MORE ART BASICS - YES, BUT CAN YOU DRAW?

· ”Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards
Although she did not come up with it, Betty Edwards certainly popularized the discovery made in the 1950s and 1960s at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) by Roger Sperry and his associates. Put briefly, these researchers discovered that both hemispheres of the brain are involved in higher cognitive learning, and each hemisphere uses different methods to process information. Have you ever noticed that you can’t talk and compose a letter at the same time? You can’t read and carry on a discussion simultaneously, either. These are simple manifestations of this fact. Betty Edwards had noticed that drawing seemed to come easily to her, and to some of her students, but not so easily for others. She began to wonder about the nature of the brain in processing information, and came across Sperry’s studies. Her ideas started to fall into place about different ways that each of us sees and records what we see. And she gradually formulated her concepts, tried them on herself and her students, and came out with this book. It was a smashing success. The revised version, which I also have, has the same exercises, but additional information about many things, not the least of which is the right-brain, left-brain revelation. It has brought on a whole revolution in education, with non-verbal skills being shown to have the same validity as verbal skills. Some of us are more right-brained, intuitive, and holisitic in our ways of processing information; others of us are more verbal, logical, and linear. (Sound familiar?) This model has been proven empirically for a long time, and I think now, also scientifically. Most people are more one way than the other, and few are able to use both equally well. Betty Edwards formulated her basic premises and sequence of drawing exercises based on her experiences with her students, and her comprehension of the way that everyone can learn to draw.

· “Drawing on the Artist Within” by Betty Edwards
This is a more recent book (1986) by Betty Edwards, and it is basically another “how-to” book on increasing one’s creative powers – of observation, and of understanding the components of drawing. Again, it is an excellent book.

· ”Drawing with Children” by Mona Brookes
This book is another “how-to” book, but don’t let the title fool you. Mona Brookes is another person who became an artist, and later was asked

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