Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

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By Betty Edwards

First of all, you have to love the title if you have any love for double meanings. A recent Studio 360 on NPR called into question the validity of the whole stress of the right side vs. left. Artists certainly draw on both sides of their brains. I also personally believe the “right side” mode that Edwards describes is probably more likely the same state of mind as “Flow” proposed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

That said, the book is a classic in art instruction now. It has been revised since the original in 1979 with more examples of students’ before and after efforts. It is encouraging to see how much people improve through the course. Using negative space, training for line drawing, and learning common errors in drawing various subjects are highlights. There is also a nice companion practice guide that I have used.

Well, the science on the brain is interesting, but the exciting thing about this book is its well thought out teaching of drawing. As the NPR report says, there is no doubt that “A week of concentrated practice under the watchful eye of a seasoned instructor can really improve your drawing skills”.

The Simple Secret to Better Painting

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The subtitle for the book is “How to immediately improve your art with this one rule of composition. What is the secret? What is that one rule? Albert gets right to the point and thankfully reveals the secret in the introduction. Never make any two intervals the same. This is an excellent North Light Book. It builds the case for the one rule and explains its application quite well.

Since Albert is the Editorial Director of North Light Art Instruction books, he uses painting examples from his stable of artist/authors. This is clever cross marketing, but can be forgiven because the examples paintings are good looking and demonstrate the ideas quite well. The discussion of applying this “one rule” is thoroughly illustrated including some corollary guidelines thrown in like using mostly, some and a bit for color and value.