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Although I consider myself a hack, my family and friends think I have some God Given drawing talent. Not true I tell them, anyone can draw well. You just need t

Although I consider myself a hack, my family and friends think I have some God Given drawing talent. Not true I tell them, anyone can draw well. You just need this book and practice. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B005GSYXU4&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_1PC9T3ZTGRTG5BQWGM7G https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B005GSYXU4&preview=new... This is probably the best book I have come across and it took me from stick figures to what my family considers awesome in about a year.

k__ 6y ago
Could you post the name of the book, please? I can't open that link.
- hourislate 6y ago
  Sorry about that... Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition
kowlo 6y ago
can you share some of your drawings so I can manage my expectations?...!
- Snitch-Thursday 6y ago
  I was positive I could not draw objects from life. But some of the tricks in that book showed that even I really could (in the right frame of mind) trace/render/copy/draw from life. Now I just needed practice. Get this book, go through it, then look into drawabox if you are looking to draw from life. For constructivist illustrations or styles like manga, I'm still learning.
- ridiculous_fish 6y ago
  The author's website has tons of before/afters! https://www.drawright.com/before-after https://www.drawright.com/before-after Incredible results for only six days.
mcshicks 6y ago
Yes I read it many years ago probably soon after it was first published and had the same experience. I don't draw on a regular basis but I still do from time to time and I still am reaping the benefits of going through the book over 30 years later. Highly recommend.
Igelau 6y ago
I checked this out of the library in college and it was life changing. It's a whole new way to see.
ottomanbob 6y ago
This book is incredible. I went from “can’t draw a straight line” to realism in a week. Happy to upload some proofs, haha.
john-tells-all 6y ago
wonderful book!
KineticLensman 6y ago
Yes the most important principle being Draw what you see, not what you know. For example, don't draw an eye as an ellipse containing a circle, but look at the actual combination of of light and dark shapes, and draw those instead. [Edit]. Also, drawing people is a really good test. If you draw a house or a tree, say, you can get the shapes / proportions wrong but the thing might still look plausible. Draw a head out of proportion, though, and it will immediately look wrong.
- nbzso 6y ago
  Non correct. Understanding of the form is a must. Drawing what you know is the basic principle. If you draw what you see without understanding of perspective, basic forms etc you will end with optically build representation of reality. In case of the eye you must know how anatomically is constructed and draw by combining your knowledge with what you see.
xtracto 6y ago
That book is amazing. I got it also when it first came out years ago. Although I unfortunately did not finish it, I remember two exercises that left me marked: First is the exercise of drawing the "column / two-faces" drawing. You can REALLY feel your two brain sides fighting while drawing that. The second is the "upside down" drawing. After I finished that I was amazed that I actually had drawn that (I cannot draw a cup or a house or whatever). The premise is that a lot of people who have the "left" side of the brain developed draw the "concepts" of what they see and they don't really draw what they see. So if someone tells me to "draw that house", I will be drawing "a roof", "a door" , "the walls" etc. Instead someone using the "right" side of the brain will actually see the house and draw what they see. Pretty clever.
musicale 6y ago
As an alternate "analytical/drafting" approach, I found "Drawing in the Digital Age," by Wei Xu to be pretty interesting. He uses triangles to divide up space and to build up basic shapes, and focuses on position, orientation, and proportion/scale. These seem like things that beginners can understand. For constructing energetic characters, I like the Marvel/stick figure approach of "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," by Stan Lee and John Buscema (also John Romita's book "Draw the Marvel Comics Super Heroes", which is sadly out of print but not hard to track down.) Note that these books concentrate mainly on line drawing. Shading (or inking and coloring on the comic side) is of primary importance for turning line art into three dimensional art, and I don't have a great reference off the top of my head. I think drawing programs with perspective grids can help as well. And lots of people use 3D software as a composition aid or to actually draw on top of. Some consider it "cheating" but remember that the old masters used optical devices like the camera obscura and wire grids (known in antiquity) as well as Renaissance optics like lenses and mirrors. I believe David Hockney tried to replicate some of these techniques with much success.
drcongo 6y ago
I went from absolutely no ability, to limited ability thanks to this book. It must be knocking on 25 years since I read it though and I've never forgotten the things it taught me. I don't think I can say that about many books.
bhu1st 6y ago
I went through the book once 10 years ago. It is definitely recommended to anyone considering drawing seriously. It is easy to lose focus when drawing. Hang in there. Look more closely. Focus on the details. Try to copy as much details as you can. The quote "Good artist copy great artist steal" is true in the sense that the more we focus our attention on the details of the drawing the closer we get to copy/literally steal the feel of object we're drawing.

k__ 6y ago

Could you post the name of the book, please? I can't open that link.

hourislate 6y ago
Sorry about that... Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition

kowlo 6y ago

can you share some of your drawings so I can manage my expectations?...!

Snitch-Thursday 6y ago
I was positive I could not draw objects from life. But some of the tricks in that book showed that even I really could (in the right frame of mind) trace/render/copy/draw from life. Now I just needed practice. Get this book, go through it, then look into drawabox if you are looking to draw from life. For constructivist illustrations or styles like manga, I'm still learning.
ridiculous_fish 6y ago
The author's website has tons of before/afters! https://www.drawright.com/before-after https://www.drawright.com/before-after Incredible results for only six days.

mcshicks 6y ago

Yes I read it many years ago probably soon after it was first published and had the same experience. I don't draw on a regular basis but I still do from time to time and I still am reaping the benefits of going through the book over 30 years later. Highly recommend.

Igelau 6y ago

I checked this out of the library in college and it was life changing. It's a whole new way to see.

ottomanbob 6y ago

This book is incredible. I went from “can’t draw a straight line” to realism in a week. Happy to upload some proofs, haha.

john-tells-all 6y ago

wonderful book!

KineticLensman 6y ago

Yes the most important principle being Draw what you see, not what you know. For example, don't draw an eye as an ellipse containing a circle, but look at the actual combination of of light and dark shapes, and draw those instead. [Edit]. Also, drawing people is a really good test. If you draw a house or a tree, say, you can get the shapes / proportions wrong but the thing might still look plausible. Draw a head out of proportion, though, and it will immediately look wrong.

nbzso 6y ago
Non correct. Understanding of the form is a must. Drawing what you know is the basic principle. If you draw what you see without understanding of perspective, basic forms etc you will end with optically build representation of reality. In case of the eye you must know how anatomically is constructed and draw by combining your knowledge with what you see.

xtracto 6y ago

That book is amazing. I got it also when it first came out years ago. Although I unfortunately did not finish it, I remember two exercises that left me marked: First is the exercise of drawing the "column / two-faces" drawing. You can REALLY feel your two brain sides fighting while drawing that. The second is the "upside down" drawing. After I finished that I was amazed that I actually had drawn that (I cannot draw a cup or a house or whatever). The premise is that a lot of people who have the "left" side of the brain developed draw the "concepts" of what they see and they don't really draw what they see. So if someone tells me to "draw that house", I will be drawing "a roof", "a door" , "the walls" etc. Instead someone using the "right" side of the brain will actually see the house and draw what they see. Pretty clever.

musicale 6y ago

As an alternate "analytical/drafting" approach, I found "Drawing in the Digital Age," by Wei Xu to be pretty interesting. He uses triangles to divide up space and to build up basic shapes, and focuses on position, orientation, and proportion/scale. These seem like things that beginners can understand. For constructing energetic characters, I like the Marvel/stick figure approach of "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," by Stan Lee and John Buscema (also John Romita's book "Draw the Marvel Comics Super Heroes", which is sadly out of print but not hard to track down.) Note that these books concentrate mainly on line drawing. Shading (or inking and coloring on the comic side) is of primary importance for turning line art into three dimensional art, and I don't have a great reference off the top of my head. I think drawing programs with perspective grids can help as well. And lots of people use 3D software as a composition aid or to actually draw on top of. Some consider it "cheating" but remember that the old masters used optical devices like the camera obscura and wire grids (known in antiquity) as well as Renaissance optics like lenses and mirrors. I believe David Hockney tried to replicate some of these techniques with much success.

drcongo 6y ago

I went from absolutely no ability, to limited ability thanks to this book. It must be knocking on 25 years since I read it though and I've never forgotten the things it taught me. I don't think I can say that about many books.

bhu1st 6y ago

I went through the book once 10 years ago. It is definitely recommended to anyone considering drawing seriously. It is easy to lose focus when drawing. Hang in there. Look more closely. Focus on the details. Try to copy as much details as you can. The quote "Good artist copy great artist steal" is true in the sense that the more we focus our attention on the details of the drawing the closer we get to copy/literally steal the feel of object we're drawing.