Customer Reviews

Drawing for Older Children & Teens

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If I had to pick only 5 books from my art instruction shelf to keep and had to sell all the rest this would head the list as Keeper Book 1. Many people are familiar with Betty Edward's Drawing on the Right-Side of the Brain and I agree it is a good book. But Mona Brooke's book is every bit as good and I really feel it is unknown and under-appreciated compared to Ms. Edwards book - especially considering the excellent instruction and lessons each chapter gives. These 2 books are excellent complements to each other. And don't let the title throw you. This book is worthy of every adult wanna-be-artist's bookshelf. There are just as many examples of adult beginner artwork as there are examples from children and teenagers. Like the Betty Edwards book it teaches beginners progressively how to see and draw things and people. But this book puts a much larger focus on creativity - take what you learn and unleash it creatively as well as realistically (or even un-realistically if that's what you prefer as the author says).

Everything is here - proportion, perspective, contrast, shading, scale, etc. and the tons of "projects" help reinforce the lessons. But a big chunk of the book give projects stressing creativity as well. That is what I love about this book so much. Not only do these people go from childlike drawings and progress to increasingly amazing results -they throw in big doses of creative inspiration as well. So, for example, some of the students (after learning and proving to themselves they can finally draw realistic portraits) forsake strict realism for more creative interpretive portraits. In short, the author never loses sight of the fact that drawing, any artistic endeavor in fact, should be fun. All kinds of materials are suggested for the various projects. And the student artwork in this book is very inspiring. Everything from strict realism to whimsical to experimental is shown. Once you learn how to draw realistically you can then break those rules if it suits your creativity better. This book is just plain FUN. FUN! FUN! FUN! Get it along with the Betty Edwards book. They really make a great art-instruction duo.

This is a wonderful book for the beginner. I was not only a beginner, but I was a beginner who didn't believe that I had any artistic talent whatsoever. TalentSchmalent! I finished this book and realized I could draw and am now part-way through a more intesive drawing study book she recommends. I could never have gotten anywhere if I hadn't started with Mona Brookes' book. Many thanks to the author!

The book's title is what the book actually provides. Drawing for OLDER CHILDREN AND TEENS. People who give this book to a six year old shouldn't be surprised that some of the exercises or explanations are too hard. Likewise, people who want to draw like Rembrandt should realize that a book titled 'drawing for older children and teens' might not be the best resource. Do people even think any more?

Anyway, now that that's out of my system: I adore this book. There are three drawing books I will never give away: this one, Edwards's _drawing on the right side of the brain_ (psychobabble or not aside, the fact is, it works!) and Dodson's book on drawing. Each has strengths and weaknesses. The absolute strength of Brookes's book is sheer enthusiasm. One reviewer is scandalized by the testimonials of success cases Brookes includes: I found them the most inspiring. But what can I say, I need all the encouragement I can get. Even if you skip all that and jump to the exercises, you will get your money's worth out of this book.

What it has that is unique: a day one invitation to play with different drawing media. Edwards's book is perhaps a little too pencil-sketch focussed--this book encourages you to play with colored pencils, art pens, and pastel crayons. I reiterate the word 'play'. For those of us who want to learn to draw as a hobby, not as professional artists, the notion of art as play rather than work is very important. (Again, professional artists, the title alone might tell you this book is not for you?) It also encourages you to learn different STYLES. Edwards's book has sometimes been criticized for being too focused on realistic drawing. Brookes encourages you to try abstraction and flat drawing as well as a more realistic style. Overall, it encourages you more than any other book I've encountered thus far, to develop your own style.

Even the limitations of the book are not limitations, if you take into account the audience. Her list of subjects to draw doesn't necessarily work for me, but I remember as a teenager drawing a lot of the items on her list over and over again. (I must have drawn about a million horses). A student today just handed in an in-class writing assignment with the bottom half covered with a drawing of a car. She knows, in other words, what young people like to draw, and presents the information in manageable and attractive pieces. If you're an older reader, like me, who picked this book up because I suck way too much at drawing for books like _the Natural Way to Draw_ and many other upper level learn to draw books, some of the exercises seem silly. Skip 'em! Do another one you like better, again. I've had a lot of fun, for example drawing my cats in not only a variety of media (pastel, colored pencil, conte, pencil) but also in many more styles (primitive, cartoonish, realistic, abstract). A lot of the technical exercises (copying drawings upside down, using a viewfinder) are in many other drawing books, but are again presented in a young adult friendly manner.

It's a book about ENJOYING drawing. Anything you like, you're bound to become better at, because you enjoy it, so you keep doing it. Especially if you get results you like. This really is worth a look, but only if you either fit into the categories of the title, or still draw like you do!

This book was easy to follow and interesting. It would be a little too much for a child to understand on their own, but with limited assistance it is an excellent guide for beginners who want to draw. My grandson was thrilled with it!

Mona completely re-opened the "right hemisphere" in both myself and the kids I taught to use her methods (age 8 and older). For those who understand this mode of thinking, once the gate is opened and your drawing hand coordinates with it, you can draw anything well: buildings, landscapes, people, animals, vehicles. Others may not understand this approach, they may think differently and prefer the "left hemisphere" mode of analytical thinking, years of critique, the old method of drawing lots of nudes, studying the analysis behind perspective. But for those who want to get straight to the source of artistic ability and draw what they are seeing, in their mind or what they're directly looking at, here's an approach that can be very useful. After time with it, a visual of what you want to draw just seems to shoot out of your drawing hand. It sinks in deeply, vs. the other approach of taking years to gain talent, or even worse, the instant gratification approaches to drawing animals or cartoons that rely on memory of that particular step by step drawing, without being able to use it for any other drawing. All three could no doubt work together in some beneficial way, but this approach is highy recommended either by itself or with the others.

This book has been praised by other reviewers and I have no wish to repeat and rehash their reviews, so check them out. =) I would only add that the title could be misleading in that the term "older children" can be variously interpreted. I bought this for my 10-year-old daughter, whom I consider an "older child." This book is most definitely geared to the attention ability of teens--or "older children" with a HIGH (and determined) level of interest in truly LEARNING how to draw. It is VERY heavy on prose, with a LOT of written explanation of technique. There are plenty of illustrated examples, but I don't see my daughter sitting down to learn to draw and wanting to READ a lengthy explanation of how to do something.

I would consider this more of an instruction book than a how-to book, intended to be READ then applied. A child who is younger (younger than say 13 or so) would likely need a good bit of parental involvement to get a more full understanding and appreciation of what the book teaches. However, if you have a young savant or a very patient reader at home, who doesn't mind wading through the lengthy explanations of technique, by all means buy this book. It is an excellent treatise on drawing fundamentals.

All this being said, I intend to keep the book. I will break it out as a Xmas present and see what her interest level is in really learning about drawing rather than just busting out a quick picture. If she seems overwhelmed by its depth and scope, I will help her work through some of the basics and/or hang on to it until she is older.

It's a excellent book that assists the art educator in understanding how to excel their students further. I use the pictures and exercises in the books to show the students how children (their age or younger) have improved in their drawings by using some of their methods. This gives them the hope and confidence that they can reach a level that they can only imagine. It's a must have book for any art educator.

After years of searching for a good text for my teleclass in high school Art-2D, I finally found this out-of- print text. Luckily you had enough copies for these two classes, a total of 16 students, at a public school for students who are sick at home or at the hospital and need to be taught by phone.

This is a simple system that really works. It is not some "miracle cure" but based in solid art training and much practice. It takes time for the teacher (me) to learn how to get the job done on the phone, but this book
helps a lot.

The idea is to lead these kids forward step by step as described in the book. I usually do the exercises with them, and I have seen considerable progress in a very short time. After years of art training I am learning a lot myself by simply following the steps outlined. Learning to draw is no rocket science for me now. It is a simple process. You can learn how to draw.

The only small criticism I have is that the book addresses itself more to the adult teacher than to the student. I wish Ms. Brooks would write a new text that can be used in high schools, addressing the student directly. It would help, of course to have a teacher edition to go with it.

Drawing for Older Children & Teens
I'm a big fan of MonArt approach in teaching children art. It's amazing how it works with little kids.
My boys are 11 - I have a feeling they are inbetween of being kids and becoming older kids. I find "Drawing with children" works better for them now, they are not ready for the freedom of choices offered in the Drawing for Older Children & Teens.
I'm using the book for myself and having lots of fun with the projects described there and the projects inspired by the book.

I had read the first volume and found it and the author a bit too self-referencing. Still, there were some good insights and wading through it was interesting, if only to get inside another art teacher's mind. But I am not finding the same value as I did in the first book, finding it more of the same for the most part. Sorry; I think the material covered could have been done in much fewer words.