Rating: 
Summary: The New Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain
Review: I was disappointed at first, but after I followed instructions in the book, it really improved my drawings. My drawings are so good it looks like someone else did them,
Rating: 
Summary: From Anxious to Thrilled
Review: As an individual who never thought I had any potential to draw, this book completely thrilled me. Edwards explained that drawing has more to do with seeing than the actual mechanics of drawing (which supposedly, we're all pretty good at). She takes you through steps and examples that help you pick up on these basics of seeing as an artist sees. The book is full of drawing "tasks" that lets the eager beginner get started right away. These tasks are designed to teach you new things while producing surprisingly good drawings. Of course this book won't make you an amazing artist overnight- but I did see that overnight I went from drawing at a child's level to producing things I never thought I could. It seems like there are two groups of people. Those who have had some sort of art training don't find this simple, easy to read book as amazing as the author tends to make it sound. However, those, like myself, who draw stick figures and smiley faces- calling it art, see this book as some sort of miraculous cure for the cheesy drawings we dislike so much. I recommend this book to anyone who feels anxious or hopeless when it comes to drawing. Anyone who has surpassed that level would probably be best off getting the opinion of someone closer to the artistic level they are currently at.
Rating:
Summary: A good tutor- but skip the brain nonsense.
Review: About that "Right Side of the Brain" business: When this book first came out, the popular literature was clogged with popular works on left brain/right brain functionality, and most of it was total garbage- including most of the stuff on brain laterality in this volume. No matter, though; this is still a very good tutor for the beginning artist. The exercises work whether or not you think you're drawing on the right side of your brain. They're very well thought out, practical excercises that work. What they *aren't* is original. There's a very influential book that was first published in 1941 (and is still in print) entitled "The Natural Way to Draw", by Kimon Nicolaides. Nicolaides was a very influential artist who taught at New York's Aret Students League, and Edwards' book is essentially Nicolaides with a lot of nonsense about "R-mode" and "L-mode" that serves no practical didactic purpose. Edwards' book is still a good tutor for the novice, but Nicolaides is just as good- and in some ways, better.
Rating:
Summary: you NEED this book!
Review: If you have those unrealized feelings of creativity - squelched by years of "left-brain-dominated" teaching in the US school system, you need this book! Unlock your own creativity. Learning to draw is parallel to learning to read. You don't need to be a poet to know how to read; you don't need to be Michelangelo to know how to draw. Drawing opens up new worlds of perception and pleasure. Betty Edwards is a master at clear, empathic explanation. She is a born teacher. This book has changed my life.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Text For Amateur and Proffesional
Review: Want to see an improvement in your art work? Get this book. This book was purchased for me as a gift several years ago, even though I already knew many of the basic concepts of drawing. This enriching and enlightening text is wonderful for both the amateur artist and the proffesional. No matter what level you are at, do not think that this book will not benefit you. I have been involved in art all my life, and am currently studying to obtain my degree in Fine Arts.
Rating: 
Summary: May be great for some people, but not all...
Review: I had heard many, many good things about this book, read reviews, saw it recommended on many sites and at many an art store. What I got was frustration and dissapointment. Why? A few simple things: #1: Unless you are TOTALLY new to drawing, which this book is indeed actually made for, it isn't much help. Even then, if you ARE completely new to drawing, it still might not be of much help. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's just the way it's written..the excercises and general information just aren't helpful for alot of folks. #2: If you REALLY want to become an artist, particularly a "realistic" artist (this includes animation styles as well as actual life art and illustration), the best advice you can have in the world is to draw what you see, and if it doesn't come out right, draw, draw, draw and draw again, then draw some more. Hang out with other artists, swap tips and techniques, that sort of thing. #3: While Miss (Mrs.?) Edwards may have the right idea, her style of writing is one that not alot of people can understand fully. She repeats things over and over again, while all the while getting your spirits up, making you think you're about to do something increadable...then bam. Nothing. You draw the classic vase/face thing...And other such rudimentary things. I really recommend books like The Natural Way To draw (by Kimon Nicolaides) over this book. Also, if you can get ahold of them, most of the larger books (if not all, I haven't gotten my hands on them all yet) by Andrew Loomis are great (the smaller, newer ones which are bad reprints of his older books aren't probably worth the money you save on them).
Rating:
Summary: Useful Methods for Learning to See
Review: I had come across this book about 10 years ago and went about halfway through the exercises but stopped and I don't remember why. I'm now in a situation in a foreign country where I have more time on my hands and have worked my way through the book. Just like the last time, the transformation in my ability to come closer to my own way of seeing is amazing. If you read the book carefully, you will see that she is quite honest in what she is teaching. I was publicly shamed by a couple of art teachers in school for being so bad and now I can say that the limit was not in me, it was in the kind of instruction I had. I think basic drawing should be a skill like writing or riding a bike that we can take and develop according to our own lights. "Real" artists need not fear that there will be more of a glut of professional artists, but all of us can draw and appreciate others' drawings with the skills Edwards teaches. The most important thing is that she gets you to draw and helps you see what is literally in front of your face. While many people may want to make the transition to painting, right now I am content to learn more about drawing and to develop this skill.
Rating: 
Summary: Try a Different Book!
Review: When the first book came out many years ago I was extremely excited, and actually wrote my senior thesis for my Art Education degree about the right/left brain theory. I used the material from the first book to instruct the kids in my classes when I began to teach. Then I paid a lot of money to go see Betty Edwards give a lecture. I was disappointed, turned off, and my whole image of Ms. Edwards was crushed. Now the new book...my true opinion is that she is trying to reinvent the material to make a few more bucks. This book has some viable exercises, and would be fine for the non-drawing person who needs some direction. However, there are a lot of other books (like The Natural Way to Draw) that are a whole lot better. Betty Edwards is not God's gift to learning how to draw...practice and determination are. My advice? Get a different book.
Rating:
Summary: A Quick Study
Review: I want to be able to sketch things the way I see them, but perspective and proportions have always been a problem for me. This book was very helpfull in that regard, without requiring the time or intensity of other books. It was, however, lacking in the writting department. It wasn't the sort of book that made me want to spend time on it. There are much better books out there and I would suggest that if you are between this book and another, you get other. It is useful, but nothing spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: Draw out your hidden self
Review: Amazing. I was one of the people who could only draw stick figures, yet the way this book explains things, I was able to turn out master drawings right away. This book tells you how to draw without regarding the logical side of your brain that is usually getting in the way.
Feel, don't think. Use your instincts.
If you've ever wanted to draw but didn't think you could, read this book!
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