The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Good easy to hollow

A interesting read

Brilliant book. Great condition.

After many years of popularity, we how have a revised edition of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", called, believe it or not, "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", (Souvenir Press, October 2000). I spend far too much money on books and so decided to order this book from the public library, as it is still only available in hardback.This book takes a very novel approach to teaching drawing, and it is a very thorough and comprehensive work which covers every possible aspect of technique. Its goal is to discourage the reader from using "left brain" skill, like analysis, conscious design, memories of what things "look like", and instead, to show how to use "right brain" drawing - intuitive, spontaneous, spotting shapes rather than objects and so on.A number of exercises are used to stimulate this right brain activity, such as copying portraits upside down, looking at the "negative spaces" between objects and drawing those, and drawing with an eraser on a charcoal ground. But as well as these novel approaches, there is also considerable emphasis on techniques such as squaring up the paper, using view-finders, measuring and comparing lengths.I suppose I feel that overall, the book is very unconvincing in its basic psychology. Rather than needing to go into how the brain allegedly works and trying to shut of parts of the brain (which in reality you can't possibly know whether you're doing or not), it might be simpler to concentrate on just adopting a more intuitive approach to drawing anyway. The strange thing about the book is that alongside the "right brain" approach, there is tremendous emphasis on a rather old-fashioned approach to drawing, particularly in the looking through a squared-up view finder and transferring images with great accuracy. In Betty Edwards' own terms, surely this is "right-brain" activity?I think someone coming to drawing through this book is going to find it a very difficult and complicated exercise, although I acknowledge that if you went to Betty Edwards' classes it would be a very rewarding experience. Its just too complicated to follow through a book, particularly one with so many pages of dense text.Having said that, for someone who already draws, the book has some very useful ideas, and it is a very inspirational read, particularly as it contains so many excellent illustrations. I think its one that would be a very useful reference on an artists bookshelf, so despite the provisos, I'd recommend it, so long as you don't follow it too slavishly.

Arrived on time. Great book

A great and inspiring book!A must for anyone wanting to develop into an artist from mundane copying. Many really useful exercises and inspiring to read

Brilliant book easy to understand and very readable

A "Must have" for all those interested in painting and art generally.

My wife and I used this book to learn how to draw. The exercises are fun and challenging. You will not regret it!

The book arrived promptly and in great condition. Thank you very much. It is a book worth reading. Was not sure it was still in print.

Ce livre, sur lequel je suis tombée par hasard, mais y a-t-il un hasard, est arrivé à point et converge parfaitement avec le travail de développement personnel dans lequel je suis engagée depuis un certain temps. Le fait de travailler, par différentes techniques, avec le cerveau droit, celui de l'intuition et de la créativité, synchroniquement avec le gauche, celui de la logique, fait faire un bond en avant non négligeable, que certains nommeraient quantique. Je ne suis pas une dessinatrice débutante mais j'avoue que ce que je fais maintenant n'a qu'un rapport très lointain avec ce que je dessinais il y a peu de temps encore. C'est enthousiasmant.

Betty did it with this.Need I say more.Fantastic treatise on drawing and with this anyone can learn to sketch and draw.Highly recommended.Sincerely,Sarath

One of the most important books I have ever read, Betty Edwards' approach to drawing has transformed the way I see, so that now I can draw. I must say that the book on its own didn't accomplish this transformation: I also attended the intensive 5-day workshop, "Perceptual Skills in Drawing," led by Edwards' instructor team at California State University, Long Beach, CA, where she developed the approach. I always said of myself that while I was a fine musician and writer, I had no talent for the visual arts. I can't say that anymore. In five days, with the information in this book and the gentle, patient teaching of the Edwards team, I now can draw realistically, and I have a whole world of art open to me that I would never have believed possible. DRSB is clear, encouraging, comforting, challenging, and beautiful at the same time. I would recommend it to anyone, and while I am still a beginner, I have been absolutely astonished at what has become possible for me now. If you would like to see my "before" and "after" drawings, just ask me. Everything Edwards says in the book has been true for me, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for my life transformed.Update One Year Later:Since my initial drawing awakening a year ago, I have studied with a private art tutor--an art-school graduate and professional fine artist. Her work is very good, and I've learned a lot about composition and color, but it just seems to me that she can't really "see" what we're drawing in the way that I "see" it. She indulges me when I talk about "right brain" drawing, but she doesn't understand it. And she seems amazed sometimes when I get to do it "my way," (slow and deliberate) and my art is markedly better than when I do it "her way" (fast and approximate).Looking at all these reviews, I notice that many "artists" object to the "right brain" approach, and yet, I observe that they, too, could benefit from its lessons. Dr. Edwards' approach leads to a kind of visual accuracy that makes some art-school-trained artists nervous. As just one example, some classical drawing instruction teaches you to reduce what you see to regular geometric shapes (the hand as an inverted triangle, or the arm as a cylinder) as a crutch to overcoming the left-brain symbol system. On the other hand, having learned the "right brain" approach, I just "see" what's in front of me, and I draw it--accurately. No geometric shapes required. Once your "right brain is engaged," you draw. If it never engages, then you can only make up a different "left-brain" symbol system to attempt a closer and closer approximation of what's in front of you--but it never feels "real." Unless you learn to see with the "right brain," you'll never draw realistically. How you get there is open to discussion and experimentation, but I'd use this approach, if I were you. So, to the artists, I say, if you can draw realistically--I mean REALISTICALLY--congratulations, you're there. If on the other hand, your work is just abstract somehow, and realism eludes you, then keep an open mind. Even you may find a new depth that you never imagined if you walk this path.For anyone who uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DRSB is a fine example of an INTP book: Beautiful logic with impeccable theory, addressing all the Introverted Thinking questions with patience and clarity. If you're an INTP as I am, you will appreciate why this approach works for us. If you're an Introverted Intuitive, however, (INTJ or INFJ), I expect you'll lose patience with it quickly because that's just not how you learn. It's technical and complete, rather than condensed and "bullet-pointed." Contrast DRSB with "The Complete Book of Painting and Drawing," by Gerald Woods, INTJ, in which he makes sweeping, general statements that are unhelpful because they leave too much to the imagination: "I tell my students to work in terms of the medium," with no further explanation. If you're already experienced with art, you'll know what he means, but if you're not, it's meaningless. Betty Edwards' explanations are complete and specific.P.S. I, too, have read the Kimon Nicolaides "The Natural Way to Draw," and it IS good--but it's the long way around, requiring weeks and weeks of several hours per day of hard training.