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.
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Top reviews from other countries
Annie-Claire
Un plaisir immense à dessiner d'un nouvel oeil
Reviewed in France on June 2, 2010
Sarath Chandar Rao, SANKU
For those who think drawing is tough... do read this one please.
Reviewed in Japan on April 15, 2012