I’m currently learning to draw on my own using the book “Drawing on the right side of the brain” by Betty Edwards, and it has really felt like using a cheat code to gain a mysterious superpower in a couple weeks of not-very-stressful work. (I’m 28 and never learned to draw before.) In fact I’m pretty sure that your bootcamp will use something like her technique, right?
While I myself never invested the necessary time to learn the craft of drawing, my father choose it as a study-object. He always said that it is, indeed, a craft, not some magical skill granted by the art-fairy; and with http://lesswrong.com/tag/self-help/ in mind I am suspicious of Betty Edwards method.
To put it crudely, what is new in the book is not good, and what is good is not new, but there is still much that is good. More specifically, the new (new for her time—it’s an old book) left brain/right brain theory that she advances is dubious and I think debunked, but the largely traditional exercises, such as contour drawing, that she prescribes are good.
In the spirit of The Best Textbooks on Every Subject, which book would you say is the best introduction to drawing and which two specific books that you’ve read/used is it superior to, and why?
Heh, now that brings back memories. Yes, the pop neuroscience part of the book is best taken more metaphorically than literally, but with that in mind, I found it an excellent practical guide.
I’m currently learning to draw on my own using the book “Drawing on the right side of the brain” by Betty Edwards, and it has really felt like using a cheat code to gain a mysterious superpower in a couple weeks of not-very-stressful work. (I’m 28 and never learned to draw before.) In fact I’m pretty sure that your bootcamp will use something like her technique, right?
That book was part of what gave me the idea. I expect most of the exercises will come from it.
How has drawing come in useful (that it’s a superpower, mysterious or not)?
While I myself never invested the necessary time to learn the craft of drawing, my father choose it as a study-object. He always said that it is, indeed, a craft, not some magical skill granted by the art-fairy; and with http://lesswrong.com/tag/self-help/ in mind I am suspicious of Betty Edwards method.
To put it crudely, what is new in the book is not good, and what is good is not new, but there is still much that is good. More specifically, the new (new for her time—it’s an old book) left brain/right brain theory that she advances is dubious and I think debunked, but the largely traditional exercises, such as contour drawing, that she prescribes are good.
In the spirit of The Best Textbooks on Every Subject, which book would you say is the best introduction to drawing and which two specific books that you’ve read/used is it superior to, and why?
Yeah, I just skipped the brain theory stuff and went straight for the exercises.
Heh, now that brings back memories. Yes, the pop neuroscience part of the book is best taken more metaphorically than literally, but with that in mind, I found it an excellent practical guide.