Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grow up.

– Pablo Picasso

  • art(art), n. 1. the product of human creativity

MONART is more than a method that teaches people how to draw. Leading educators recognize Monart as a teaching system that helps students to learn how to focus and concentrate, make decisions, solve problems, sequence and develop hand-eye coordination. In a non-competitive, peaceful environment students learn that drawing is a teachable subject in which anyone can learn to draw, and that there are no mistakes in art.

The Monart system of drawing shows how to perceive the visual world in terms of five basic elements of shape. Just as a musician learns notes and scales in order to play an instrument, Monart student learn the skills necessary to translate their perceptions onto paper. This method has achieved phenomenal results among both children and adults, including those with learning difficulties.

In 1979 the California Art Council sponsored a three-year study during which Mona Brookes developed her method. In the ensuing years it has been taught around the world through her best selling books, Drawing with Children (translated into five languages) and Drawing with Older Children and Teens, through Monart schools and through incorporation into many school districts. Most classes at the Monart Art School of Ottawa are based on the method described in Mona Brookes’ books – available from us or your local bookseller.