Drawing on the Artist Within: An Inspirational and Practical Guide to Increasing Your Creative Powers (Paperback)

by Betty Edwards (Author) "What on earth is creativity?..." (more)
Key Phrases: analog drawings, preinstruction drawings, chameleon concept, Problem Analog, Pure Contour Drawing, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

AH-HA! I SEE IT NOW!

Everyone has experienced that joyful moment when the light flashes on -- the Ah-Ha! of creativity.

Creativity. It is the force that drives problem-solving, informs effective decision-making and opens new frontiers for ambition and intelligence. Those who succeed have learned to harness their creative power by keeping that light bulb turned on.

Now, Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, the million-copy best-seller that proved all people can draw well just as they can read well, has decoded the secrets of the creative process to help you tap your full creative potential and apply that power to everyday problems. How does Betty Edwards do this? Through the power of drawing -- power you can harness to see problems in new ways.

Through simple step-by-step exercises that require no special artistic abilities, Betty Edwards will teach you how to take a new point of view, how to look at things from a different perspective, how to see the forest and the trees, in short, how to bring your visual, perceptual brainpower to bear on creative problem-solving.

You will learn how the creative process progresses from stage to stage and how to move your own problem-solving through these key steps:

* First insight
* Saturation
* Incubation
* Illumination (the Ah-Ha!)
* Verification

Whether you are a business manager, teacher, writer, technician, or student, you'll find Drawing on the Artist Within the most effective program ever created for tapping your creative powers. Profusely illustrated with hundreds of instructional drawings and the work of master artists, this book is written for people with no previous experience in art.

About the Author
Dr. Betty Edwards is Professor of Art at California State University, Long Beach. Her original contributions to the art of drawing and creativity have reached far beyond the college classroom where she has taught for many years. Her work has been praised by a wide range of distinguished psychologists and educators, and she has conducted creativity seminars and workshops for leading businesses including IBM and General Electric.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; 1st Fireside Ed edition (April 6, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067163514X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671635145
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,610 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but lots of overlap. Definitely try the original..., November 6, 2001

By	R. Stephen Gracey (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am one of the biggest fans of Betty Edwards' work, having learned to draw in five days by the "Right Brain" method. I have found the "Artist Within" book less helpful than the others, however. In it, Edwards uses many of the same drawing approaches (exercises that I love and which have made all the difference to me) as "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," but now she applies them to creative problem solving.

I agree completely with her premises and support the approach. On the other hand, as a book, this one is less helpful than the original precisely because it reuses so much of the same material. I would have liked more theory and exploration of just how learning to draw makes a difference in other parts of one's life.

So, I'm not sure I'd recommend this book wholeheartedly, unless you just can't get enough of the "Right Brain" drawing approach. Get "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," first. Then decide if you want more elaboration with a different spin.

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than "Drawing on the right side of the brain", March 31, 2000

By	Mar Calpena (Barcelona, Spain) - See all my reviews

This book is the sequel to Betty Edwards brilliant "Drawing on the right side of the brain", but it does contain most of the material in the other title (except for the section on colour) and adds to it a lot of material on creativity and problem solving through drawing. Mrs Edwards method is incredible (I am the one who reviewed the other book as "Took me from stick men to portraits in three days"). If this book included the color section as well it would be perfect.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's worth buying for the part on analog drawing, September 8, 2004

By	Catherine J. Morgan "abstract expressionist p... (Clarkesville, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is not a substitute for Betty Edwards' basic book on drawing, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. This book is about the creative process. So it applies to more than drawing or even visual art.

For me, the part on analog drawing opened up a whole new way to develop my work. I've used it in dream interpretation and personal growth as well as for my artwork. As an artist-blacksmith, analog drawing with sumi brush and India ink has enabled me to express very specific feelings and states of being with bars of iron.

You may find parts of the book unnecessarily complicated. I don't use everything in the book. But it's worth buying for the chapter on analog drawing. If you've ever had any doubts about your ability to express yourself in art, this book can dispel them completely.