Zen of Seeing : Seeing/Drawing as Meditation

Rating:
Summary: A Creative Classic
Review: I was overjoyed to see this book back in print. I bought, devoured, and used this book in 1975 as an art student. Have you ever been so interested in doing an activity that time seemed to stand still? When you stop, it's almost like waking up from a pleasant dream or coming home from a long trip. That's what Franck is writing about here: the process of taking a tiny element of nature, a leaf or a stick or a seashell, and getting to know it in an unbelievably intimate way by drawing it. It absolutely does not require artistic "ability" to do this. Nonartists will be astounded what an adventure it is to take an hour or two and do this activity. It is therapeutic. It feeds the soul on a level that is akin to meditation, hence the title. My drawing teacher said, "I am not going to teach you to draw, I am going to teach you to see." Franck does this, and weaves into the text Zen stories and koans that shed light on the reasons for doing this activity in the first place. Enlightenment can be found in the art of tea, in the art of archery, in chanting and meditating, and Franck has shown us that drawing is a very valid method to add to this list. Thank you to the person who decided to reintroduce this classic. When so many books focus on creativity as a way to succeed in business, it's refreshing to return to developing creativity for its own sake. Buy this book, but promise to also plop down under a tree somewhere and draw!

Rating:
Summary: Great Way To learn to Focus your attention while drawing
Review: I've studied many of the how-to draw books out there on the market. And, I must say that this book is quite well written and easy to understand(it is actually handwritten and not typed). It teaches the reader to be more concerned with what he/she is observing than what they are putting down on paper. The author uses many examples to illustrate his points he is tring to get accross. However, this book will not be of any aid to those who are searching for actual techniques and drills (such as step by step excersizes). The lessons taught are somewhat similar in substance to those taught by Dr. Betty Edward's Book "Drawing on the right Side of the Brain". I would recommend this title to those who are interested in drawing for the shear enjoyment of it. So, in that respect I give it 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Great Way To learn to Focus your attention while drawing
Review: I've studied many of the how-to draw books out there on the market. And, I must say that this book is quite well written and easy to understand(it is actually handwritten and not typed). It teaches the reader to be more concerned with what he/she is observing than what they are putting down on paper. The author uses many examples to illustrate his points he is tring to get accross. However, this book will not be of any aid to those who are searching for actual techniques and drills (such as step by step excersizes). The lessons taught are somewhat similar in substance to those taught by Dr. Betty Edward's Book "Drawing on the right Side of the Brain". I would recommend this title to those who are interested in drawing for the shear enjoyment of it. So, in that respect I give it 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely book touching the kernel of Art
Review: Is art about copying or creativity, has been and eternal question for aesthetes. Frederick Franck joins in this search for the kernel of beauty by using drawing as the means of Zen-meditation. He introduces SEEING/DRAWING as opposed to `subjects looking at objects, seeing less and less'.

If you know Zen, you will find in this book one more interesting practical implementation of Zen, like the famous "Zen in the Art of Archery". If you are a drawing artist or studying to become one, it will teach you that a bird is not an ellipse with head and tail added, but yet another form of your inner being, which you first have to identify yourself with in order to become a silent link of the creative flow. If you are looking for a step-by-step drawing tutorial, you will have to search for some other source.

Franck claims that the artist-within must exist in every man, for if man is created in God's image, it can only mean that he is created creative. While he admires an old man who says that `I am not an artist; I am just copying things', for him this kind of copying is not the same as consciously trying to make things look the same, but rather becoming part of the process itself. For Franck the inexpressible is the only thing that it is worth while expressing.

I love this book for its sincerity and deep mental approach to the art of drawing. While the book is full of his beautiful creations, Franck stays humble and being true to the Zen tradition he wants to be just a `True-Man-With-No-Label' drawing the `Ten Thousand Things'. This book is published handwritten, because, as he says, it is a love letter.


Rating:
Summary: artist mode of seeing
Review: This book is about developing the artist mode of seeing. By drawing what you see you will see better and then be able to draw it better which will allow you to absorb the whole of nature by paying attention to its small details too. The book is an eye opener- Author- Creative Painting For The Young Artist

Rating:
Summary: A philosophical work that is not so deep
Review: This book starts out by showing reader a technique of removing philosophical sunglass a typical person usually have when they look at objects. Then it wanders to signify it by relating it to something big, difficult to understand/not clearly stated, and appeal to feeling.
For example, 1. Trying to make mysterious,something that is quoted here and there from Eastern philosophies, some of philosophers quoted are not even related to zen philosophy,
2. Using Pope, Archbishop, big religious figures,
3. Describe nonerotic aspects of drawing nudity
This book is filled with many interesting sketches, pretty easy to read, is educational if you have never thought about aspects of seeing.
I would recommend this book to people who focus too narrowly in their professions.

Rating:
Summary: Observant Meditation- Melting into the Moment
Review: This is a fascinating book that stimulates one to observe the beauty of life's everyday processes and to record these experiences in the form of simpledrawings-- sketches that need not be exact, are often indistinct, yet capture some intricate details to reveal the beauty of nature. This is a very "warm and friendly" book with a very rustic, imaginative style, and is very readable. The expressions in this book have stimulated the interest of almost all who have picked it up- my sons aged 14 and 8, my daughter aged 4, a computer programmer, a cancer patient in the ward, a nurse, and therapist and others from all walks of life - the artist within all of us !

Rating:
Summary: Life in a contemplative way, not just art.
Review: What a revelation! This book is actually a way of life, a way of seeing world in a very different yet sobbering way. This book is for the artist within, those of us who are intimidated by our art-works and yet have a deep longing to express ourselves through them.
In this book, Mr. Franck shares his way of viewing the world and expressing it through his drawings and the process is very much spiritual, it is a way of life. When I picked up this book, I thought I'd learn some technique in drawing that can help me, but I gained so much more; all I needed to learn I already have inside. Now, I can't wait to bring my sketchbook and pencil everywhere I go and start drawing.

Rating:
Summary: Don't ever let it go.
Review: Where has this book been? I started drawing and painting a few years back and have bought lots of books, but none like this! I don't think of myself as a Zen person or a mystic, but this book really speaks to me. The drawings are beautiful, but go beyond a superficial beauty. Even if one is not interested in drawing, there is lots in this book to recommend it. It is not just a book about seeing and drawing, it is a book about truly living.

Rating:
Summary: Don't ever let it go.
Review: Where has this book been? I started drawing and painting a few years back and have bought lots of books, but none like this! I don't think of myself as a Zen person or a mystic, but this book really speaks to me. The drawings are beautiful, but go beyond a superficial beauty. Even if one is not interested in drawing, there is lots in this book to recommend it. It is not just a book about seeing and drawing, it is a book about truly living.