Rating: 
Summary: Will open your eyes!
Review: I've read both the original edition years ago, and this one. The book is NOT meant to teach you to be an "artist" whose works get sold in galleries. It is meant to awaken the part of you that actually can draw, even if you think you can't, and to help you find the joy in drawing what you see. The negative reviews below are clearly from people who consider themselves to be "real artists", which apparently they define as "someone who has attended art school and now attempts to make a living at it." Sounds pretty condescending to me. P.S. the left brain/right brain idea is proven fact, not "hooey", and was determined long before Betty Edwards ever wrote a book; check out old studies on psychiatric patients whose left brain/right brain connection had been physically severed.
If you enjoyed drawing as a child, but lost that joy on the road to adulthood as many of us did, read this book. And don't let so-called "artists" discourage you; it's not the result that matters, it's the process.
Rating: 
Summary: Done in by its own hubris
Review: Wanting a tune up in my own drawing skills, I picked up the latest edition of this book, whose earlier editions I had read years before in high school. Immediately, I was turned off by several things in this new version, like:1. Its very boastful and unrealistic claims of how it will help you become an artist overnight. Holy Cow! Was I the only one who felt uncomfortable reading the opening chapters where the author kept showing the works of people who "learned to draw" after taking her five day seminar, claiming that you could do the same? Sorry, folks, but as the person below me said, it takes years and years to perfect the art of drawing and picture-making, not five days! This book will help you on your way to becoming an artist. But you will still need-- in some cases-- years of lessons to become a tried and true draughtsman. 2. The author's hubris. The opening chapters start out like Edwards is God's gift to art instruction. Jiminy Christmas! From the way she describes the breakthroughs of her students and her achievements, you would think that these scenes were as dramatic as when Helen Keller finally said "wa-wa!" Give me a break! 3. The Right Brain/Left Brain B.S. The premise of the book is sheer genius: in order to learn to draw, one must learn to see as an artist. Nice and simple, right? So why does the author feel the need to support this idea with this half-brained notion of left brain/right brain theory? This was one of my most frustrating experiences with the book. There were so many times in reading it when I screamed, "If she just took out all this nonsense about the left and right brain, she would have the perfect art instruction book!" When you read this edition of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, you will notice that Edwards spends an inordinate and unnecessary amount of time defending this theory and shoving it down our gullets, when she could have spent that time instead showing you more art techniques. Funny thing about that is that the left brain/right brain theory is not only debatable, it is absolutely unnecessary in the teaching of art instruction. It is. To teach someone to draw, one must present the student with a solid base of tried and true exercises and techniques teaching him how to retrain his eyes. But Edwards, desperate, to be famous for her "theory," forces the issue again and again that you must understand how the brain works in order to draw. She even makes it a point to say that you can teach someone to draw without left brain/right brain theory, but that it would be "very difficult." This statement is a classic case of ego at work again! Edwards just can't let go of the fact that the theory she proposed initially may have been a little wrong-headed, so not only does she waste a chapter or two exhausting the reader with scientific research, she keeps forcing the issue throughout the book. But why? Even if the right brain/left brain theory were wrong, Edwards would still be an important figure in art instruction! Once again, I get the sense that her defensiveness is just ego. If it were proven that left brain/ right brain theory were wrong, it would make-- in what I am assuming is her opinion-- her discoveries that less "special." That would be a shame if that were the case, because she doesn't need the crutch of "right brain" theory to legitimize her work. Her art instruction techniques already speak for themselves. 4. It was muddled. What really surprised me about the book was how schizophrenic it was. It was one part scientific, giving detailed analyses of how the brain works; one part art instruction book, with solid art techniques that go back centuries (the plastic picture plane); and one part Zen Buddhist philosophy. There was something very odd about seeing very scientific passages accompanied by very philosophical, Zen quotes in the margins. As a result, the book had a very work-in-progress, disjointed feel that the previous editions didn't have before. THE BOTTOM LINE: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain-- the earlier editions, that is-- is a must-have if you want to understand the concept of how to see visually. There is no doubt about it-- it is one of the most pivotal art instruction books of our time. But understand that this book is only the first step. You will not become Michelangelo overnight. Also, don't take the idea that you have two brains two seriously, because for one, it's never been proven and two, this idea will eventually get in the way of learning how to draw. All in all, a three star review from me.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for absolute beginners, not for intermediate students
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: If you just want to get started drawing cartoons
or copying other peoples drawings with no fuss this
is not the best book to start with. I am about 3/4 of
the way through it now. I really like this book alot
and it think it is a great book but probably best used
after some initial level of confidence is aquired. Also
the book provides a lot of thoery that is probably too
advanced for preteens so I wouldn't use it for teaching
children unless your going to be helping them along the
way and explaining it to them. The main thing is that
you might not get sudden explosive results like a lot of
people say, I could already draw realistic noses
and eyes and such before I started reading it by using well defined methods but I am learning much from this book, I really think if you want to do this book you should bother to read the thoery and try to participate in the described mindset. I think it's a great book, I have been practicing
with it and "Keys to drawing" side by side and
both are similar however but Keys is more of a how to
book where Right brain includes more thoery and a
little less action. The drawing excerizes in both books
can take a considerable amount of time if you want to finish the books quickly(ie doing several excersizes a day) so it's probably best to start when you'll have some free time.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable book!
Review: This is, without question, THE book to buy for anyone who wants to explore the "other" side of your brain. Our schools do a good job teaching the left brain - which is where words and numbers come from. But the right brain has been woefully uneducated in the American system, for most of the last half-century. Thus, we are only educating "half" the brains of students until we recognize that art unlocks powerful forces - creative thinking, insight, and the wonderful manifestation of "visual literacy" - being able to draw what you see. The book doesn't purport to take its readers to the level of so-called "high art," but it does an amazing job offering basic skills of drawing that anyone can learn. No one would expect an elementary school student to produce Shakespearean prose just because she knows how to read. Likewise, no one expects you to produce masterpieces of creativity just because you learn to draw. Drawing is tantamount to reading - a tool to THINKING. Get this book and open up your mind!
Rating:
Summary: Great book for non-artists
Review: I am not an artist, and would not normally presume to comment on an art instruction book. However, my personal experience is that after reading this book, I am now able to sketch for the first time in my life. I have always wanted to be able to draw, and for various reasons had never succeeded. This book presented sketching in a way I had never encountered, and it was effective for me. The only negative I can find with this book is that it is a little repetitive...I think the real benefit is in looking at drawing in a new way, which you learn in the first couple of chapters. I did not find it necessary to read the entire book to see the positive results.
Rating: 
Summary: a re-hash of other, equally disparate instruction
Review: The novelty of the title is appropriate to the NEW AGE genre in style and language. Were one to purchase a title such as "Drawing On My Left Elbow" one would have an equally diffuse sense of the obscure methodology of this "new" way of drawing. I mean, really, forget Michaelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt et al of the Rennaissance. Now it is fashionable to approach art with the all the "NEW & IMPROVED" Madison Avenue advertising hype of a laundry soap commercial, where one is convinced that one actually draws with a half of a brain, and falsely suggests that former methods employed only the LEFT SIDE of the brain, titled in the fashion of naming of 1960's rock bands. There is virtually no intermediate drawing process in Betty Edwards book. One sees completed drawings, inferring that if the student merely sees the pictures, it will result in equally completed drawings, with not even so much as an errant smudge on the neat white paper. The text suggests that the student practice of course, but the author will not be accompanying the student during the journey, and none of the illustrations contained in Edward's book indicate the intermediate drawings, the practice, the failures and disappointments at representing form that every new student feels. This is where the student is quite literally abandoned to the wolves of personal insecurity, frustration, disappointment, and the resultant low self-estimation. After all, Edwards can actually draw...and you can't. That, in my view, is a complete failure in art instruction.
Edward's book is also a perpetuation of a common myth regarding TEACHING of any kind; that, if one can DO something well, one can also TEACH it. That just isn't so. Oddly, one would never think of teaching woodworking by showing completed cabinetry; but somehow it seems fashionable to infer that there is a shortcut to training eye and hand. There are no shortcuts. It was true 700 years ago. It is true today. There is good drawing instruction by Will Pogany, Cortina Famous Artists School, Walt Reed, and absolutely, Robert Beverly Hale, and any serious drawing student would be well-advised to examine such books, in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: If You Draw Like a Grade Schooler...You Need This
Review: If you are a numbers oriented person, it is likely you are a left brain thinker, meaning you probably have a hard time drawing and doing creative things. Your left side of your brain is the dominant side and stifles the creative side. This book teaches you how to exercise the right side of the brain-the creative side. It tricks the numbers side of your brain to bow out of the task, leaving the creative right side free to work. Although proper training and practice are necessary, this book teaches techniques for those who have not yet learned to "see as an artist sees" which yield immediate results. On first try, I was able to draw with a 3 dimensional look and nearly replicate intricate drawings whereas, before the book my drawings looked almost like they did in 3rd grade.
This book goes into a lot of detail why we draw as we do and how to remedy that. I have seen a lot of art books, but this one is THE best for a remedial are student like me. Drawing has become a relaxing activity instead another failure session.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Good Art Book
Review: This is Not a Good Art Book. I expected this book to have plenty
of artwork in it and step-by-step drawings showing how to draw
artworks and just a few words elaborating on the steps. Instead
the 291 page book is mostly text and not artwork. However if you
want a good art book, I suggest Cartoon Animation by Preston
Blair. It is full of progressive sketches which describe how
to do artwork. Or Steven Stipelman's Illustrating Fashion
Concept to Creation is another suggestion by me. It is again
filled with artwork, here drawings of figure, face, hands,
body curve, and many clothing items. Instead of looking at Betty Edwards New Drawing on the Right
Side of the Brain for creativity, you can look at The Facts On
File Visual Dictionary by Jean-Claude Corbeil which is a book
of entirely various line illustrations with name labels. Or you could look at a detailed Internet listing of the
Library of Congress Subject Classification to expand your
creativity to all the specific subject topics of a Library.
You could draw items of words falling under the subjects listed. Or for creativity, you could type in various words into
Yahoo! Image and Google Image search engines and sketch or
do artwork based on the retrieved images. But instead the New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
just has two or three illustrations of drawing rules and
no useful artwork. You could even just pick up an Encyclopedia
if you wanted to look at not at all useful artwork choices.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Resource Book for Artists and Non-Artists Alike!
Review: This updated edition of the classic book by Betty Edwards is a must-read - not only for artists but for those wanting to unleash their creativity. Learning to draw is like learning to write - there are very basic skills that we should all know. It doesn't mean that everyone who learns to draw must become a professional artist, just like the fact that everyone learns to write, but doesn't not become a professional writer. These are both ways to access our thoughts and creativity - visually AND in words. There is no secret to drawing, held only by those special few "artists." Drawing is a skill everyone can have, and we are better for it. (And to the reviewer who churlishly recommended Nicolaides' book instead of Edwards': Yes, is important, too, but Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is very complementary to it, and carries his work many steps further...) Buy this book and open your mind!
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