremely fun environment.

The 5-day workshop builds such a strong foundation in drawing that most students look for other art classes to continue this amazing creative journey. Welcome to the world of RBR! Check out our course listings and find out what else we have just for you.

Profile Drawing: 4th Day of the 5-Day Right Brain Drawing Workshop

The Beauty of Color 5-day Workshop
Instructor: Kristin Newton
November 13,14,20,21,23 | 9:30 AM-6:30 PM
The fee is 89,250 yen for 40 hours of instruction

The Beauty of Color Workshop was designed by Dr. Betty Edwards as a practical five-day basic course in color. It is the next step and follow-up to Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. This course is suitable for novices in color as well as more experienced artists who may be using color without a clear understanding of how knowledge of color theory can help.

Hands-on exercises will focus on how to use basic theory to achieve harmonious color and how to see and efficiently mix specific desired hues. Students will learn about traditional color attributes such as hue, value, intensity and various visual, perceptual and psychological aspects of color.
Prerequisite: Five-Day Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workshop.

The Beauty of Color 5-Day Workshop

NEW! First time ever offered in Asia!
Right Brain Sculpture (5-day Workshop)
Instructor: Steve Lester
November 3-7 | 9:30 AM-6:30 PM
The fee is 89,250 yen for 40 hours of instruction

Joining us from his home in Russia is our special guest instructor for the month of November, Steve Lester. Like Kristin Newton, Steve was trained and certified as a Right Brain instructor by Dr. Betty Edwards in Long Beach, California. He has since developed a 5-day Sculpture Workshop incorporating Right Brain techniques that enable his students to open their eyes and really SEE, to perceive MASSES in space.

Steve Lester has conducted his 5-day Sculpture workshops in clay, ice or both all over the world, from Alaska to Finland, Sweden to Russia, with amazing results. We are extremely excited to be able to offer this unique workshop for the first time ever here in Asia. Prerequisite: Five-Day Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workshop.

Drawing on the Writer Within
Instructor: Angela Jeffs
Thursdays | 7:00-9:30 PM | 4,200 yen
Fancy yourself a budding Bertolt Brecht, Dorothy Parker or J.K. Rowling?
Always wanted to write but never felt you could, for whatever reason?
Sick to death of writing reports and want to loosen up, have some fun?
Have an idea for a book or play but don't know how to get started? Got a half-completed poem, novel or script in a drawer and need a kick start to get going again?
Simply love words and want to experiment, see where they lead you.....

Through a series of weekly games, exercises and projects, Angela will help you retrieve the natural creative energy, drive and drama of the writer within. Sign up for classes now and draw on a previously unexplored treasure-trove of innate literary talents. Future day-long workshops and weekend intensives will focus on specific aspects of writing - keeping a diary, reporting and interviewing, expanding vocabulary and so on.

Visual Journal
Instructor: Marion Zoboski & Ellen Ebata
Fridays | 10 AM - 12 PM | 5,250 yen

Come join our Visual Journal class every Friday and learn how to document the world around you in a totally creative way!

The emphasis of this journal keeping class is on integrating visual images and quick sketches with reflective notes, on sharpening our tools of observation rather than emotional expression. We will demonstrate the basics of illustration, including watercolor and pen & ink. Even if you can't draw a stick figure, you'll discover secret tips on how to capture what you see on paper and present this image in a unique and ever-changing way.

Explore a myriad of techniques, from page preparations to image transfers. No mistake is a disaster for anything can be transformed into an interesting work of art! In this unique course for all levels, you'll discover new depth and dimensions to journaling. Whether you seek Zen simplicity or old-world opulence in your art, you'll find fresh inspiration here. Whether this is your first journal or your hundredth, you'll discover a whole new way to tell your story and capture the important moments you'll want to remember forever.

Mark your calendars for a special treat! On October 29, November 12, 26 Joei Lau will join Marion and Ellen in exploring the use of calligraphy in one's Visual Journal. For those who are hooked after the morning class, Joei will also be available in the afternoons on the above dates to do a 3-hour workshop purely on calligraphy. Capture all those words bubbling in your imagination in your own unique script.

A page from the Visual Journal

Acrylic, Oil and Mixed Media
Instructor: Akane Jansen
Tuesdays | 10 AM - 1 PM | 6,300 yen
Wednesdays | 6:30 - 9:30 PM | 6,300 yen

Oil Painting, from beginners to advanced students. To make oil paintings of value, it is very important to use clean materials so this course will start with the basics - how one should get ready and how materials should be properly cleaned. How one plans the painting subjects will also be covered - what kinds of subjects are suitable for oil paintings? We will start with simple techniques and establish the practice of using a sketchbook for researching the subject.

Acrylic Painting, from beginners to advanced students. Learn the fun of acrylic painting. Then learn how to compare acrylics with oils, appreciate the differences between the two mediums and discover how to use both acrylics and oils to create mixed media paintings. For the more advanced painters, they can explore various themes and express their originality using the many different painting techniques they will be shown. Students will improve their skills and also develop an even greater appreciation of art. Additional materials fee to cover the cost of paint and canvas.

Mixed Media
Instructor: Miki Furukawa
Wednesdays | 1:30 - 4:30 PM | 6,300 yen

Pastels can be one of the most rewarding mediums to use as intense, paint-like colors can be applied directly, smoothly blended to produce beautiful gradations or dabbed on as impressionistic splashes of color. So many pigments, all at your fingertips! Acrylic gouache is an opaque pigment that can be layered on to achieve rich depths of tones. This course will introduce you to the various uses of pastels and gouache and encourage you to experiment with mixing them together to achieve beautiful color effects and textures. Additional materials fee for paints.

Miki Furukawa, Mixed Media & Pencil Techniques instructor hard at play!

Watercolor
Instructor: Tomoko Okada
Wednesdays | 7:00 - 9:30 PM | 6,300 yen

An ongoing watercolor class for beginners. Learn all about mixing colors and how to use the brushes and various types of papers. You will discover how to make beautiful tones and forms by using the accidental flow of the water and how to achieve delicate shades by painting layer upon layer.

Dry Point Engraving (2-day Workshop)
Instructor: Ryu Kadosaka
November 20 & 21 | 10:00 AM-6:00 PM | 33,075 yen for
14 hours of instruction.

Tools will be provided but there will be a small materials fee to cover the cost of extra copper plates, paper and ink. (Those with previous engraving experience may join for a one-day workshop. The cost would be 16,550.) This class is for all levels. Tools and engraving techniques will be explained and demonstrated, after which students will get their turn to practice on their own plates. Once they are comfortable with the tools, they will start on their prints, using photos or drawings that they have brought to class. On the second day students will learn about the printing process and have a turn applying the ink and running the printing press. If there is time, they might experiment with sepia and other colored inks, as well.

Drypoint Engraving Workshop with renowned artist Ryu Kadosaka

Kids Workshops
Right Brain for Kids (5-day Workshop)
Instructor: Kristin Newton
October 26-30 | 2:00-5:00 PM | 47,250 yen for 15 hours of instruction, materials included.

The children's version of the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop will develop their drawing and perceptual skills. The limit will be 10 children per class, minimum age of 9 for first timers, or from 8 for those who have had a previous Right Brain class. The key to mastering drawing is learning to really see, instead of drawing stereotyped symbols of what we think we see.

A big problem with kids now, especially in Japan, is that manga cartoons are so popular that from the age of 5 most kids just stick to copying their favorite characters and completely lose their creativity. Kids really want to make things look real and if they can't by the age of 13, they usually give up on art forever. What a tragedy! Some in the art educational establishment say that the Drawing on the Right Side emphasis on realism in art can only be at the expense of imaginative expression but if you don't look, how can you draw from imagination? Because it's through looking that the imagination becomes rich and true.

Music Courses
Guitar | Piano

RBR inaugurated its music program in 2004, opening an exciting new chapter in our development as Tokyo's premier center for the creative arts.

Instruction is provided for all ages in piano and guitar using the whole-brain learning method developed by Dr. Robert Pace, Professor Emeritus of Teachers College at Columbia University. Widely acclaimed as the most effective method of musical education, the Pace Approach enables children to spontaneously bring out their innate talent for music through various activities that encourage integrated development in musical thinking, emotions and dexterity. Because classes are diversified and fun, children seldom drop out and instead acquire life-long benefits from the activities.

Pace Method Piano Classes for Kids and Adults

Piano
Instructors: Sawako Fujita and Utako Akemoto

Develop your child's musical capability while enhancing his/her intelligence! These classes are much more than just piano lessons. Your children will enjoy learning music through singing, playing piano, listening, reading, learning musical theory and creating music whether it be classical, pop or jazz. This method is most effective in a group class where pupils can learn together as well as from each other. These groups may change as the students progress.

Electric Guitar
Instructor: Toshimasa Yamaguchi

A guitar class for contemporary music lovers of all ages, whether your preference be the blues, jazz or rock. Learn what rhythm is all about, how to create a melody, strum a chord. Come as you are, electric guitars will be provided for you. During the first months, private lessons will be offered to get to know the students and evaluate their level of skill and interests. Once determined, the students will be placed in groups of four to six similarly talented individuals. These groups may change as the students progress. The next Rock Star is waiting to be discovered!

NEW! Dance Program
Instructor: Steve Tomlinson
Wednesdays | Tap 5:3-6:30 PM, Hip Hp/Jazz 6:30-7:30 PM, Salsa 7:30-9:30 PM
2,100 yen/hour

Let's give a big welcome to new RBR staff member, Steve Tomlinson, here to kick off. RBR's dance program. Steve is a New York native with many years of experience as a professional dancer, actor and singer. Steve's career began at Walt Disney World in Florida but soon expanded to include stage, television, national and international tours. Steve has worked with MGM Studios, Universal Studios and appeared on several musicals including 42nd Street, Footloose and On the Town. Steve will help students regain their sense of harmony and dance to the beat of their hearts! Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop will all be covered.

Improvisation is the key to RBR's dynamic Music and Performing Arts Programs. Create your own melody, learn to dance to the music, and let the performer in you shine through!

Gospel Singing
Instructor: Sheryl Bridgewater
Wednesdays | 7:30-8:30 PM | 2,625 yen

Sheryl Bridgewater, a multi-talented vocalist who has performed in Japan, Europe, the U.S, and the Caribbean, at such places as Ceasar's Palace, London Palladium, Royal Albert Hall and Apollo Theater, is the newest member of the RBR teaching family.

Do you like singing? Does gospel music fit your style? Do you enjoy harmonizing with a group? You may have started taking lessons because you loved to sing and wanted to get better at it but after spending countless hours being told to, " Stand up straight! Open your throat! Sing louder! No sing softer!" without making any real progress, you probably began to lose that original passion that made you want to sing in the first place.

Gospel Singing at RBR will banish that feeling forever! The vocal chords are muscles, and like all muscles they can be trained and strengthened. Just as a pianist must train his or her hands and fingers to improve, a singer must train his or her vocal chords to make different coordinations." Traditional voice lessons make singing difficult as singers feel constrained by the idea of performing properly. Singing is about artistry and the communication of emotion. Gospel singing will have you performing with more ease and energy, plus it's so much fun. You'll learn melodies, harmonies, rhythms and counter-melodies, and you'll find the joyous expression of this wonderful vocal tradition.

Singing is a great social activity. These lessons can help to develop technique and posture and breathing AND you DON'T have to be a great singer to enjoy it!

Call RBR to find out more information or check out our website.

RBR Gallery and Creative Space
1F Nishimachi House, 2-14-4 Moto Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-0046
Website: www.rbrart.com
E-mail: info@rbrart.com
Tel. (03) 3798-8622

 

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