Rating: 
Summary: A new way to SEE around and to SEE yourself !
Review: "Drawing? No, no, I can't draw. That's the job of artists." Isn't this what most of us say when someone talks about drawing or art? What we don't say is that we also have a secret wish that we can draw like an artist. If you are one of these people, grab this book and you will be amazed by what you can draw by following the author's assignments. She really teaches us how to SEE what's in front of us, rather than by our preconceptions. You learn not only how to draw but a new way of seeing your inner self: being creative and artistic -- something you always are but you didn't believe that you were before reading this book and doing all those drawing exercises
Rating: 
Summary: 80% written text, but only 20% illustration
Review: Betty Edwards book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is 80% text and only 20% illustration for all 254 pages, and very few of the illustrations are from Edwards.
It is a clunky and overly intellectual approach to drawing, presenting a virtual, THEORY-OF-EVERYTHING. According to p. 46, an "alternative state of consciousness" is required before one can draw. That's NOT liberating an "artist within" but rather binding the "artist within" to Edwards' art theories, hardly a liberating work.
Otherwise, Edwards shifts back and forth (virtually without warning) between unscientific New Age rhetoric and scientific empiricism. Edwards does not seem to recognize the distinction between Metaphysical Nominalism and Metaphysical Realism, and she conveniently ignores the fundamental contradictions of the two opposing views in her chapters.
With a penchant for a New Age rhetoric it is not surprising that Edwards makes a foray into discussing "Zen" by Chapter 12, entitled, "The Zen of Drawing Out the Artist Within". It's a very corny trend in American culture, when you want to baffle the audience, just mention ZEN, as though both you and they knew precisely what you are talking about; the "ZEN" of something. It's a very gooey cosmology, irrational, and moreover, irrelevant to art. The analogy breaks down when anyone who has studied ZEN for one day finds something within the subject about ZEN being "WITHOUT DOCTRINE" and here's Edwards' book that is a re-hash of every doctrine from Science, and Eastern and Western Religion, all thrown together as though they pronounce a common TRUTH.
I believe the real purpose that this book was written, had something to do with...."The Zen of Drawing Money Out Of Everybody's Wallet".
Rating:
Summary: 80% written text, but only 20% illustration
Review: Betty Edwards book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is 80% text and only 20% illustration for all 254 pages, and very few of the illustrations are from Edwards. It is a clunky and overly intellectual approach to drawing. According to p. 46, an "alternative state of consciousness" is required before one can draw. Gee, okay, if you want to limit yourself with that, go ahead. Otherwise, Edwards shifts back and forth (virtually without warning) between unscientific New Age rhetoric and scientific empiricism. Some scientists are quite amused, I am sure, to find Edwards describing human sight like so: "By the most direct means your visual perceptions stream through the human system--through retinas, optic pathways, brain hemispheres, motor pathways --to magically transform an ordinary sheet of paper into a direct image of your unique response." -Betty Edwards, DRSB, p. 248 If sight is "magic" as Edwards ascertains, optometrists are not doctors, but magicians or wizards. That's very coy, but boring nonetheless, even if some very dull people need to buy a book to be informed of such trivial and highly personalized views. With a penchant for a New Age rhetorical style of writing, it is not surprising that Edwards makes a foray into discussing "Zen" by Chapter 12, entitled, "The Zen of Drawing Out the Artist Within". It's a very corny trend in American culture, when you want to baffle the audience, just mention "zen" as though both you and they knew precisely what you are talking about, the "zen" of something. It sounds very exotic and other-worldly, similar to a science fiction book or movie where they name things with lots of X's and Z's and K's. As long as nobody questions anything, the pretending isn't a problem. After all, everyone knows precisely what you mean by "The Zen of Drawing Out the Artist Within", right? Oh sure, by all means....er....um..... I believe the real purpose that this book was written, had something to do with...."The Zen of Drawing Money Out Of Everybody's Wallet".
Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: I am incredibly happy to have found this book. I have just completed all the lessons (it took me about 6 months with a few breaks), and my family is amazed at how well I can draw now. I'm still amazed when I look at my "before" drawings. My improvement is as dramatic as the before and after pictures she shows in the book. I checked out The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain from the library because I thought a new version might be more helpful. There are some parts that were explained more clearly in the New book, but it requires a lot of materials. I found it harder to stick with. It was at this point that I was almost ready to quit. I picked up the the old one again, though, and resumed the lessons. However, reading different explanations of the same concept was very helpful. I became very frustrated because for a long time, I saw little improvement (though now I see I was pretty critical of myself). If you stick with it, you should begin to see results. I don't think I go into "right-brain mode" every time I draw, and I was ready to give up at first because she stresses that this is the most important part. However, I have learned to draw anyway, even without fully entering into this right-brain mode. Maybe most people do experience this, but I didn't exactly as she described. Even so it teaches you the fundamentals of drawing. I took a weekend drawing class and found I knew as much as people who had taken art classes before. I looked at other drawing books and found this one to be the easiest to follow and the most encouraging. She is very good at demystifying the process of drawing. I've heard The Natural Way to Draw is also very good, but he expects you to have access to models over a period of several months, which few people have. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks they have no talent in drawing, which is what I believed too. I'm convinced, after completing this book, that anyone could learn to draw if s/he just took the time and effort to do so.
Rating: 
Summary: It probably only works for some.
Review: I bought this book when I was in design college. Back then, I could draw bottles and other inanimate geometrically shaped things but had difficulty drawing lifelike humans and animals. I used to think that people who can draw must be innately gifted or talented, and that if you don't have the gift, you can never draw. How wrong I was. (Thanks to a friend of mine who recommended me this book!) This book helped me see what drawing lifelike things is all about, but it comes across as being a bit too wordy and intellectual for such a practical subject. To me, the very precious information I gleaned from this book could have been easily summariesed in one chapter, which is something like "Try drawing what you see and not what you think you see - i.e. don't think about drawing the hands so that they look like hands, but try to draw whatever's in front of you just the way it is, curves and lines and all, without thinking too much about what it really is i.e. whether it is a hand, an eye, a head, etc."
Now, I'm sure you may not have understood what I have just said! But if you don't, then perhaps you really DO need this book. Even though the book to me is a bit wordy, I still give it 4 stars for having equipped me with the tips I needed to draw well. Without this book, my drawing would still be at that elementary "kiddie" level.
Drawing is a very basic skill that comes into good use in many artistic endeavours. Not being able to draw is really a handicap, especially if you are intending to become a graphic designer or painter. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is willing to sift through the tonnes of words in this book in order to glean some precious instruction on the art of drawing. If you are someone who never even bothers to read a book unless its a book full of pictures, this book may not be for you.
Anyway, even if you do manage to read this book and glean whatever precious info from it to help you in your drawing, be prepared for a long road ahead. Drawing is, according to the author, like riding a bicycle. You need lots of practice to get the hang of it, and then once you get the hang of it, you will never lose the skill. So if you want to be good in drawing, and you have already finished reading this book and got all the information you need, you must still do LOTS of exercise drawing everything you see. Good luck!
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Summary: Unlocking your creative abilities.
Review: I bought this book years ago, and it taught me how to dramatically improve my drawing skills.
It shows you how to look at things differently, and uses different techniques to enable you to bypass your left (logical) brain, and access your right brain, (your subconscious mind), hence the title.
This is something you already know, but you may not know that you know it.
For example, if you try to draw a chair you may have a definite idea in your logical mind of how a chair should be, so when you draw you are thinking 4 legs, a seat and a back. You know all the legs are the same length, and therefore you may draw that way.
This can interfere with you doing a good drawing, because each leg from an artistic viewpoint is longer or shorter depending on the distance from your eye, so you have to learn how to use your imagination instead.
In this book there is a picture of something such as a chair or a person's face, and you may draw it as it is. You can also use a picture from a newspaper or magazine. This represents your current skill level.
Now, turn the picture upside down and draw the picture upside down. As you do this drawing, you may notice that you are producing a more accurate copy of the picture. This is because you are now using different skills. I was amazed at the results. This is so simple to do.
There are other examples and illustrations to show you how to see pictures differently, and use space, light and shade, optical illusions and so forth.
As you become more experienced you will learn how to use your new skills automatically. I particularly enjoyed using pictures of movie stars, turning them upside down, copying them, and then doing it again right side up.
I have referred several people who would love to draw well to this book. If you are not as artistic as you would like to be, and were to follow the exercises in this book there is no reason your skill level should not improve dramatically. If it worked for me, it canwork for you. This is pretty easy.
Most people have the skill, they just have not learned how to release it yet. This book will teach you how. Can you imagine drawing anything you want to draw completely accurately, and with incredible detail, subtlety and nuance just like a professional artist. This potential is just a few clicks away. If it worked for me, it can work for you, because my drawing skills were not good.
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Summary: you can draw!
Review: I first read this book in a high school art class and just loved it, for it inverts so many of the usual barriers to drawing. Full of wisdom and tricks for giving oneself permission to finally put that pencil to the paper. Don't take the right-brain thing too literally.
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Summary: Amazing!
Review: I have always considered myself to be an artist who couldn't draw. I work as a graphic and multimedia designer and I am an avid watercolourist - but to pick up a pencil and sketch would terrify me. This book sat on my shelf for years before I summoned the courage to crack it open and start to learn to draw. My motivation was to be able to draw the scenes I would experience on my summer vacation to the Maritimes....I merely wanted to be able to draw realistic buildings and figured that the human form was beyond me...well, let me tell you --I never thought it could be so simple! Now I am drawing realistic hands and objects, full of depth and realism. I feel like an artist who can draw (and draw well) and it took me only a bit over a week (in the evenings) and some practice. I love how easy Edwards makes it seem and I am so glad to have had the chance to read this book and apply its principles. I highly recommend it to anyone who is too scared to pick up a drawing pencil and bring some life to a plain sheet of paper!
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Summary: This book will improve your drawing immensely!
Review: I read this book, and later took a course based on this book. In fact, the book was really all I needed. For anyone who thinks drawing is a talent you have to be born with-check out the drawings by Van Gogh included in this book. It seems Vincent was in despair and was going to give up art, until he read a book on drawing (but not this one!). The author gives a before and after example of Van Gogh drawings. The difference was amazing, and clearly shows that drawing is a skill you can learn, no matter how inept your drawing is at first. Do the tasks in this book, and while you may not draw as well as Vincent (or you may), you will be pleased with the improvement you make.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm a beginner
Review: I'm a retired engineer and have recently chosen art as a hobby. I bought several how-to-do-it books including this one. I found Betty Edwards' book interesting and motivating but it hasn't proved to be a significant source in my learning process. Rather, Ferdinand Petrie's book Drawing Landscapes in Pencil and the wonderful books by Lee Hammond have become my tutors. With them I have made surprising progress in drawing. I can highly recommend them to anyone who wants to learn to draw.
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