General Books

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Betty Edwards

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Tarcher Amazon Marketplace: 163 new & used starting at $5.40

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 169 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

illustrated with 12-page color photo insert and line art throughout

A revised and expanded edition of the classic drawing-instruction book that has sold more than 2,500,000 copies.

When Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain was first published in 1979, it hit the New York Times bestseller list within two weeks and stayed there for more than a year. In 1989, when Dr. Betty Edwards revised the book, it went straight to the Times list again. Now Dr. Edwards celebrates the twentieth anniversary of her classic book with a second revised edition.

Over the last decade, Dr. Edwards has refined her material through teaching hundreds of workshops and seminars. Truly The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, this edition includes:

* the very latest developments in brain research;
* new material on using drawing techniques in the corporate world and in education;
* instruction on self-expression through drawing;
* an updated section on using color; and
* detailed information on using the five basic skills of drawing for problem solving.

Translated into thirteen languages, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is the world's most widely used drawing-instruction guide. People from just about every walk of life--artists, students, corporate executives, architects, real estate agents, designers, engineers--have applied its revolutionary approach to problem solving. The Los Angeles Times said it best: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is "not only a book about drawing, it is a book about living. This brilliant approach to the teaching of drawing . . . should not be dismissed as a mere text. It emancipates."

New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing

Betty Edwards

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Tarcher Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $10.03

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Artists, A-Z -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Artists, A-Z -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Millions of people have learned to draw using the methods of Dr. Betty Edwards. Now, in an essential companion to her bestselling classic, Edwards offers readers the key to mastering this art form: guided practice in their newfound creative abilities.

Here are forty new exercises that cover each of the five basic skills of drawing. Each practice session includes a brief explanation and instructional drawings, suggestions for materials, sample drawings, and blank pages for the reader's own drawings. Also provided in this spiral-bound workbook is a pullout viewfinder, a crucial tool for effective practice. While The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain focused primarily on portrait drawing with pencil, this workbook gives readers experience in various subject matter-still life, landscape, imaginative drawing-using alternative mediums such as pen and ink, charcoal, and conté crayon.

For all those who are taking a drawing class, who have already received instruction through a book or course, or who prefer to learn by doing, this volume of carefully structured "homework" offers the perfect opportunity to reinforce and improve their skills and expand their repertoire.

Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons

Bill Watterson

Amazon Price: $8.79 List Price: $10.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Andrews McMeel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 94 new & used starting at $3.39

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Comic Strips -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 73 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Perfect Way To Enjoy Calvin And Hobbes 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I suppose this could apply to any Calvin and Hobbes collection (not just Attack of the Deranged..., but let me share my favorite way to read Calvin and Hobbes.

If possible, I like to pick a rainy Saturday or Sunday. I'm usually already bored and wandering around the cold house. I catch sight of a Calvin and Hobbes book and read a few pages, but my fingers are cold and I can't concentrate.

So I make a steaming cup of my favorite tea and a piece of toast with lots of butter, wrap up in a blanket on the couch, and sit and read straight through.

It's so comforting to listen to the rain and read Calvin and Hobbes. There's just something about it.

Er, see other reviews for information about this actual book.

Editorial Review:

With the help of his faithful stuffed tiger companion and his alter-egos--Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man, and Tracer Bullet-- Calvin continues to navigate the tricky waters of youth in the latest collection by comic strip genius Bill Watterson. Original.

An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Danny Gregory

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Not yet published By: How

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Commercial -> Illustration
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Graphic Arts -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

An Illustrated Life offers a sneak peak into the wildly creative imaginations of top illustrators, designers and artists from around the world through the pages of their personal visual journals. Popular visual journalist and author Danny Gregory reveals how and why keeping a consistent, visual journal leads to a more fulfilling creative life. Designers and artists working in all mediums will find creative inspiration from these insightful interviews and stunning examples.

How to Draw What You See (Practical Art Books)

Rudy De Reyna

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Watson-Guptill Amazon Marketplace: 102 new & used starting at $7.90

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Don't be deceived by the title 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book is not for novice artists. I'm a Middle School art teacher and was looking for some new ways to TEACH drawing. I have "Drawing on the right side of the brain" and use many of the exercises in it with my students. This book doesn't even come close in my opinion. I didn't take anything from it that I could remotely use in the classroom. Reminded me of my college level drawing classes with professors that just threw a bunch of concepts out without *teaching* how to actually DO.

Editorial Review:

Watson-Guptill's all-time best-selling drawing book. A best-seller for 35 years! This is a timeless classic that has taught generations of artists - and will teach generations more. When it was originally published in 1970, "How to Draw What You See" zoomed to the top of Watson-Guptill's best-seller list - and it has remained there ever since. "I believe that you must be able to draw things as you see them - realistically," wrote Rudy de Reyna in his introduction. Today, generations of artists have learned to draw what they see, to truly capture the world around them, using de Reyna's methods. "How to Draw What You See" shows artists how to recognize the basic shape of an object - cube, cylinder, cone, or sphere - and use that shape to draw the object, no matter how much detail it contains.

Keys to Drawing

Bert Dodson

Amazon Price: $15.63 List Price: $22.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: North Light Books Amazon Marketplace: 96 new & used starting at $8.94

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Good Beginners' Buide 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Over the last six month I have been buying a number of instructional book on drawing/sketching for reference. I have found this one to be one that I continue to go back to to review approaches to getting started. I would recommend it as a good guide for a beginner -- either to drawing or to starting with charcoal and graphite.

Leon

It's the best! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The book is well organized, and presents material in a conprehensive, easily understood manner. The illustrations are useful, and not intimidating. The subjects of the drawing exercises are interesting and varied. The author seems to work right along with the student in this book, and anticipates some of the problems that arise in drawing. The author's remarks are encouraging for individuals interested in drawing at any level of expertise. I appearance of the book prior to purchase, but it is more than I expected. The book's size is neither too large nor too heavy to use in a small space or to carry along.

Excellent Drawing Instruction 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

"Keys to Drawing" is my favorite drawing instructional book. I found it here on Amazon and checked it out of my local library to see it before I ordered it. I have a short attention span and lose interest if a book doesn't engage me pretty quickly. I was immediately engaged by the simple, clear instruction and effective, challenging projects. This book got me drawing within minutes. I re-checked it twice from my library and had to order a copy for myself!

I love the format of this book, with the emphasis on drawing and not just talking about drawing, like so many instructional books do. I also appreciate the many examples in the author's loose, easy style. This is one of the first books I've picked up that didn't intimidate me with detailed, advanced portraiture. The progression and pace of this book were very comfortable to me. I'm extremely pleased with the results I'm seeing in my drawing.

How to Draw Funny Faces (How to Draw (Dover))

Barbara Soloff Levy

Amazon Price: $2.95 List Price: $2.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dover Publications Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $1.90

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

You get what you pay for 3 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

In the heat of the day
With the breeze of a fan
When your child wants to draw
And you say that he can
And he wants to draw faces
Yes, faces so funny
So you take out this book
(Which costs so little money)

And he opens the book
And he flips through the pages
With cartoony sketches
In various stages
Then his little brow furrows
With pencil in hand
As he tries to find faces
Not ugly or bland

"Mummy," says he,
"These are all rather cheesy
Some are quite hard
And some are too easy
The clown is too sad
And the vampire sucks
I think that I'd rather
Go draw me some Trucks"

I looked at the book
And I saw what he meant
Although younger children
Might well be content
I'd hoped it would show
Faces happy and sad
Or laughing or yelling
Or angry or mad

It lacks inspiration
The drawings aren't nice
You get what you pay for
At such a low price





Amanda Richards, July 10, 2008

Editorial Review:

Aspiring artists will find it a snap to create humorous portraits with this easy-to-follow guide. Step-by-step diagrams show how to draw little girls with unusual ponytails, a bearded leprechaun, a balding man, a lady with a funny hat, and other odd faces by combining ovals and circles and adding curvy lines and squiggles. 116 black-and-white illustrations.

Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink': A Calvin and Hobbes Collection

Bill Watterson

Amazon Price: $8.79 List Price: $10.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Andrews McMeel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 176 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Comic Strips -> Calvin and Hobbes

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Hysterical and bittersweet 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

When you get right down to it, is there anything better than Calvin & Hobbes? In this compilation or any of the others, you get lessons in quantum physics, nostalgic looks at the agony of grade school, observations in human nature, and a bit of the "thing under the bed" style horror. All this and you'll laugh yourself to the point of wetting your pants.
The Calvin & Hobbes strips are hysterical. But beyond that, they are poignant and often bittersweet, reminding us of the children we once were and of the rich fantasies that come with childhood.
Behold Calvin, utterly impish and wise-beyond-his years. His snowmen displays, at times morbid at times downright surreal, could fill a collection of its own.
Calvin fancies himself the smartest boy in the world. And who can argue with him, other than his long-suffering parents and his faithful friend Hobbes, a tiger who may or may not be real.
Hobbes is the pentultimate friend. He is Calvin's confidante and his patient ear, but he is also the first to pounce on the boy or to challenge his sordid views of the world. Together, the pair ponder the meaning of life, question the adult world, or sneak off to explore the fascinating landscapes of childhood found under dead logs or under rocks.
If I were banished to a small island with only scant supplies to get me through my days, this book would be among the items in my trunk. I have had this collection for ten years or more and I've gone through it a dozen times. I'll go through it a dozen more before it's battered to the point of unreadable.
Watterson is an absolute genius. But as you fall into the world of Calvin & Hobbes, you'll forget that they were created by a mere man at all.

Editorial Review:

Calvin and Hobbes touched the hearts (and funny bones) of the millions who read the award-winning strip. One look at this Calvin and Hobbes collection and it is immediately evident that Bill Watterson's imagination, wit, and sense of adventure were unmatched. In this collection, Calvin and his tiger-striped sidekick Hobbes are hilarious whether the two are simply lounging around philosophizing about the future of mankind or plotting their latest money-making scheme. Chock-full of the familiar adventures of Spaceman Spiff, findings of Dad's popularity poll, and time travel to the Jurrassic Age, Scientific Progress Goes "Boink" is guaranteed to set scientific inquiry back an ean--and advance the reading pleasure of all Calvin and Hobbes fans.

Weirdos from Another Planet!

Bill Watterson

Amazon Price: $8.76 List Price: $10.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Andrews and McMeel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 145 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Comic Strips -> Calvin and Hobbes

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

One of my favorites 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I love all Calvin and Hobbes books, but this collection has a few of my favorites that never cease to make me laugh out loud, including:

"The Disembodied Hand That Strangled People" (I snicker just writing it)

The trip to Mars ("We're going in the wagon?" "Of course! What did YOU want to do? Flap your arms?" "I guess I hadn't thought about that part."
"Obviously."

Laugh after Laugh 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am a Calvin and Hobbes fan. And this book did not dissapoint me.

Life on this Weird Planet 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Calvin and Hobbes has always been a great read. This was the first one in book form that I read and thoroughly enjoyed.

The book has many good strips and quite a lot of Sunday strips as well. The aliens show up towards the end and there is a good many strips on that series where he explores the Martian surface and rightly is told by Hobbes that if one is not potty trained would you invite them to your home? So of course after damaging Earth, men need not expect a welcome from the Martians or anyone else.

There is a lot of wisdom and good humour in the book. The opening splash page itself is attractive about why intelligent life hasn't contacted us - with a picture of deforestation.

Other favourites are of course being a tiger, or the tiger's welcome to the kid coming home from school, Dad's approval ratings in the election, the family outing, room service for the ill kid, etc.

The parents are delightfully tolerant of the crazy nutty Calvin. The family outing to the woods is a riot. Calvin wonders what kind of vacation is it if he has to be with his parents, LOLz. Even Calvin's vulnerability is explored when he panics after breaking Dad's binoculars.

This book is cute as hell - and especially a great gift to pretty young girls who thank me endless for making their day. You won't ever be disappointed, probably not with any Calvin & Hobbes collection - they are a gem, a treasure, a laugh riot, a piece of modern art and culture.

Beware of Captain Spiff, the T-Rex, the paleontologist, the incredible comic strip from the best graphic art has to offer.

Editorial Review:

"Flashes of innovative genius abound. Exploring the world of Calvin and Hobbes is great therapy. The antics of the precocious boy and his suave stuffed tiger pal can pull anyone out of the doldrums." --Amarillo News Globe

In Calvin and Hobbes book Weirdos From Another Planet!, this power-packed extravaganza of creative energy and imagination feature the childhood fun and fantasy that was a Watterson trademark.

Weirdos From Another Planet!, is out of this world!

Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig

Iain McCaig

Amazon Price: $40.95 List Price: $65.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Insight Editions Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $40.11

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Instructional & How-To -> Drawing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"What is Shadowline? It is the place where things meet: light and shadows, hope and despair, good and evil. It is, to me, the most interesting place to hunt for stories." So begins this stunningly realized and beautifully rendered new work from master storyteller and artist Iain McCaig. McCaig is best known for his work as a principal designer on the three Star Wars prequels, including the iconic characters Queen Amidala and Darth Maul, as well as his work on many major motion pictures, television, and video games. His work can be seen in such acclaimed films as Terminator 2, Hook, Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Shadowline presents a stunning portfolio of more than two decades of McCaig's masterful concept designs and storyboards, cover art and illustrations, as well as his private sketchbooks and personal paintings, all woven together within the confines of an engrossing, otherworldly tale.

"I've been telling stories for years, with paint, with words, with film and video cameras, and pixels on computer screens. I can't explain storytelling the way teachers explain math or history. To explain what I'm doing when I create would be like waking up while still dreaming. We are all storytellers night after night, for even the most inartistic of us can still dream like masters."
-Iain McCaig

"Iain McCaig's characters arrive on the page fully formed, their life stories expressed through every beautiful pencil stroke, from the lightest fairy tales to the darkest nightmares."
-Doug Chiang, Academy Award-winning designer of Terminator 2, The Mask, Attack of the Clones, and The Phantom Menace