Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition Paperback – Illustrated, April 26, 2012

This book definitely deserves five stars! I've read it before and I didn't know it. Funny story: I had this book several years ago, and I just assumed that this would be a recent version or edition. I don't have that book handy – the first one – because I have moved to a smaller place and it is in storage. So funny me - I bought the version I already had before so I could compare it with this supposed newer version? So I thought. Well because the link didn't work to go to the Amazon page where this book is located, and since I saw no reviews on what I thought was the older book's page, I now have three copies of the same book ha ha. It's just as well because this book makes a perfect gift for anyone starting out in the art world.Drawing skills are a essentials, and they come before anyone even thinks of doing any painting. I think that is why a book like this, covering a method of drawing as with right brain and left brain to learn the basics and the tricks of drawing well, would be such a complicated book. I've rarely seen a painting book that is this detailed. I do have them, I would like to find them, because attention to detail – as with drawing and painting hands – is so important and difficult to learn for the first time.I've been in and out of the art scene for over 25 years, and I am not what I would consider an artist. However, because of books like this, (and videos) I merrily walked into a watercolor class for the first time the other day and painted better than almost anyone in the class. It really surprised me. I took informal classes for six months about 3 years ago - at a YMCA where a member who is an artist and teacher decided to teach in a spare room. She was really rude to me haha but I did learn some, just nothing like what I just painted. I've only have the basics of training. Most of my expertise is in Photoshop. In Photoshop the are tools for perspective and symmetry. Just reading this book as a review has refreshed my memory about my drawing days. I think it is an important distinction to make that I am doing digital art most of the time anyway. Somehow, book and video learning in traditional drawing and painting has helped me translate skills into digital painting. Not so with digital painting books I have read where it is assumed you need to learn the software from the very beginning, but still assume you are already a painter. Learning the drawing must come first, so I've been told. Though I don't have any formal training in drawing or painting, and I've really studied about and practiced painting AND drawing at the same time, books such as this one are so handy to have so we can review the basics along with the added concept of left versus right brain thinking regarding drawing skills.So for me, it is more of a reference, and I highly recommend this book as a gift to a young person just starting out in the art world. It is a precious classic for a reason. The techniques are solid and classical. This book covers drawing from so many different perspectives that I find it hard to believe anyone would read this, practice with this book, and come away empty-handed. In fact, I would expect the best of results of course varying from person to person.Classical artists have been using most of these techniques for thousands of years. The right brain left brain drawing concept isn't new because this author has been writing updates and additions on this book for many years. I'd be surprised if many artists are not familiar with it.I get the feeling that this is an underutilized gem. And I am happy to review it – again – ha ha :-).I have a new grandbaby, as my very mature son just had his first child. You can bet that she will get all of my art books. And her mother, already likes this one, because she gave a copy to me years ago. Instinctively, I was able to draw from the get-go, but to do it well – I have seen very few people accomplish that without some instruction. We are talking about perspective, composition, negative space, positive space, drawing with grids, using pencils and other tools for measurement when doing what I would consider to be live drawing, and more. So many people these days use photos as reference; and even then, one can benefit from the good old grid. There aren't too many projects in this book really, unless you decide that you want to practice after every lesson or chapter. This is the way to really get value here.I can still use this book right now, because in painting I am having trouble with foreshortening, which is drawing something at certain angles in perspective where the front needs to be drawn differently from the part farthest away, and you can only draw what you see as if it is the front of my hand in front of my other fingers and so on - as I understand it. I could never afford, nor could I manage a fine art degree, but darn it, I am doing pretty well just the same.The reason why I am not explaining the left brain right brain concept. which is the cornerstone of this book, is because for me it is very confusing. I get dyslexia every time I try to think about the different brain hemispheres. So please don't get me wrong; I am not discounting this sort of learning concept; I am simply saying that this book is just great on its own merits despite my not being able to understand the "different from the norm" concept within this particular classic.This book is very well diagramed, and much can be learned by looking at images/drawings; for example, a drawing of the ocean, showing how the ripples are smaller and closer together as they recede up to the horizon line; just as when I am challenged with a landscape, it helps to know the relationship between one part and the other, since I didn't grow up observing so well how nature works. Most artists I've talked to have been observing nature in a detailed and specific way most of their lives. This is not to say that no one will not be able to learn how to draw or paint really well instinctively, but it is rare. I am saying this to demonstrate how important it is to know these concepts from a book like this to get familiar with them. Or to just be introduced to them.I am just as pleased to have a reunion with this book as I was to find that after three years of not painting with watercolor, I was able to do a landscape very well in watercolor when I didn't ever learn to before . Highly recommended.

As an artist, I can't believe I did without this book! Recently recommended by a renowned artist, I finally ordered it. There are so many scientific, proven & emotional aspects to recognizing how we see images. Writing is excellent, understandable, and nurturing.

In one week I went from only being able to draw stick figures to self portraits that look realistic. Wonderful book!

The best book on drawing

The following is an artist's perspective on this book. To let you know my perspective before I review the book- a little background:MY ART BACKGROUNDI will come right out and say it- I am an artist. I work in many different media and have been drawn to art since I was very young. I also am extremely gifted in scientific things including highly technical stuff so I have a bit of a different perspective than someone who is say, very art oriented but has no clue about more technical things.Although I have always been able to draw more easily than others in my age range growing up, I still could not master the ability to bring what was boiling up inside me to the point that I could put it anywhere near accurately on paper. That always frustrated me.I took all sorts of methods to try to learn to draw. I practiced constantly. I spent hours and hours working on trying to capture things that I saw around me. I bought books. I bought old books, new books, took them from the library- anything I could get my hands on to learn drawing. Unfortunately, there always seemed to be something missing from the process and I ended up feeling a little more frustrated with every book. I gleaned little details that later helped me in my work, but for the most part, I didn't feel that my drawing really hit that place that I could put what was bubbling up inside me at all accurately onto paper.I have been taught by a true master in art from Italy. I was so thrilled to have gotten a spot in his class that I just KNEW that I could finally make that connection between my ability to draw and what was inside me. Imagine my surprise when I was simply told to just sit and draw still life or what was inside me. When I asked how to DO that, I was just told simply to DRAW. The more questions I asked, the more I was put down because I didn't already know how to draw.I have also had the opportunity to learn from an internationally known artist who has sold paintings to famous people. He is a gifted teacher, and by this time, it finally did click.WHAT THIS BOOK IS LIKEHaving told you a rather lengthy history of my experiences in art instruction, I want to tell you that this book leaves me somewhere between the Italian artist's art class, the old books that I tried to learn from, but nowhere near the beautiful click that I got when I learned to draw from the gifted teacher that I took instruction from.First of all, this book is set up for those who like to read. Let's face it, most people who do art, are usually visual learners. That means that if someone SHOWS you how to do something, you pick it up usually immediately or close to that. There are others who have to have instruction, but it does not make a difference if it is written or video, they still pick up a lot from it.This book is written in classroom style with a lot of writing. There are photos in the book of famous drawings, examples of drawings from people who have had no instruction and then after using the instruction from the book were able to improve greatly. This book is designed to be broken down into sections and used gradually. If you try to do too much at once, it will frustrate you.There are basics in this book that are very valuable, such as how to measure by eye when doing a drawing using your charcoal or pencil as a guide. There are ideas on how to line up the eyes in portraits, or make directions of things look in sync with each other so that the drawing does not look off or lopsided. There are explanations of why you do things, and how you have individual style, the goal being to use your style to communicate what you want to draw and not just parrot someone else. Basics of perspective and 3-D are also included.The angles and ratios of things in this book are invaluable when it comes to drawing. Also, there is a lot of written instruction on how understand how the brain works in drawing as well as how to use a frame to compose a drawing in practice so that it will become a natural part of your drawing in the future.HOW DOES THIS BOOK WORK FOR ME?I have to say I am impressed with how much information is in this book. It has some really great exercises in it which will teach you to see more clearly how to put down what you see on paper, using your own style. I like the explanations of the drawing process as they help you to understand how to enter into that process better. Also, the mechanics of putting in what you see with certain guidelines is excellent basics to get yourself trained in.As far as making me into the type of artist that I wanted to be when I was learning from books- it really would not have done that for me. Maybe you will be different. There are certainly MANY good things to learn in this book which will greatly add to your drawing development the rest of your life. There are just some pieces missing in the process from this book that I needed to bring me to where I wanted to be (and am today).Art is pretty much a visually inspired process and that means a lot of seeing and watching other people doing things so you can learn what you like and do not like. This book will show you stills of things, but imagine if you were to see only a handful of still photos out of a movie that you love. You would miss a lot of nuances in the process you see in videos by only seeing certain still photos. Surely the level of enjoyment would be severely stunted compared to the full movie.THE BOTTOM LINEAlthough there are still some pieces missing this book as I have learned from my life long experiences in the pursuit of drawing, this book has a lot of valuable information in it that you will use the rest of your life, should you choose to pursue drawing. There are good illustrations in this book which provide inspiration and examples of drawing, but they are not really nearly as good as classroom experience or even video and watching other people work ALONG with the explanations and pauses to help you retain it.I plan on comparing this book to the previous version in the future to possibly add a few comments to this review, but for now, suffice it to say that I like this book, am glad it is in my library. I see it as a great reference and stepping stone to becoming a good accomplished artist who can draw well. This book will help improve your abilities, but don't expect miracles overnight. Use it as if it were a class in small sections and learn them well. Don't rush through the book.I give this book four stars, as it is one of the better art books out there for drawing.