Book Description
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.
Customer Reviews:
drawing.......2007-02-03
Companion to reading. A must have for anyone who just likes to draw.
Build Drawing Skills easily.......2007-01-26
This workbook is a great companion to Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. We bought it for my teenage son. It provides nicely guided lessons to give directed practice in drawing. The lessons are laid out well. I like that the drawing area is large enough to encourage exploration and expression.
Excellent Practice Book.......2007-01-25
Buy the text and the workbook, do the exercises and see your drawing improve.
Drawing made easier.......2007-01-16
My grandson and I are just starting to work through this book. He is really excited about it. I think it makes sense! While my grandson is only 12 and this is not a childrens book, with our working together it makes my job of teaching possible. I had not had lessons myself and am learning as I teach. I can't wait for our next session.
Making a difference.......2007-01-10
I would say this is one of those book that just gets your brain moving forward and into new spaces of the drawing dimension. Unfortuately my art teacher in high school never used such a high calibre but easy to understand book, otherwise I would have gone a longer way on art courses. But it is never too late, now is the time to start. I am half way through the book, and I am impressed with my results already. What is most important is that you now know what is stopping you is not "natural ability", but time and effort.
Customer Reviews:
Course in Enhancing Creativity & Artistic Confidence.......2007-07-08
An amazing book. Note that it has been updated so there is an updated version too. This includes 12 chapters that are outlined here: 1) Drawing the the art of bicycle riding, 2) Expressing yourself in drawing: the nonverbal language of art 3) your brain the right and left of it 4) Crossing Over: Experiencing the Shift from left to right 5) Drawing on Memories: Your History as an Artist. 6) Getting Around your Symbol System: Meeting Edges & contours 7) Perceiving the Shape of Space: The Positive Aspects of Negative Space 8) Relationships in a new mode: putting sighting in perspective, 9) Facing forward: portrait drawing with ease 10) The Value of Logical Lights and Shadows 11) Drawing on the Beauty of Colro 12) The Zen of Drawing: Drawing Out the Artist Within and an afterword-- is beautiful handwriting a Lost Art and a Postscript.
This is the most widely used and highly praised drawing insruction book in the world. It has sold millions of copies and has been translated into at least 10 languages. As it says on the back cover-- it can teach you to draw even though you feel you have little talent and doubt that you could ever learn. It will allow you to gain skill even if your drawing is still childlike. If you're already a professional artist or artist in training it gives you greater confidence. First published in 1979 it is a classic. Most importantly it talks about the dual nature of human thinking -- verbal, analytic thinking mainly located in the left hemisphere and visceral, perceptual thinking mainly located in the right hemisphere. It follows the work of Rober Sperry psychobiologist who received the Novel prize in 1981 for his studies. According to the author, the key principle is that "drawing is a global (or whole) skill requiring only a limited set of basic components. It has some similarities to other global skills that are key to live-- driving, walking and even skiing. The author even talks about the perception of the whole (the gestalt). R mode -- right mode may seem difficult and unfamiliar -- and even off the wall. BUT learning to draw also helps one to control how one's own brain handles information.
Mostly good with a bit of nonsense.......2006-04-19
All the stuff about "R-mode" and "L-mode" is really just pop-science. Like Freud before it, and as is the current trend with "memetics", it's a popular idea which people use to pigeonhole and explain social and psychological phenomenon which rely more on theory than anything else. Edwards makes the all-too-often assumption that any difficulty facing a potential artist is the "right-brain's fault". And after the first few chapters it gets really tedious. I wouldn't be surprised if she read this review and said to me that my "right-brain" is tricking me into thinking it's not really doing anything ;o)
However, Edwards does indeed make a few valid points. She argues that drawing is a skill, much the same as reading as writing, and therefore it can be taught and learnt by almost anyone. Makes sense to me. She further argues that the reason why most adults can not draw is because drawing is not considered a survival skill and isn't stressed in the education system. Makes sense, too.
The underlying theme behind the brain-hemisphere nonsense is simply perception. To draw realistically requires that you actually process the visual information of what you want to draw, rather than relying on any preconceived information. It's a bad habit, really, but hardly a "right-brain" conspiracy theory as Edwards makes it out to be.
The book is broken down into various exercises, all of which force the reader to get into the habit of perceiving things "as-is", such as "vase-faces" and upside-down drawing, and well-established concepts like negative space are also discussed. This is where the book shines.
Good for both beginner to intermediate artists, the overall theories, instructions and exercises make it worthwhile... if you don't mind sifting through the junk, that is.
can't say enough good things!.......2005-09-22
i can't say enough good things about this book. the explanations make sense, the exercises progress logically, and each one pushes your limits a little bit more. my drawing skills have improved immensely, and i'm only 1/2 way through the book. the basis of good painting is having a good drawing and sense of the perspective in your subject. without the ability to "see" what you're looking at, paintings will come out less than stellar - this book will prepare you to be able to "see" the way an artist sees. buy it!
Response to Bruce R. Bain.......2005-07-25
For those who can already do "that", it must be difficult to appreciate that some of us can't do "that", so for us non-"that"ers, doing "this" in order to do "that" can be stunning!
Hands up all those who recognize the distinction between Metaphysical Nominalism and Metaphysical Realism!!
Unlocking your creative abilities........2005-02-11
I bought this book years ago, and it taught me how to dramatically improve my drawing skills.
I believe people who are blocked from drawing well will get the most from this book. More accomplished artists may benefit as well by understanding better how the process works.
It shows you how to look at things differently, and uses different techniques to enable you to bypass your left (logical) brain, and access your right brain, (your subconscious mind), hence the title.
Instead of using left brain- right brain theory to describe this, in my view the more correct description would be to learn to access your subconscious mind which functions at a deeper level, while reducing the way in which your conscious mind interferes with the creative process.
Your brain has four levels of consciousness, beta which is normal waking state, alpha which is a relaxed meditative state such as when you are about to go to sleep, theta which is a deeper state associated with creativity and light sleep, and delta which is deep sleep.
Normally, your brain shows shows some activity at all these levels. Artists and other creative people are able to access the creative mental state more easily.
Here is an example of how the process works.
If you try to draw a chair you may have a definite idea in your logical mind of how a chair should be, so when you draw you are thinking 4 legs, a seat and a back. You know all the legs are the same length, and therefore you may draw that way.
This can interfere with you doing a good drawing, because each leg from an artistic viewpoint is longer or shorter depending on the distance from your eye, so you have to learn how to use your vision to see it differently.
This can interfere with you doing a good drawing, because each leg from an artistic viewpoint is longer or shorter depending on the distance from your eye, so you have to learn how to use your imagination instead.
In this book there is a picture of something such as a chair or a person's face, and you may draw it as it is. You can also use a picture from a newspaper or magazine. This represents your current skill level.
Now, turn the picture upside down and draw the picture upside down. As you do this drawing, you may notice that you are producing a more accurate copy of the picture. This is because you are now using different skills. I was amazed at the results. This is so simple to do. Try it yourself and discover how easy it is.
There are other examples and illustrations to show you how to see pictures differently, and use space, light and shade, optical illusions and so forth.
As you become more experienced you will learn how to use your new skills automatically. I particularly enjoyed using pictures of movie stars, turning them upside down, copying them, and then doing it again right side up.
I have referred several people who would love to draw well to this book. If you are not as artistic as you would like to be, and were to follow the exercises in this book there is no reason your skill level should not improve dramatically. Naturally, the more you practice, the more you improve. If it worked for me, it can work for you. This is pretty easy.
Imagine drawing anything you want to draw completely accurately, and with incredible detail, subtlety and nuance just like a professional artist. This potential is just a few clicks away. If it worked for me, it can work for you, as my natural drawing was ability not good.
If you find this review helpful, please click yes.
Book Description
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."
Customer Reviews:
Learning to Draw Starts Here.......2007-09-21
Whatever eventual outcome of research into right-left brain functions may be, the fact will remain that drawing is a facility that stems from the spacial relationships that the human brain perceives in the same way that reading is a facility that stems from the abstractions that the human brain makes.
Meanwhile, Edwards uses the right-versus-left theory as a touchstone to good effect in her attempt to instruct the artistic way of seeing to those living in a culture that defines cognition almost wholly in linguistic and mathematical terms.
It is a sad commentary on the state of our education system in the United States -- and indeed, on our whole idea of that which education consists -- that students are not introduced to these techniques in primary school, and well-versed in them by the end of secondary school.
Home schoolers, take note.
The results obtained by students of any age will be a revelation -- not to mention a satisfaction -- to those who take the time to work through Edwards' exercises. The road to becoming an artist -- or perhaps more specifically a draughtsman in the classical tradition -- starts here, with the ability to realistically draw shapes as seen, with a basic grasp of shading and perspective, and with the capacity to draw recognizable portraits from life.
But as others have pointed out, the road does not end here. Far from it.
For an introduction to the would-be artist's road ahead, after instruction along the lines of Edwards' -- with an invaluable discussion of line-drawing versus mass drawing, in light of which, an excellent exercise for the transition from pencils to paint is presented -- check out Harold Speed's classic The Practice and Science of Drawing. For surveys of artistic anatomy and its importance to the primary artistic skill of figure drawing (along with much else), check out Robert Beverly Hale's Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters: 100 Great Drawings Analyzed, Figure Drawing Fundamentals Defined and Master Class in Figure Drawing.
As Hale points out, gaining the skills that the masters had -- of drawing realistic human and animal likenesses, from memory, in accurate perspectives and within compelling compositons -- will take practice, practice and more practice. Around 2000 drawings would represent a good start -- without taking a whole other aspect of art into account at all, namely color.
No small task indeed, but rather, the training required of a profession. (And one for which, according to commentary on a DVD I heard recently, Hollywood, of all places, is crying out.)
For anyone and everyone.......2007-09-14
The original "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" was my text book for high school art class. I've gone through the whole book twice and since used it in teaching others to draw. It is an excellent book for all levels of skill, if you feel that you can't draw or if you have natural talent. The step-by-step instruction and exercises are clear and well researched. This book has been tested and used, and it theories and methods are sound.
Oppinion.......2007-09-12
A good reference book whitch will take a long time to study and achieve my goals
Great book.......2007-09-05
This book is really great. I always thought drawing was pure innate talent,
and that I could never draw faces, but I started reading, practising, and I already feel some improvement.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.......2007-09-02
This is a very helpful book. The concept of focusing on negative spaces is especially useful. I learned facts about positioning of facial features that I never would have discovered on my own. With the book's help, I produced drawings far better than I imagined I could.
Book Description
How do the arts stack up as a major discipline? What is their effect on the brain, learning, and human development? How might schools best implement and assess an arts program?? Eric Jensen answers these questions C and more C in this book. To push for higher standards of learning, many policymakers are eliminating arts programs. To Jensen, that's a mistake.
This book presents the definitive case, based on what we know about the brain and learning, for making arts a core part of the basic curriculum and thoughtfully integrating them into every subject. Separate chapters address musical, visual, and kinesthetic arts in ways that reveal their influence on learning.
What are the effects of a fully implemented arts program? The evidence points to the following:
$ Fewer dropouts $ Higher attendance $ Better team players $ An increased love of learning $ Greater student dignity $ Enhanced creativity $ A more prepared citizen for the workplace of tomorrow $ Greater cultural awareness as a bonus
To Jensen, it's not a matter of choosing, say, the musical arts over the kinesthetic. Rather, ask what kind of art makes sense for what purposes. How much time per day? What kind of music? Should the arts be required? How do we assess arts programs? In answering these real-world questions, Jensen provides dozens of practical, detailed suggestions for incorporating the arts into every classroom.
Download Description
"How do the arts stack up as a major discipline? What is their effect on the brain, learning, and human development? How might schools best implement and assess an arts program?" Eric Jensen answers these questions--and more--in this book. To push for higher standards of learning, many policymakers are eliminating arts programs. To Jensen, that's a mistake. This book presents the definitive case, based on what we know about the brain and learning, for making arts a core part of the basic curriculum and thoughtfully integrating them into every subject. Separate chapters address musical, visual, and kinesthetic arts in ways that reveal their influence on learning. What are the effects of a fully implemented arts program? The evidence points to the following: * Fewer dropouts * Higher attendance * Better team players * An increased love of learning * Greater student dignity * Enhanced creativity * A more prepared citizen for the workplace of tomorrow * Greater cultural awareness as a bonus To Jensen, it's not a matter of choosing, say, the musical arts over the kinesthetic. Rather, ask what kind of art makes sense for what purposes. How much time per day? At what ages? What kind of music? What kind of movement? Should the arts be required? How do we assess arts programs? In answering these real-world questions, Jensen provides dozens of practical, detailed suggestions for incorporating the arts into every classroom.
Customer Reviews:
Educational.......2007-03-07
Well, there was some things in there that were informative, the reading was clear. A bit boring and some what common sense stuff. I guess when I was reading it I felt like I was reading stuff I already knew, yet I never read about before. I don't know... you be the judge.
If Think the Arts don't matter in school? You better think again!.......2006-05-28
If you think the Arts don't matter anymore, I'm here to tell you to THINK again.
As a second grade teacher I find Jensen's work a must-read for every parent and educator. The Arts really do play an important part in education; whether the Arts fall under musical, visual, or in kinesthetic. The Arts will enhances the neurobiological system (Jensen, 2001, p. 116) or the brain, increasing a healthy responsive learning environment to other disciplines/subjects that are outside of the Arts.
Jenson discussed in-depth how each of the three Arts are important and why they should be part of every school's curriculum.
Simply a great book!
A leading path.......2005-10-23
With a sometimes harsh style sometimes subjective, Mr. Jensen provides us with a leading path to make a coherent relation between the brain an it's development and the education in arts. Not very detailed with the ideas and paradigms but effective to motivate our curiosity in the field. With the arts education in the middle of a crucial crisis in the U.S., the "new idea" (for the positivist people) of a direct effect of the arts education in the development of high cognitive skills, provide a solid fundamental for the importance of this matter. At least, is a very serious proposal, well supported by researchers in the field.
Book Description
Formerly a publication of The Brain Store
Although compelling evidence supports the value of the musical arts in school, many educators still fight for its inclusion. This timely resource translates the latest brain and music research and provides practical strategies for incorporating the musical arts at all levels.
Readers will:
- Discover how music supports learning
- Get specific links to solid research and more than 200 practical suggestions
- Learn how to boost achievement, motivation, and recall
With sections on both theory and classroom applications, you’ll find it easy to put science into practice immediately and convince others of its benefits. From a primer on how the body hears music to music’s impact on stress level, perceptual-motor skills, memory, and emotional intelligence, you’re in for a feast of facts and findings. Included are tips for choosing music and the various benefits of different music types.
Customer Reviews:
Music with the Brain in Mind.......2007-01-10
This is an easily accessible book. It is written in a way that educates without being too academic. Along with scientific explanations of brain functions integrated with the effects of music are practical applications of various exercises. This book is a helpful addition to my professional library of early childhood education.
A Must-Read for Fine Arts Educators!.......2001-08-26
Jenson has updated much information in this quickly-read book. Anyone unfamiliar with his works will find this helpful; veterans of the topic will find new, useful "ammunition." Especially refreshing is the unbiased approach to the Mozart effect studies; a convincing view to show administrators because of its balanced presentation.
Making a case for music.......2001-04-02
Jensen continues to survey and summarise research studies on the impact of music and applies his gift in making them accessible to educators. He points out the common fallacy of considering music as a "right-brained" activity. Music affects many different parts of the brain. Only timbre activated the right hemisphere. Music enhances cognition, emotional intelligence, boosts peformance, heightens motivation. Reading, perception, motor skills, hearing, behavior and muscle strength are all influenced by music. Music also affects the immune system, stress, relaxation, blood flow and memory systems. You get wider coverage than Ch. 17 of the author's "Brained-based Learning". You get many different recommendations for choosing appropriate musical pieces. Overall, this is a valuable challenge and resource for educators. One regret is that, compared to the cheaper and most informative "Owner's Manual for the Brain" (P. J. Howard, 831pp.), I'm puzzled why this slim book should be so costly.
Music makes you smarter.......2000-09-27
Music with the Brain in Mind is a short book full of great information. Each idea is well documented with research. Many ideas are given for use of music and brain research at school, in the studio, and at home. This book makes me want to read more by Eric Jensen.
Book Description
Packed Full of 15-Minute Creativity Sparking Exercises
*Chock-full of useful exercises designed to help readers tap into a daily creative buzz
*Features an edgy sketchbook design (by the authors) for visual allure
*Appeals to anyone looking for easy ways to jump start their creativity
For any designer or creative type who wants to quickly limber up their imagination on a daily basis, Wired helps readers get into the creative zone, from which all their best work springs. Packed with 15-minute simple and conceptual exercises, this guide will have readers reaching for markers, pencils, digital cameras, and more in order to develop a working and productive creative mindset.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome Find!.......2007-09-14
On first view (size and inside design) I was not impressed!
I took a few minutes to review the pages and I was sold! I took the book home and dove right into the exercises that span 6 types of activities! My son, who wants to be a designer @ 16, completed some of the projects until midnight!
I love this book, the breakdown of the projects in the back and the interviews inspire even rookie designers and reignite the fire of the design practitioner. It is a breakdown of the the elements of creativity, including writing projects, design, writing, and problem solving!
Enjoy!
This great book to kick-start creative mind........2007-07-11
I love this book it was full of great ideas, althought some of ideas were recycled a couple of times. This is great book for anyone creative field or whom is serious about creative hobby.
The Copywriters and the Designers are Happy.......2007-06-14
Some of the creative exercise books out there are kind of....well, lame. This one isn't. It's got its share of silliness, but the exercises in this book really get the right-brain working. For most, you don't need anything more than pen, paper, and imagination. A handful of the exercises call for items that you can find around the house or office.
Although they aren't necessarily designed with a team in mind, it's easy to adapt the exercises for a group. Plus, the range of exercises makes the copywriters and the designers happy. My group, a corporate creative team, frequently pulls from this book for our weekly creative stretch. Everyone usually has a good laugh at the end results.
Basically a rip off of a book written in 1999 called 50 Creative Exercises.......2007-04-28
I didn't find anything original in this book. It seems to be a rip off of a series of books written by Dr. Nicholas in the 1990s on Creativity - called 50 Creative Exercises.
Geared toward designers, but great for ANY creative mind!.......2007-04-22
It is certainly what it says! I started tabbing all the exercises that I especially wanted to try right away. Well, let's just say the book looks like it's growing some very colorful hair with all tabs sticking out of it! A lot of them that struck me initially seemed to be photography challenges, but I guess that makes sense since that is one of the things I'm really hoping to improve on this year.
It addition to the exercises, they also have numerous short interviews with some leading designers across a spectrum of website, logo, promotions, illustration, animation, etc. In these, I found numerous ideas and concepts to ponder, some of which I will be sharing with you here in the coming weeks.
Although this book is certainly not specifically geared towards scrapbookers, I think any serious 'creative' would find great value in this book.
Book Description
Over two dozen fun and challenging projects using the next generation of LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ and the Java™ programming language
LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ NXT is an incredible new kit for building and programming your own robotic inventions. Maximum Lego NXT introduces a diverse set of projects, building tips, programming code, complete 3D rendered building instructions and hundreds of illustrations to help you realize your robotic dreams.
Using Java™, the most popular and easy to use programming language available, this book will give you endless entertainment and exploration. It introduces the new LEGO® NXT kit, including the NXT intelligent brick and Bluetooth™.
Maximum NXT includes:
• Easy to follow instructions by the author of Core LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ Programming
• Explanations for all available sensors and expansion products available for the NXT kit, including unique projects interfacing a video camera, cell phone, GPS, data gloves, and many more
• An exciting collection of 14 robots, including a chess playing robot, an exoskeleton for your hand, a Mars Rover, a robotic arm you can control through the Internet, a 3D object scanner, soccer robots, and many more
• Introduces over two dozen in-depth programming projects including navigation, mapping, precise robotic arm control, voice control and global localization
• Artificial Intelligence concepts including Vision analysis, Rodney Brooks' Subsumption Architecture, and Reinforcement Learning
• Exciting projects that use third-party sensors like compass, tilt sensor, and port expanders
• A full chapter on building with the new LEGO stud-less brick paradigm.
• A complete tutorial on programming Java™
• How to install a free development environment for leJOS NXJ, the Java™ Virtual Machine for the NXT
• Foreword by Søren Lund, Director of LEGO MINDSTORMS
Maximum LEGO NXT is the ultimate LEGO MINDSTORMS guide:
• Meet NXT • leJOS NXJ • Java for Primates • The leJOS NXJ API • LEGO Parts • Building 101 • Bite into Bluetooth • Grabby Robots • Sound • Robots with Vision • Standing Tall • Localization • Mapping • Path-finding • Hands & Exoskeletons • Network Robotics • Scanning • Behavior-Based Robots • Expanding the NXT • GPS & Harsh Terrain • Speech • Appendices • Index
Customer Reviews:
Poor Start.......2007-09-04
Like others I spent a couple of long days finding the errors that are contained in the early chapters of this book. Maybe it's a reflection of a project delivered by a niche publisher without the oversight of a good editor, but it really does detract from the rest of the contents. In any case be warned that even the errata published on the web site, as well as other internet sources do not completely address the fundamental issues of installing and running LeJOS. It's too bad that what otherwise appears as an interesting work is so flawed.
Half baked.......2007-08-26
I bought this book as a Christmas present for my 14 year old son, expecting it to be shipped in early January. The book's publish date slipped several times, and it didn't arrive until early June.
I can understand things slipping, but the book is still INCOMPLETE. The libraries they are writing too are still being developed and not available! The installation instructions are incomplete and I'm talking about the ones from the errata sheet from their website!
Don't bother.
It just looks like the author, one of the developers for the leJOS JVM, through this together without concern for quality or completeness trying to cash in on his hobby.
Great book with excellent ideas........2007-07-29
I'm a Computer Engineer with interests in many fields of Computer Science. I really enjoyed this book: It gives you a really quick start in building your NXT Robots with algorithms in Java language. Really clear instructions for new Robot building, excellent ideas for expanding your possible Mindstorms uses.
book does not match software.......2007-07-21
This book does not match its software it is supposedly based on. Buying the book was a HUGE MISTAKE!!!
Experienced Programmers Only!.......2007-07-21
This book is not for the novice computer user. The instructions on how to install lejos_nxj on either PC or Mac involve serious tweaking of the operating system. To be fair, the author has published errata with updated insturctions, but they are still very hard to use. There is help available on-line through users forums, but the guidance may or may not work ( if anyone takes pity and answers your question). So do not buy this book if you expect to be able to simply install the software and program robots. If you are comfortable with tweaking system files, and risking crashing your system, then proceed at your own risk. It is a shame that the publishers did not include an installation disc that would take care of the installation for less experienced users. The result, I fear, is that many people will be turned off from experimenting with java and the nxt brick. It's doubly a shame since the book otherwise is well thought out and offers numerous interesting projects.
Book Description
"I thoroughly enjoyed reading this user-friendly book, and plan to share the activities with teachers working with struggling readers."
-Catherine Duffy, English Chairperson
Three Village Central School District, East Setauket, NY
"Teachers and students will find this collection filled with a variety of fun and practical approaches to instruction in the language arts which are classroom-tested and based on the most current research."
-Dr. William T. Hammond, Literacy Coordinator
DeKalb County Schools, Stone Mountain, GA
What if your students were motivated and actively engaged in reading and language arts activities?
According to experts in the field, reading and language arts skills are best acquired when students are actively engaged in their own learning
. Reading and Language Arts Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites focuses on brain-based literacy strategies for Grades K-12, structured around the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English standards. It contains over 300 activities from hundreds of teachers as well as the author’s own classroom models.
This practical resource is dedicated to literacy strategies that apply to the way students learn to read and read to learn. These hands-on techniques will help you teach reading in relevant, motivating, and engaging ways. The activities cover essential areas of literacy instruction, including:
- Phonemic awareness
- Phonics and vocabulary instruction
- Text comprehension
- Reading authentically, widely, and strategically
- Writing strategically
- Creating, critiquing, and discussing texts
- Conducting research
- Using technological resources
- Respecting diversity in language
- Participating in literary communities
- Using language to accomplish purposes
Unless students are involved and actively engaged in learning, true learning rarely occurs. Invite your students to use their higher-level thinking skills, increase their comprehension, and make the learning their own!
Customer Reviews:
GET THIS BOOK!.......2005-08-09
If you teach English in middle school or high school, you need this book! If you're tired of the "same old way" of teaching and find you often have discipline problems because your students are bored, GET THIS BOOK!
Book Description
Illustrating Nature ~ Right-brain Art in a Left-brain World is the secret doorway to realistic drawing - open this book and find the kind of instruction that you've always wanted.
Even if nature isn't your all-time hot interest, the bountiful illustrations, generous tips, and step-by-step tutorials focusing on natural objects you can find anywhere, anytime, will give you a jump-start on any other type of subject you choose, from still-life compositions to action figures to landscapes. This book sets you off on a trail of adventure ~ and who knows where it will lead! Dive into this book to discover how you can make your pencil do what you tell it to do. Use your new-found skills to improve your paintings, sketch in your field journal, design and illustrate your own business or greeting cards, or create a home school curriculum for your kids - whatever you desire.
This book is for all ages - from college students, teens, and art-loving younger kids, to adults looking for a new career or simply wanting to develop their creative skills.
Written by an award-winning children's nature book author and college-level instructor in scientific illustration, the text is superbly crafted to make sense to the creative person of any age.
Here are some of the amazing things you can do with this book:
Improve the connections between your creative right brain and your organized left brain to create a stunning working partnership. You'll be astonished at the things you can do.
Discover techniques of observing a subject, so that you can transmit instructions through your hand and pencil to the paper with accuracy, speed and style.
Learn how to sketch living, moving animals using multiple working sketches and additive techniques to achieve vibrant finished drawings.
Explore tricks that will enable you to draw fur, scales, wood, feathers, wrinkles, hair fuzz, and other textures found in nature and elsewhere.
See shadows and shading the way the professional artist does, and learn how to give your drawings three-dimensional depth with shadows and highlights. Even children can learn how to do this.
Master the mysteries of design to create handsome and interesting drawings, displays, and posters ~ anything you want.
Learn how to use a computer graphics program to improve your artwork in ways that would be difficult or impossible by hand.
Work your way through a hands-on, step-by-step computer scan of your artwork, including guidelines for combining graphic files with text to produce publishable artwork.
Understand techniques and ways to critique, fine-tune and improve your own art when you don't have an unbiased expert or teacher to help you out.
Find a whole new artistic consciousness within yourself ~and a great deal more ~ in this sturdy book with a stay-open binding, designed for easy use.
Customer Reviews:
A book that delivers.......2005-07-29
I've looked at a lot of art instruction books, wondering if they'd perform
as promised. This profusely illustrated book is the best I've seen!
The first thing you notice when you leaf through Illustrating Nature ~
Right-brain Art in a Left-brain World is that Irene Brady has skillfully
constructed exercises to lead you by the hand at your own pace down her
well-marked trail to professional illustration. For instance, the book begins by
explaining that artistic skills are natural to most of us and that to open
the door all you need is the key - then she hands you the key.
Starting with right-brain exercises to help you access your creative
skills, she then shows you how to really look at things, noticing and
comparing shapes and angles. The next step is to convey that information to
your hand and the paper - and amazingly, out comes a picture you'll be
amazed you could create. While beginners can get started with this book,
all artists can jump in at their own skill level and proceed from there to
a stage of excellence they've only dreamed of. There are exercises to
advance the artist's skill in such different areas as shading; use of
pencil, pen, and computer; organizing and designing an illustration; field
sketching (and taking notes about the subject); and a multitude of procedures and tips, both large and small, that go into creating beautiful, professional
results. The heavily illustrated instructions for each exercise are clear,
concise, and lead the artist from elemental to complex in easy increments.
The appendix outlines steps to guide your art into a career in a wide array
of professional fields.
If you've ever thought you might like to jumpstart, improve, or hone your
artistic skills to a fine point, this book is an excellent choice.
Illustrating Nature: Right-Brain Art in a Left-Brain World.......2005-07-28
Irene Brady is an expert, biologically accurate nature artist, but that doesn't stop her from creating (and teaching others to create) lively, interesting nature art. I am very impressed by her book, Illustrating Nature, Right-brain Art in a Left-brain World. From the construction of a leaf or a wing to the hairs in an ear and the fur on the body, Brady leads you to analyze the structure of plant or animal parts. Then she skillfully helps you understand techniques to illustrate these features. You learn how to pay attention to the details and illustrate the entire organism in a realistic and delightful manner. Brady wisely encourages the developing artist to use computer graphics as part of their toolkit. She also provides an appendix with many design ideas for book and magazine layout and design and promotional graphics, brochures and the like for museums and nature centers. This is a superb book for classroom use and the individual learner. I would have given my eyeteeth for this book as a child. Maybe there is hope for me yet!
Nancy Field
Nature Publisher, Author and Wildlife Biologist
Dog-Eared Publications
Author of several titles, including Discovering Sharks and Rays, the winner of a 2004 Ben Franklin Award for Best Juvenile-Young Adult Nonfiction
Right Brain rediscovered.......2005-02-15
Rebeccasreads highly recommends ILLUSTRATING NATURE as an important tool for every budding artist (no matter their age) with an eye for a career in illustration, scientific or otherwise, as well as an extraordinary assistance for elders wanting to keep their brains in tip-top shape!
If you're a bit confused by all this Left Brain/Right Brain stuff, then Irene Brady ably guides you in discovering just what your Left Brain does, & what your magical Right Brain can do. Amazing stuff, folks!
ILLUSTRATING NATURE is a superbly inter-active book -- you are in for an adventure in creating fascinating, realistic images.
ILLUSTRATING NATURE is a textbook you will keep coming back to, as your skill progresses - highly recommended for home schooling, elder art classes & anyone of any age who loves to draw.
Excellent choice for learning to draw nature.......2004-12-28
A great deal of this art instructional book deals with trying to see things and draw using the artistic side of the brain instead of the analytical left side. Subjects covered include sketching, texture, tone, line art, drawing techniques, design and layout, drawing fur, eyes, and other parts of animals, and botanical drawing. The appendixes include multiple projects, field sketchbook and portfolio creation, and career tips if you want to pursue illustration as a career. In addition to the common techniques you typically find in an art instructional book there are dozens and dozens of field notes specific to nature illustration work in the field. These make the book a best choice for anyone who wants to engage in nature illustration. Illustrating Nature is recommended for drawing in general and highly recommended for nature drawing techniques.
Book Description
Why has one game, alone among the thousands of games invented and played throughout human history, not only survived but thrived within every culture it has touched? What is it about its thirty-two figurative pieces, moving about its sixty-four black and white squares according to very simple rules, that has captivated people for nearly 1,500 years? Why has it driven some of its greatest players into paranoia and madness, and yet is hailed as a remarkably powerful intellectual tool?
Nearly everyone has played chess at some point in their lives. Its rules and pieces have served as a metaphor for society, influencing military strategy, mathematics, artificial intelligence, and literature and the arts. It has been condemned as the devil’s game by popes, rabbis, and imams, and lauded as a guide to proper living by other popes, rabbis, and imams. Marcel Duchamp was so absorbed in the game that he ignored his wife on their honeymoon. Caliph Muhammad al-Amin lost his throne (and his head) trying to checkmate a courtier. Ben Franklin used the game as a cover for secret diplomacy.
In his wide-ranging and ever-fascinating examination of chess, David Shenk gleefully unearths the hidden history of a game that seems so simple yet contains infinity. From its invention somewhere in India around 500 A.D., to its enthusiastic adoption by the Persians and its spread by Islamic warriors, to its remarkable use as a moral guide in the Middle Ages and its political utility in the Enlightenment, to its crucial importance in the birth of cognitive science and its key role in the aesthetic of modernism in twentieth-century art, to its twenty-first-century importance in the development of artificial intelligence and use as a teaching tool in inner-city America, chess has been a remarkably omnipresent factor in the development of civilization.
Customer Reviews:
A Wonderful Book About the World of Chess... .......2007-10-02
and what an interesting world it is. An insightful look at the history, pyschology, philosophy, and implications for the future of the world's oldest and greatest game.
This book should please chess lovers, as it is a rare thing in the crowded gamut of chess books... a broad survey of the game. Many of us play the game, and we study chess books and chess software, we play computer progams and human opponents, but perhaps we do not stop to look at the game from a distance. This book does that for us. And there is much we can learn, in my opinion.
Mr. Shenk is a talented and capable writer, and he has done his work well. He builds on his personal relationship with the game. While he is not an avid player, his great great great grandfather was a Grandmaster. The book is a fun to read and a page turner, and while it delights, it also instructs. Not so much as how to play the game, but perhaps why.
Chess is the world's 3rd biggest sport. It was supposed to be killed by the computer - and yet paradoxically the computer has greatly enhanced the game. It is one of the oldest games and yet it defies mastery. This book looks at this and more, from wacky Grandmasters to precocious school kids and dedicated patzers. It examines the history of chess in ancient Persia, to Bobby Fischer versus Spassky in Iceland to Big Blue versus Kasparof in New York.
Most chess books place the game of chess under a "microscope" - they analyze one specific aspect of the game, by breaking the game into pieces with diagrams and algebraic notion. This book is so welcome and necessary because it looks at the big picture of chess... from a distance, through the years, chess through a "telescope".
My only critique is that I wish the book had been even longer!
This book will be of interest to all, from chess expert to novice to the non-player who merely wants an entertaining education about the world's greatest game.
SImply Outstanding!.......2007-09-17
What an outstanding read - part documentary, history, biography and mystery novel. David Shenk has stimulated all of my mental faculities by writing was is arguably one of the most compelling chess history book ever written. From Novice to Grand Master, lots of good moves within this read. Thank you for a job well done!
A personal and rather shallow book.......2007-08-19
Readers looking for a decent history of chess won't find it in this book. They will find a highly personal account of the author's chess experiences and rather indulgent reflections on those experiences, and a grab-bag of topics with some historical connection to chess - but treated in a superficial and almost journalistic style.
The last chapter (Chess and the future of human intelligence) is particularly trivial. Shenk observes a group of kids in an American Chess in Schools program. It is pure mawkisness - perhaps I should say silliness. Dialog is recorded verbatim. Portentious claims are made.
What makes the book interesting is that Shenk intersperses a famous chess game (The Immortal Game between Anderssen and Kieseritzky in 1851) among the otherwise forgettable chapters. One rushes through the chapters just to get to the next phase of this gripping chess game. This was an excellent device to inject interest into what could easily have been a dry, technical account.
The book will interest readers with no knowledge of chess, but who are curious about it and just want an entertaining and interesting read with minimum intellectual demands upon them. Readers who want a more scholarly and coherent account of chess should look elsewhere.
A Fun, Not Technical, Chess History -- and MORE!!.......2007-07-08
When I got this book, my wife took one look at the title and laughed. "A history of chess? Have fun with that." A lot of people will think that about this book, and that's a shame. The Immortal Game is far more than a history of chess.
Shenk does cover a lot of the history of chess. He traces the roots of the game to the Middle East, and traces its spread throughout Europe. But he traces the history of chess through how it is used - chess is used as a metaphor throughout history, and what it serves as a metaphor for tells us a lot about each time period.
Muslims enjoyed chess because it was not a game of chance. It emphasized the idea of personal responsibility and free will over strict determinism and fatalism. Medieval Christians embraced this symbolism as well, even as they changed the pieces to suit their own society (the Elephant of the Muslim game became the Bishop in Christian Europe, for example). Shenk tells of a Dominican monk who wrote what many consider the most influential chess book of all time -- Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium as popularium sive super ludo sacchorum -- which translates as The Book of Morals of Men and the Dutie of Nobles and Commoners, or On The Game of Chess.
Shenk sees chess as a metaphor for life, and the responsibilities of each member of society. He goes so far as to justify the movement of each piece by the role its namesake played in society. Even today, chess is used by psychologists studying human thought processes and how intelligence develops. Computer scientists teach their supercomputers chess in an effort to simulate human consciousness and develop truly artificial intelligence. Elementary school children are taught chess to develop creative thinking skills. Each era adopts chess as its own metaphor, and the game continues to flourish.
Interspersed with the history of the game, Shenk offers a play-by-play of "The Immortal Game," a practice game played by Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kiesseritzky in 1851. The game began as something of little consequence, played between two acquaintances as they were waiting for the next game of their match, but quickly became something of note. The game has been studied by chess students ever since - Kiesseritzky even published a report in his own chess magazine immediately after it was over.
The Immortal Game is a history of the game of chess, but it's more than just a history. It's an attempt to answer the question, why chess? What has made this game so popular? Why has it lasted for over a thousand years? It's a study of the use of metaphor throughout history. It's a discussion of what intelligence really is. And it's an encouragement to novice chess players all over the world that there is a reason to study this game.
We're living through a mini golden age for chess literature.......2007-03-22
There have been a number of chess books published recently, most of them in expensive hardback format: Bobby Fischer vs. Russians, Kasparov's My Illustrious Predecessors, even Shahade's uneven Chess Bitch. Now add to those titles The Immortal Game, a great overview of chess by David Shenk. The author became interested in chess rather late, and he'll never be a great player, and he knows it. But that doesn't mean the game can't be fascinating. One of the things to take away from this book is you don't have to be a Grandmaster to get a lot of out chess.
The book follows the history of the game as it also tracks one famous encounter between two chess players in 1851. Dubbed "The Immortal Game," it sums up what is so magical about chess--its unpredictability, its sudden reversals, and the feeling that no matter how much you play it, you will never fathom its depths. That's also the point Shenk drives home in the part of the book not devoted to the game, as he looks at how chess has shaped thinking on everything from math to science to social class to warfare to art to computers to psychology. He talks about great achievements brought about by chess, and the game's darker side, which has led to more than one case of madness, more than one suicide, and a reclusive American genius' raving anti-semite comments. No other game, he argues, has impacted the world as much, and few have lasted as long.
This is a well-written book, and very engaging. It does not have to be read by a person deeply-immersed in, and it's not overly-technical. I have to quibble a little about his insistence that chess geniuses are made and not born. While I don't doubt that thousands of hours puts the Garry Kasparovs and Susan Polgars of the world ahead of the rest of us, he ignores the fact that many other a would-be champ devoted equal effort to the game and failed miserably. He also doesn't seem to get that much of the "research" that has "proven" effort over aptitude is effected and infused by social and PC bias of the time, just as research on the subject half a century ago was similarly biased in the other direction. We seem to hesitate to say there may be a "chess gene" because the game is predominantly male and almost completely excludes certain racial groups. Be honest and ask yourself if we'd approach the sport of basketball with the same convictions.
Overall this is a very good book, however, and I recommend it for both the devoted fan and the casual, as well as curious, person, as a fine entertainment. Hopefully we are seeing a chess-publishing revival in the book world, and renewed interest in the game in the U.S.
Books:
- Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of Native American Literature
- On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry
- Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune: 3 EASY STEPS for creating a lifetime supply of tax-deferred, even tax-free, wealth for you and your family
- Perceiving the Arts: An Introduction to the Humanities (8th Edition)
- Photography: Revised Edition
- Photovoltaics Design And Installation Manual: Renewable Energy Education for a Sustainable Future
- Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)
- Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture
- Printmaking: History and Process
- Problem Solving for Oil Painters: Recognizing What's Gone Wrong and How to Make It Right
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Before Midnight: A Retelling of "Cinderella"
- The Enterobacteria
- The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature
- Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC
- Audio/Video Cable Installer's Pocket Guide
- A New Owner's Guide to African Grey Parrots
- Frederic Church
- The Pragmatist Imagination. Thinking about Things in the Making
- Guide to the Plants of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, A
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors
How to Draw What You See (Practical Art Books)
Drawing for older children & teens
Keys to Drawing
