Customer Reviews

The Drawing Breakthrough Book: A Shortcut to Artistic Excellence

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I took several classes in watercolor, participated in exhibitions, and sold a painting before I realized that I would have to learn how to draw before I could take my painting to the next level. I liked to paint animals, but all of my cats ended up looking like a cross between ferrets and potatoes.

The range of introductory drawing books is quite astounding, including some that should be called `Introduction to Drawing Tools and Media' since they are mainly concerned with physical tools such as pencils and papers. Others purport to teach the student how to draw categories of objects, such as fruit or wild life. "The Drawing Breakthrough Book" is a step-by-step instruction manual that will take a beginning artist to the point where he or she can draw anything with basically, a pencil, an eraser, paper, and a ruler (the author includes an introduction, "Getting Organized to Draw" on the tools you will need).

This book employs techniques that can be found in other books, e.g. "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" contains many of the edge and contour learning methods as this author's "Chapter 1, The Magic of Seeing Lines and Shapes." However, "The Drawing Breakthrough Book" enumerates the techniques in a more logical, step-by-step fashion that the left-brained, engineering-types among us will welcome, and even the hopelessly right-brained can employ.

"Working with Guidelines" is the chapter in this book where I achieved my breakthrough. The technique is simple, but without it my cat heads were too long and my human heads were too cut-off and lumpy. It really amazed me how much the methods in this book (simple though they may seem) improved my drawing ability.

"The Drawing Breakthrough Book" isn't embellished with color, or drawings by da Vinci and Rembrandt (which tend to discourage rather than encourage me.) Its photographs, drawings, and text are meant to teach. And that's what they do.


Review copy supplied by author

To be able to create, to be able to express ones self, and pass impressions and thoughts on to others is a gift, and a gift which can bring much pleasure. Art, in the many forms it comes in, is one source of this pleasure I refer to. To be able to create a piece of art, is a nice thing and gives a real sense of accomplishment. Drawing is one of those art forms that is particularly rewarding, and the better you are, the greater the pleasure.

John Hastings has given us a wonderful little work here that, and if used, can actually improve your skills in this area as well as adding so much more pleasure to other artistic endeavors, other than simply drawing. Hastings' methods of teaching the student to draw actually works, you just have to do it! Like any other text, simply reading it will not do the trick; you actually have to follow his instructions and actually have to practice. This I think is the down fall of so many folks when trying to use a teaching method such as we have here.

In this work the author takes us from the simple to the bit more complex. The emphasis is seeing parts of the subject, learning how to place them in the whole, and the relationship of the different parts of each picture to the whole. This is actually most helpful and while it seems obvious, it really is not. It is something we simply overlook. It is something we have to be conscious of and this work helps greatly in this area.

The book is very well designed, organized and well written. The author has not, thank goodness, overwhelmed us with technical jargon which so often throws the new student off. He is simple and to the point. His black and white illustrations are very well, executed, explained and the logic behind each lesson segment is also addressed. Again, this is very helpful. If the lessons and advice from this author are followed, I cannot for the life of me see how it cannot improve your drawing skills.

I have been fortunate enough to have had some formal training in this area. I have had access to some wonderful teachers. Had I not been so fortunate, I would have loved to have had this work available. It certainly would have given me a different perspective in the beginning, and made my life much simpler.

I mentioned that the methods taught here go much further than just drawing. These same methods can be, and are very applicable to oil painting, and photography as well as sculpture, three area I constantly work in. But, even if you never draw or paint a picture, the lessons here are still of great value simply because they make you more aware of your surroundings. It is like when you take up landscape painting. Suddenly, when you view a green hillside, you no longer see just "green," but you become aware of literally hundreds of variations and shades of green. With Hastings' work, you suddenly become aware of thousands of lines and their relationship to the whole that you may not have been aware of. This is valuable stuff folks! It enhances your life!

This book is not only great for the individual, but would be ideal for the home school people. The author has given you a perfect set of lesson plans and with slight modifications, this would make a great text book and study guides.

Overall, I highly recommend this one. It is just one more excellent tool to add to your artistic tool box.

`The Drawing Breakthrough Book, A Shortcut to Artistic Excellence', by John Hastings has at least two things which, on reflection, are obvious components of a really sound book on the elements of drawing. The first thing I notice is that the book reveals things about drawing which the unassisted novice would probably never think of themselves. These suggestions ring true because they sound almost exactly like the `secret' I hear about putting in golf. The professional does not aim at the cup, they aim at the point which, when the ball stops moving, will take it to the cup when the golfer hits it with the putter. The analogue in drawing is that one looks not only for the shapes one wishes to draw, but the spaces between and inside the shapes.
The second aspect of this book which rings so true is the similarity to the famous scene in `The Karate Kid', where Pat Morita teaches Ralph Macchio the basic moves of Karate by having him apply wax to his antique cars, then shine the wax off. The exercise seems so unconnected with actual Karate, and yet it is exactly the thing which trained the novice's mind and arms to Karate. Master Hastings gives us similar exercises which seem to have nothing to do with drawing figures, yet when one practices them faithfully, you will, in fact achieve artistic excellence.
If I were to find any lapse with the book, it's in the fact that when you reach the end of the book, you feel you have become expert in all the mechanics, but the author never really showed you how to draw! It's as if you went through football training camp or boot camp, and never took part in a scrimmage or actually fired a weapon.
Therefore, it seems this book needs at least one of two things. Either the reader has already tried their hand at drawing and has subjects and models of results in mind, and simply needs the right exercises to get his eyes and fingers to accomplish their tasks. Or, the reader needs an additional volume, so the novice knows what to do once their boot camp skills are mastered.
One thing you need to do is to pay serious attention to the title. The book is entirely about drawing on white paper with a pencil. There is nothing here about painting with oils, watercolors, or even charcoal. It doesn't even go so far as to suggest that you use a Number 2 pencil.
So, as far as this book goes, it is really great. Just get one of the books mentioned in the bibliography to round out your introduction to drawing things.

This being the only book on drawing I have read since Jr. High School Art Class, I can't make comparisons to other books in this genre. But I can say this: my drawing has improved about 1000% with THE DRAWING BREAKTHROUGH BOOK: A SHORTCUT TO ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE, by John Hastings.

Trust me, I have no illusions of ever being an artist, but at least now I am confident to do more than just draw stick men. I've had an idea for a children's book, but until I read this book, never considered that I might be able to do the illustrations myself. Now, I believe with some more practice, I could.

Mr. Hastings wastes no time here. He doesn't ease slowly into the subject for twenty or so pages before getting to usable information. Nor does he ramble on trying to impress readers with his writing prose. He simply jumps into the subject of drawing with both feet and supplies the reader with practical, usable information.

I never had that "artsy" gene as a child and never applied myself to art. I believe that is the main reason I was never able to draw. What I learned here is, drawing is much more than just putting pencil to paper and letting your creativity go. It involves determining space, shapes, angles, points of reference and other factors. By learning how to recognize and apply those factors, drawing now makes more organized sense to me than ever before.

The book also contains ample illustrations as you go along. It concludes with a brief glossary, as well as a short list of recommended reading for further study. Overall, the book is brief, concise, and a good place to start for anyone wanting to learn or improve on their drawing skills.

An artist's view of roads, people, even grass is different. You are aware of space (negative and positive) of and around the subject; shadings add depth or dimension. This is frequently a difficult concept for others to understand, but John Hastings has captured the essence of many aspects of art in a short, visually filled book, that will help any artist improve. It is quick & easy to read.

I teach kids to draw because they love the thrill of creating their own picture. The book is too advanced for them; it is another tool for me and any teacher or parent. I used examples from John's book to help my students see that not only the doll they wanted to draw had 2 legs & arms, feet and hands, face & features, ears, body--but these items fall into certain specific places on the drawing. The doll occupies space, and to create a complete picture, adding details around the doll in "proportion"-another complex topic-is covered very well.

Set-up is logical and orderly. All the topics are quick, easy to grasp, and if you do the work, you will see the difference. You may absorb odd little intricacies that have been hard to grasp, almost by osmosis. The book is in black & white with plenty of space for notes or drawings.

I've been drawing for a couple of years and have accumulated several drawing books. This has become one of my faveorites. There are several things I like about this book. One is the author doesn't spend the first half of the book telling you what supplies he thinks you should buy. You can worry about that later once you learn to draw and then you can make those choices for yourself. He also encourages you to use other books and take classes. He doesn't claim his book to be the "only book you'll ever need." What I like most about this book is it teaches you the one basic foundation of drawing, lines. Every drawing begins with one and this book is the best I've found that actually goes into how to do this. This book does it well. No complicated drawings to turn upside down and copy. You don't have to get a veiw finder or rulers or make a grid. He teaches you how to draw lines, by, well, drawing lines. This is a great book to have in any art collection. I only gave it four stars because I wish it was longer!

John Hastings has released a complete drawing course in one deceptively slim volume. I am not an artist nor have I ever aspired to draw anything more than geometric doodles, but I was intrigued by the story of John Hastings, a man so frustrated with traditional art lessons that he applied his professional electronics background to writing a manual about the process of learning to draw. Hastings has written a how-to book like no other, one that breaks drawing down into manageable, digestible pieces.

Lessons are presented in a two-column format, with sketch samples or black and white photographs running down one side, and explanations on the other. The firm organization of the book was appealing to me, as is the fact that I can repeat lessons as necessary as I work at my own pace through the course. The only supplies needed for following Hastings's course are a pencil, eraser, and paper. He doesn't even require that you have an arsenal of pencils - this book is focused solely on line drawings.

After finishing the exercises prescribed by Hastings, which range from seeing to measuring to drawing, the reader will view the world differently. He or see will see new shapes, appreciate composition, and having the confidence to translate a real-world image into a paper drawing.

Beginning artists are typically told, "Draw what you see"- meaning draw that actual pattern of shapes and line before you, and not your preconceived notions of what an object looks like. That's good advice, but how do you learn to do it? There are a lot of "How to draw" books designed to teach the amateur how to copy the author's images, but very few that teach the basic seeing skills needed to represent the world as it is.

John Hastings has put together a carefully crafted system that teaches beginning artists how to see lines and edges, how to accurately transfer shapes and proportions to paper, and how to develop the drafting skills needed to accurately represent the shapes and lines being put to paper. Hundreds of illustrations accompany the text, insuring that the reader understands each excercise as the author intends. The excercises echo many of the techniques used by drawing teaches, and an attentive beginner who practiced these excercises would certainly find themselves making significant advaces in their drawing skills.

This is not a complete course in drawing; rather, it's a necessary first step, intended to bring the beginner to the point of accurately representing edges and outlines on paper. There's nothing on light and shadow, or mass, or color, though the author does suggest some books for further study. I think Hastings' manual would make a good adjunct to Timon Niccolaides' classic text, "The Natural Way to Draw", as Hastings expands on some of the basics in Niccolaides, and provides more detailed explanations and illustrations of some of the basics found in that book.

When author John Hastings became frustrated with the difficulties of the drawing lessons he was taking; he took matters into his own hands, and developed a revolutionary new way for people from all walks of like to learn how to draw like a professional. The outcome was THE DRAWING BREAKTHROUGH BOOK.

THE DRAWING BREAKTHROUGH BOOK is, perhaps, one of the simplest how-to guides on the market. Hastings has combined illustrations with actual photographs to depict the proper way to draw anything you happen to see - from angles to shapes, and so much more. His instructions are clear-cut, precise, and simple enough for someone in grade school to understand; however, he manages not to alienate anyone by keeping things on a level that would appeal to want-to-be artists of all ages. The fact that Hastings was not an artist himself, and managed to learn to draw only boosts the reader's confidence, inspiring them even more to achieve their goal of art.

I have always loved art, but I don't consider myself an artist. THE DRAWING BREAKTHROUGH BOOK gave me the confidence to think otherwise. Hastings has penned an amazing book that gives you the lowdown on everything you need to put pen to paper and draw. The set-up of the book is easy-to-follow, and the examples truly simplify the art process, making you believe that you can draw - with a little practice. A drawing how-to for the masses!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

This is about drawing, pure and simple. Hastings begins briefly with the tools: working surface, lighting, pencils and pens, paper, and tape to hold the paper in place. And then it's about seeing the lines--really seeing, which is what the artist has to do--and then the composition. And practice. As with so many things in life, regular practice is the key to success. Hastings recommends that you time your sessions

He emphasizes not using the terms "positive and negative space." Instead he stays with the line itself. If we draw a hand with fingers spread out (as in the illustration on page 12) we tend to concentrate on the lines that shape the fingers. But Hastings wants us also to be aware of the space shape created by those lines--the space between the fingers--by concentrating on the lines themselves. If we can draw the lines with both ideas in mind our feel for the lines and what we are trying to create is greatly enhanced.

Hastings wants the student to master the "building-block lines" and then move on to composition. After that, work on other kinds of lines. There are three building-block lines: straight lines, circle lines (including arcs), and elliptic lines. With these three lines and some variation anything can be drawn. He cites a story about Leonardo da Vinci who, when asked by a customer for a sample painting instead demonstrated his skill by drawing a perfect circle.

The book is filled with illustrations, examples and tips. There are exercises at the end of five of the eight chapters for the student to try. There is an emphasis on clarity and simplicity throughout that I found admirable and encouraging.

The book is beautifully designed and presented. It would make a nice gift for someone you know who wants to learn to draw.