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Summary: Great book !
Review: I have always admired people who could sit down and sketch out an object. I have made such attempts myself and have ended up frustrated and unhappy with what was on the paper. This book illustrates where my frustrations were coming from. I am a programmer by day and believe my left brain was dominating any attempts at drawing. Without this book, I never understood how as much as a tried to "view" the object and try to interpret to the page, some other part of myself would try to rush it and create lines that weren't there.
This past weekend I sat down and did several of the exercises and then set out into my garden to sketch. The results were amazing. I was able to quiet my left brain and I found myself able to interpret exactly what I saw.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has been frustrated and discouraged from drawing. It really made a difference in my work.
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Summary: The best how-to-draw draw book on the planet
Review: If you want to learn how to draw, buy this book.I cannot say enough positive things about this book and the methods it contains. Betty Edwards provides easy to follow instructions and all you have to do is dedicate forty-five minutes of your time to each lesson. In practically no time at all, you will see noticeable improvements in your abilities.
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Summary: Use this in my classroom
Review: I am a middle school art teacher and the #1 thing my students want to learn is how to draw. I use the techniques outlined here to teach them to draw what they see, not what they know. Valuable resource for me!
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Summary: Highly recommended! A great start for drawing newbies!
Review: I have been drawing for a long time (since I was 4). Drawing is a major influence and passion in my life, so I always am looking for new art books, and new perspectives on drawing. I consider this book to be an excellent addition to any artist's (or aspiring artist's) library. Also, I once attended a class taught by one of Betty Edwards' students. It was such a helpful and inspiring class, and everyone improved dramatically. It was a wonderful class. Even though I am no longer a drawing "newbie", I found new insights and new ways to observe and see, thanks to this book. It truly can help new artists and "non" artists draw more accurately. It's amazing! Fabulous! However, this book is not the ultimate book on drawing, and it should never be regarded as such. It cannot possibly answer every question, or provide every insight. It is only a first step. Drawing accurately is just one component to being an artist. (And I hasten to add, I'm REAL big on drawing accurately, I think it is important.) There is a lot of exploration and growth that each artist must undertake in order to fully develop. There will be further study of anatomy, color, line, etc. etc. This book does not pretend to teach everything, and no one should expect it to. But, don't worry about that right away, if you are a "newbie". Get the book, enjoy it, learn from it, and then look into other books. This book will give you that needed "jump start" and will help you gain a great deal of confidence. You will be most pleased with the progress you will be able to make, thanks to this book.
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Summary: Excellent new perspective in teaching to draw...
Review: After seeing an amazing improvement in my own drawing, I ordered this for my sister. The improvement in her own drawing has been astounding and she is finding creativity within herself she didn't realize she had. I have been receiving many excited phone calls from her describing pictures she's been working on, telling me how satisfying it is to take time just "for herself" after her kids go to bed, and how it's the best birthday gift I've ever given her. We are both in mid age and find that exploring new horizons in our creativity, continuing to learn new things, and caring for the person "within and without" helps not only us, but those we love. You can't put a price tag on those kinds of benefits, this has been a very worthwhile, repeat purchase for our family. Would highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book to learn and teach!
Review: If you don't know anything about art this is the book that will guide you, it contains great examples. If you are a teacher this is the book you need to teach your students. It has many different projects and enjoying lessons.
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Summary: Still an awakening
Review: What can I say. I read this book 13 years ago, and it changed my life. I read it again recently, and it had the same effect. The first time around, it was a remarkable learning experience about what it really is to be able to draw. The second time around, it was a wonderfully motivational book that made me fall in love all over again with the art I had left behind so long ago.
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Summary: Pretentious rambling garbage
Review: The right/left brain analogy is useless pretense based on a typically shallow understanding of dubious popular neurophysiological nonsense. This book never goes anywhere. I was looking for instruction. I got jibberish.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Beginner's Drawing Book
Review: Seems to be a lot of reviews here that hate Edwards and a lot that love her. I think this is a great book, but only for getting your drawing skills up to a certain level of competency. I am glad I read the book and would recommend it to anyone like me. I took up the pencil about two months ago and have never had any drawing instruction previously. After spending about three weeks with her book, practicing 2-3 hours a day, I am now at a skill level where I feel comfortable (dare I say proud) to show my drawings to my friends. I am no longer afraid (out of embarrassment) to sign up for classes with the Art Students' League. That is what Edwards' book will do for you. It will not make you an artist; it will teach you a skill, quickly. I don't want to get dragged into who is and who is not an artist, but consider this book more like how to ride a bike, not on how to be a cyclist. Regarding the two mind theory, I say skim through all of the bits about the brain, but don't skip it. Whether or not it is proven is unimportant. The concept of two brains is proven as an effective model for teaching drawing, and that is all that is important.
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Summary: For Anyone Who Thought They Couldn't Draw
Review: Well, well, well....judging from the reviews this book has received it seems to elicit either a "love it" or "hate it" response. My own response is in the former but with a few minor reservations. First, I think the book from its inception to the current edition is mainly aimed for people who haven't attempted to draw since they were children but would like to try again. For someone who is further along in their drawing skills they may or may not find this book helpful. It really depends on how far along they are. The best strengths of the book are the sections that actually teach techniques and tricks that break down how to see and draw. For a rank beginner who has never tried drawing before this getting down to the nitty-gritty is essential to get them headed in the right direction. Before Ms. Edward's book there were few art books (none,in fact, to my knowledge) that gave such low-level basic instruction in such a clear, concise manner. Now many of the techniques she teaches have actually been in use by artists for centuries - witness for example, the grid and the picture plane as teaching tools and concepts. She gives a nitty-gritty explanation of sighting techniques that have been used by artists since at least the Rennaissance and possibly earlier. The reason so many people have given this book 5 stars is that this was one of the first drawing books to realize simply telling someone to compare object 'a' to object 'b' and draw each in proper proportion to the other is not detailed enough. It's the case of an expert forgetting what it's like to be an absolute beginner. This book does not make such statements. Instead you get very detailed diagrams and analysis of exactly how you "compare 'a' to 'b' " and draw accordingly. So the book is full of "assignments". Each chapter introduces more techniques, continues giving nitty-gritty instructions on use of classical methods of drawing to build your skills. Essentially these techniques are drawn upon by anyone who draws in a realistic manner. Once the reader has spent a lot of practice and time drawing objects around them using these sighting techniques Ms. Edwards shows how to use them for portraiture. I personally think it was good decision. Portraiture is widely (and rightly) perceived as being a difficult thing to do. But everyone who begins a portrait uses exactly the same techniques introduced earlier in the book. The methods are exactly the same no matter what the subject. She just gives again a blow-by-blow, nitty-gritty account of using those techniques to draw someone's portrait and do so believably. Now whether the before portraits had more charm than the after portraits (as one reviewer said) can be debated. I don't think this book is concerned with such higher aims - at least not for someone who has been faithfully following the instructions so far. You have to walk before you can run. Now as far as the drawing assignments in the book I have a mixed opinion. On the one hand, this latest edition relies a lot more on aids such as 2 different sizes of plastic viewing planes, L-shaped frame borders, etc for the assigments. She offers a kit on her website and through mail-order in the back of the book if you would rather not construct your own drawing aids and tools. The first edition of the book didn't depend nearly so much on all these many aids and still helped many people learn to draw. I rather prefer the older methods but it may be that her workshop experience has taught her that people have more success when they start out with these mechanical sighting aids. And as she mentions in the book eventually you can put them aside because you'll have in-grained the habit of seeing as an artist sees. I would also like to comment about the constant R-L Brain theories that pepper this book and have so many reviewers split. In my opinion the book would be just as good without any references whatsoever to R-L Brain theories. And I do say theories because technically they still are. That's why Ms. Edwards mentions in the book that some scientists have grumped about her writing about something she doesn't have research experience in. Current research on brain lateralization is ambiguous at best. Some experiments suggest strong lateralization, some suggest it's weak and malleable, and some suggest lateralization doesn't really exist at all. The field of brain research is still quite a young science so the jury is still out on whether there truly is such a thing as a R-Mode or L-Mode dominant brain state for various tasks. There are a lot of good books and articles published every year on brain research. Maybe Ms. Edwards book will encourage more people to read such books for themselves. Finally, I would like to mention one final thing. Anyone who enjoys this book should by all means get Mona Brookes "Drawing for Older Children and Teens: A Creative Method for Adult Beginners Too". I can not stress this strongly enough. The Mona Brookes book is a 5 star-book and deserves to be far better known than it is. It is DEFINITELY the equal of Drawing on the Right-Side of the Brain. If you want to learn to draw and do so with a much greater focus on your own personal creativity - do yourself a favor - get the Mona Brookes book too. You won't regret it.
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