art instruction and reference

I taught myself how to draw passably well when I was a kid and have been drawing sporadically ever since. Recently, however, I wanted to really learn to draw - to really understand form and how to represent it on paper. I practiced constantly, but I wasn't really improving on my own, so I started reading art instruction books to expose myself to new ideas that might help me improve my drawing. The first book I read was "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", which I chose because I had heard so much about how great it was. I was expecting it to be profound in some way. I read it very carefully to the end and completed all of the exercises, but about halfway through I realized it wasn't giving me any new ideas at all.

The book is written for ABSOLUTE beginners in drawing - if you have been drawing for any length of time there are other books that will be much more helpful to you. If you are just starting out in drawing, if you haven't drawn since you were a kid, this book should be extremely useful. It explains drawing on a much more basic level than any other book I have ever read, but that is exactly what absolute beginners need. It would be difficult to try to write a sentence before learning the alphabet, and this book teaches the "alphabet" of drawing. But if you can already write, even at a basic level, reviewing the alphabet would be a waste of time.

I really dislike the actual style the book is written in; Edwards is egotistical and she spends too much time on subjects that are not directly related to learning to draw, for example, several pages are spent defending the "right brain/left brain" theory and too much space is spent throughout the book giving examples of "evidence" for her theory. The book could be about half the length it is and still offer the same amount of useful information.

So far "The Natural Way to Draw" and "The Practice and Science of Drawing" have been much more useful to me. I would recommend them over Edward's book to intermediate students like myself who are trying to learn advanced concepts.

Drawing is the basis of most art so this fundamental skill is taught first in most traditional settings. What this so often fails to do is teach the perceptual underpinnings of draughtsmanship, focussing instead on the academic, 19th century "école" practice (itself a product of the Renaissance studio system) of repetition, copying and study of master works which emphasise the mechanics of drawing. While valuable, for the vast majority of students this may only yield results after years of rigorous application and for some will never work.

Despite having taken the traditional art school route this book taught me that there was still much to learn about how to see. Perhaps more importantly it showed me how much misinformation I had been exposed to and had accepted blindly for many years, only to have my eyes opened (literally!) the first time I picked it up.

I haven't had the opportunity to check out this latest edition but if it is even better than the first then it will prove even more invaluable.

For beginners hoping to draw for the first time or more experienced artists who feel their drawing could take a step up, this cornerstone work will enable you to unlock your hidden potential allowing you to produce work that will surprise even you!

Anyone who has anything bad to say about this book is
lost in space. There is no person on earth who cannot improve
after doing the projects in this book. Just one thing I would like to note: Try to take this class with a teacher so you don't give up in the middle. Once you get over the muscle pain in your right brain you'll thank yourself a million times over that you did it. You will see things you have never
noticed before and when you show people your drawings their jaws
will drop on the floor. One more thing: Never have a coffee (with caffeine) before doing the projects. You have to be very
calm and get into the drawing like a musician has to get into
the music.
I am thrilled that I am almost finished with the course, and
now I can draw almost ANY object I see.