Keys to Drawing with Imagination: Strategies and Exercises for Gaining Confidence and Enhancing Your Creativity
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Get this book!
  • Teacher/Artist's view
  • This book could be a valuable resource for any enterprise that aims to create something new
  • Bert Dodson- Genius!
  • I loved this book
Keys to Drawing with Imagination: Strategies and Exercises for Gaining Confidence and Enhancing Your Creativity
Bert Dodson
Manufacturer: North Light Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

GeneralGeneral | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1581807570

Book Description

*Combines two favorite topics--drawing and creativity

*Enclosed spiral binding means it lies flat while artists work!

*Features countless inspirational drawings from the author and other famous artists, including R. Crumb and Maya Lin.

Every artist wants to be more creative, and this book demystifies that often confusing process. There are dozens of exercises to help readers more fully engage their artwork and unlock the power of the imagination. Artists will learn how to recycle old drawings into fresh ideas and discover new ways of working that free their creativity. Artists of all levels--working in every medium--will come away more confident and creative!!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Get this book!.......2007-04-16

This is a great how-to-draw book, because it has a very smart strategy: finesse the negative self-criticism that keeps most of us from even beginning to do anything smacking of `art.'

When a six year old once asked her father, a college art instructor, what he did for a living, he said, "I teach people how to draw." Incredulous, she replied: "You mean they forget!?"

We all know why that is-- a censorious voice inside our heads keeps up a murderous barrage of intimidation: "You suck! You can't draw!" And we knuckle under.

Most books on how to draw just reinforce this anxiety. They aim to teach you how to draw realistically, which for most of us means there is just one way to get it right, and a thousand to screw it up. How to solve this problem? Cookie-cutter schematic diagrams are given for drawing everything from portraits to horses, but every time you draw one of those almond shapes for a head, then put in a cross on which to put facial features, you've become a robot and art, an assembly-line production. That's a far cry from the utter fearlessness we all had when armed only with crayons.

This book blows by all this tomfoolery because it cares little for cheap realism but much for real creativity. By not focusing on the "what" but the "how" this book lets you not only think like an artist, but become one. In its pages learning is doing as rules are jettisoned in favor of principles, suggestions and exercises that gently immerse you in the experience of drawing, so that before you know it, you're scribbling away as intently as any six-year old... or Van Gogh. Getting the terminally self-conscious to believe in themselves as artists is no mean achievement--it's damn hard to do as a matter of fact--but Bert Dodson does this beautifully. (Even more experienced artists will learn much from perusing this wise and thoughtful book.)

But don't misunderstand one thing. Dodson's emphasis on creativity isn't an injunction to just "do what you feel." Drawing books like that leave you hanging in the air with no chance for traction and forward-momentum. This book is not one of those. The format in Keys to Drawing with Imagination not only generates much artistic material to work with, but will channel your growing understanding, concentrating it, so that a genuine mastery emerges, confident enough to undertake its own experimentation and exploration. This book is designed to be like the Buddha's raft--once it carries you over the river, you leave it behind to go on your way. For, ultimately, making art is about being free.

I have only one small cavil to make about this superb drawing book. The title bites. With a subject as exciting as creative drawing, this title is like giving Marilyn Monroe a name like Norma Jean. It obviously hopes to cash in on the success of Mr. Dodson's earlier book, Keys to Drawing; I sense the money-grubbing hands of the publisher's bean-counters. My condolences to the author, a most witty and engaging man, who must be suffering grievously.



5 out of 5 stars Teacher/Artist's view.......2007-03-30

Thank you, Bert Dodson, for Drawing With Imagination. It is a much needed elixir for both my creative and professional life. I've been an Art teacher for thirty years and I know from experience that you can teach almost anyone how to draw and paint well. Learning to use the tools is the easy part. What's hard is stimulating the imagination and the confidence to be creative.
Dodson's new book is a brimming reservoir of inspirational projects and ideas for the artist or teacher. Some of these exercises are so freeing, blocks to creativity seem to melt away leaving a fresh landscape of fertile ground. Using Bert's book as a basis for lessons my high school beginning students are stumbling onto originality and my advanced "Portfolio" students are discovering new directions for their work.
Every teacher and artist needs a copy of this book at their fingertips if only for an infusion of energy for your classroom and studio. I didn't realize till I got my copy, I've been waiting for this book for a long time.

5 out of 5 stars This book could be a valuable resource for any enterprise that aims to create something new.......2007-03-30

As a sculptor by avocation I find Bert Dodson's book delightful in its exuberant enthronement of imagination. As a biologist by vocation I'm equally pleased at how much this book evokes the experience of the scientist. The scientist keeps a sharp eye out for mystery in nature, imagines plausible explanations, devises experiments to test his ideas, and emerges with insights. The artist, similarly, observes, experiments interprets and brings forth something new. For both, imagination is a powerful key to success in discovery.
I am particularly impressed by Dodson's use of metaphor as a potent artistic explanatory device. In many different situations he discusses and illustrates ways in which "metaphoric seeing" " - looking at something and seeing something else - "awakens our ability to bring our own interpretation to reality."

5 out of 5 stars Bert Dodson- Genius!.......2007-03-27

Bert Dodson's new book on drawing from the imagination liberates drawing from its shackles and empowers all of us to make a strong visual statement in our own unique way. Thank you Mr. Dodson for expanding on your classic work, Keys to Drawing. You never stop inspiring us but most of all you make us believe in ourselves!

5 out of 5 stars I loved this book.......2007-03-25

Keys to Drawing with Imagination is a wonderful book for someone who loves to draw but doesn't feel confident. This book helped me realize that my doodles have the potential for beginning my journey into my imagination. I like reading into the mind of Bert Dodson, the artist, which helps me understand what drives at least one person's creative vision.
Keys to Drawing
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Good basics on freeform drawing.
  • A book which stimulates, educates and rewards its readers
  • I Love This Book
  • I'm not an artist, just bought it for sis.
  • Simple, practical and effective
Keys to Drawing
Bert Dodson
Manufacturer: North Light Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0891343377

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Good basics on freeform drawing........2007-01-09

This is a freeform drawing book that teaches draw what you see and not what you know, using the language of lines and shapes and not the language of things (very much like Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain).

Chapter 1 covers the drawing process and reviews the main points in a bulleted list at the end. Chapter 2 discusses the "handwriting" of famous artists - most interesting and enlightening. Chapter 3 covers how to draw figures and faces - here it does teach about foreshortening, finding midpoints, and taking measurements. Chapter 4 covers how to use light and shadow to model shapes. Chapter 5 covers precision drawing principles: how to create depth, eye level and vanishing points (one and two point perspective), unusual perspectives, ellipses. However, it's more of an overview rather than a "how to." Don't rely on this to learn precision drawing. Chapter 6 covers textures. Chapter 7 discusses composition (pattern and design). Chapter 8 covers imaginative drawing.

This is an excellent book to learn freeform drawing - I'm not sure what's better, this book or the "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", but I think I would still like to have this in my art book library.

5 out of 5 stars A book which stimulates, educates and rewards its readers.......2006-05-27

"Keys to Drawing" by Bert Dodson is one of the first drawing books that I bought after I got back to doing art after a break of over 15 years. It opened my eyes, stimulated my enthusiasm for drawing again and provided me with some really excellent guidelines about what to think about when drawing.

My edition is a North Light Books paperback published in 1990. Amazon indicates the current edition was updated in 2001 and, although I've not seen that I think it unlikely that it departs much from the sound advice provided in earlier editions.

I see the synopsis on Amazon says that it "Describes the drawing process, discusses proportions, light, depth, texture, pattern, design, and imagination, and tells how to evaluate one's work." And it does do all of those things - but it also does a lot more. He has 55 keys to drawing which are introduced as he goes through each of the topics in turn - and he provides lots of practical exercises to see how they can be applied.

It needs to be pointed out that this book is NOT a manual for how to draw in a hyper/photo realism manner - there are other books that do that.

What I like most about this book is it starts by encouraging people who want to develop their drawing to develop their own 'handwriting' for their drawing. Dodson explains:
* how we draw is as individual to us all as how we write.
* all artists combine freedom (intuitive, looser, sketchy drawing) and control (analytical, precise, careful drawing) in their work - they just do it differently
I just loved the idea that this author wanted me to be me - and not like him or somebody else. What's more in illustrating the different ways in which people draw he introduced me to a better understanding of how different master artists, such as Delacroix, Rembrandt, Matisse, Van Gogh, Degas, Morandi and Kollwitz approached their drawing. Consequently I began to understand an awful lot more about how drawing is done and why it looks as it does. What's more the images of their drawings in his book impressed me so much that they have stayed firmly lodged at the front of the drawing bit of my brain over the years.

One of the especially helpful bits about the book is that it encourages the development of self-evaluation right from the start. This means that the things one needs to think about when drawing become internalised that much quicker. It really helps the budding artist to become much more self-reliant and less dependent on others for insight into how they are doing.

This is a book that I can pick up and reread and dip into over and over again and never ever get bored. It's one of the best 'how to' books on drawing that I've ever read and I can highly recommend it to all of you who are:
* interested in the art of drawing,
* wanting to develop your own skill in self-evaluation and/or
* wanting to develop your own individual style of drawing.

Interestingly since first writing this review on my weblog I discovered that lots of my fellow artists also rated this book very highly as well!

5 out of 5 stars I Love This Book.......2006-03-22

This was the text used in my beginning drawing class in college and I love it. It teaches you how to draw what you actually see, instead of what you think you should be seeing. I had never taken a drawing class before but now I can draw anything that I have enough patience to sit in front of for a few hours. If you are a beginner, get this one. It's the best. (I still can't get through the first chapter of the left brain/right brain book. Boring.) Another fun book for beginners is Mona Brooke's Drawing With Children (fun for adult beginners too) and Drawing With Older Children and Teens. Helps you overcome your fears if you have any.

3 out of 5 stars I'm not an artist, just bought it for sis........2006-01-02

I bought the book "Keys To Drawing" for my sis for Christmas, and I wish to be as fair as I can in reviewing this book. First, I'm into photography and took the NYIP correspondence course and have read many articles on photography over the years. I say that because both arts share a lot in capturing light. First I was surprised at the size of the book. It looks like it is the size of a Readers Digest or National Geo. magazine but it is rather large. I agree with those that say the art work is cartoonish or terrible in it. I was suprised that someone that claims to be an artist would fill this book with such poor examples of it. Maybe I just don't get the point, but even a non-artist like myself can see for example a picture of a little boy on the beach has one leg that looks like he has ricketts. A drawing of Laurel and Hardy from models in a wax museum have so much restating that it is hard to even see any facial expressions. A picture of a Florence, Italy building is not even straight. It looks like it was drawn by a somewhat talented 4th grader. I never saw a clear example of a picture taken from rough draft to something you would hang on your wall. There are a few good drawings in it but those were mainly drawn by the students of the author. Hopefully, my sis will get something out of it. I bought it due to the high number of positive reviews. After I got it, I reread them and I guess it is considered a great book, however had I seen this in a store, I would probably have passed over it. I assume the author reads these reports from time to time and my suggestion to him is that in any future books he take a few pictures and complete them so as to show where he was going. Also, I hear that that other highly recommended book is now in spiral format. You might consider that for any future book like this. I don't wish to turn anyone away from buying this book because it might be a great book. I would just suggest you get one from the library and check it out, or be prepaired to return it to Amazon. Because I'm neutral I'm giving this only 3 points. Thanks.

5 out of 5 stars Simple, practical and effective.......2005-09-18

This is an excellent and truly helpful book which complements classics like "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and "The Natural Way to Draw" (the only other drawing books which I have found helpful and worthwhile so far). It is very well-written, engaging and beautifully illustrated. It does a wonderful job of encouraging a novice artist to try his or her hand at drawing. The exercises are appropriate but also simple and short so that a novice with little time can actually complete them (unlike the exercise schedule in "The Natural Way to Draw" which is aimed at the serious artist and takes an awful lot of dedication to complete). I also like the notion of "keys": They are "rules" not meant to be steadfast but which will probably help a novice artist who feels lost without some concrete instruction (rather than simply being told e.g. "tune out the left side of your brain"). The assesment sheets at the end of each chapter are also helpful in determining whether the exercises where properly done. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who feels that they need to improve their drawing and need some practical help.
The Colored Pencil: Key Concepts for Handling the Medium, Revised Edition (Practical Art Books)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • excellent for beginners....
  • A New Way to Paint
  • Just starting out? This is for you!
  • The definitive book on colored pencil
  • Good ... I needed more actual exercises, though.
The Colored Pencil: Key Concepts for Handling the Medium, Revised Edition (Practical Art Books)
Bet Borgeson
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0823007499

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars excellent for beginners...........2007-04-24

I'd been a sketcher all my life, but had been afraid to add color to my projects. What little experimenting I did do with colored pencils made me feel very awkward, and anxious. I felt I would mess my work up trying to master colored pencils. I didn't know all the techniques that existed in their use, or what one could accomplish with them.

Just recently, I found this book in our local library, and started reading it. I'm only half way through it at this moment, but it has already given me the courage to begin learning the basic techniques of working with colored pencils. I think it's an excellent book for beginners.

Although this book doesn't have alot of suggested exercises in each chapter, it doesn't take much imagination to know that one should try out the different techniques Borgeson writes about. In fact, her clear writing of the subject matter makes one WANT to try the techniques presented to them. She starts out with the basic materials, explaining what you will need to draw, and then she goes into different drawing techniques. Each chapter easily builds onto the last one giving a newbie a good foundation to start with, and then to expand.
My colored drawings, and confidence in using this medium have already gotten much better, and I'm having fun doing it!

I've already ordered my own copy of this book from the bookstore, and I've bought another one of her books that concentrates just on techniques. I'm looking forward to reading, and working with it as well.

Some things to remember....no drawing book is going to do the work for you. You must practice the techniques within them on your own whether the writer tells you to, or not. Practice and experimentation are the only ways to learn. This book, and working with colored pencils has certainly taught me this.

Thanks for reading!

5 out of 5 stars A New Way to Paint.......2005-09-26

The original was good, the revised edition better. But don't turn down the first if you see it in the second-hand store! This book transformed my painting. Though I used pastels or acrylics for twenty-five years, I have not touched them since. It is the perfect media for a small apartment (zero mess) and an irregular schedule (the media doesn't dry out before you can get back to work, and the colors stay the same). Especially valuable because the artist shows how the paintings develop in layers, and how she judges and corrects them to fit her evolving ideas.

5 out of 5 stars Just starting out? This is for you!.......2004-08-26

I am very new to art on paper and am exploring all the different media available to me. I borrowed this book from the library to see if it was something I needed on my shelves and my considered opinion after reading it is I MUST HAVE A COPY OF MY OWN! The exercises are clear, instructions basic, explanations are concise and make sense and the book flows from one chapter to another. This is an excellent book for the person seeking to get an overall exposure to this medium.

5 out of 5 stars The definitive book on colored pencil.......2001-12-14

As an artist who works in colored pencil as one of preferred medium, I am not ashamed to state that I basically learnt my technique from this book (and lots of exercise, of course.) Ms. Borgeson provides in this book both primary techniques of color application, which instantly put colored pencil in the "painting" category with their rich color and texture possibilities - and "tricks" for getting various effects. Focused on painterly texture and color, but not shunning experimental things, this book is one of the best to get started in color pencils - and return to it over and over again for refreshment. You won't find step-by-step instructions of "how to draw a blue horse" in his book, but rather a variety of examples and principles on which to build a color pencil drawing.

3 out of 5 stars Good ... I needed more actual exercises, though........2001-11-10

I bought this book and 'Colored Pencil For The Serious Beginner' and I just didn't find them very helpful, though others certainly have. What I need is step-by-step exercises as I build my technique rather than examples and explainations and this book just didn't provide as many and at the depth I found elsewhere. The explainations were great, to be sure, but I have since found that things are explained much better (for me) in other publications. She has a particular style of work that is not so much photo-realistic as impressionist and maybe that is the reason it didn't suit me. I'm sure others will find it perfect for their style of learning.
Drawing Faeries: Keys to the Kingdom
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Drawing Faeries Kingdom by Christopher Hart
  • Wonderful, Enchanting, and brilliant!
  • I'm a believer!!
  • The right key
Drawing Faeries: Keys to the Kingdom
Christopher Hart
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0823014088
Release Date: 2006-07-01

Book Description

• Follow-up to Drawing Faeries™: A Believer's Guide—more than 25,000 copies sold in less than a year and a half! • Solid step-by-step instruction on the art of drawing fairies • Best-selling author!

Four seasons ago, Drawing Faeries: A Believer's Guide made believers out of buyers and sellers everywhere, with copies flying out of stores as fast as little faerie wings could carry them. This season, top-selling author and illustrator Christopher Hart has once again combined an enchanting adventure story with charming step-by-step drawings. An artist is visited by a fairy seeking a special gift for an upcoming royal wedding: an exquisite drawing of the happy couple in their kingdom—and the fairy is ready to describe the secrets of his land, all hinging on a set of keys that unlock magical realms. Budding fairy artists will be able to create their own faerie kingdoms, intricately packed with details such as fetching fairy wings, bejeweled caverns, and the fairy larder, packed with (what else?) fairy fare.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Drawing Faeries Kingdom by Christopher Hart.......2007-01-03

Very well written. The step by step information in this book is very easy to understand. I would highly recommend this book!

5 out of 5 stars Wonderful, Enchanting, and brilliant!.......2006-07-13

I loved this book as did my children and their friends. We all love the Drawing Faeries series, and this one, the newest, is our favorite! It is wonderful, enchanting, brilliant, and entertaining!

5 out of 5 stars I'm a believer!!.......2006-07-12

From the ingenious mind of Christopher Hart, comes another masterpiece in the world of faieies, "Drawing Faeries, Keys to The Kingdom". The premise is that the author was chosen by faeries to enter into their world because of his artistic talent; he is to draw a wedding portrait of the king's daughter and her new husband. The author, kindly allows us to enter into his world with these faeries. It is very easy to suspend disbelief as Christopher Hart tells his story with his usual deft touch. I was hooked the moment I saw a comic self-portrait of the author laboring in his studio, with steam coming from his coffee, extending into the air, and generating "steam fireworks". The book works on many levels: my children enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, and my 3 year-old niece enjoyed it, although I had to read it to her. The writing is clever, sunny, and always humorous. The drawings and explanations are wonderful, and the artistic comparisons between faerie and human, enlightening. He is, I believe, the foremost human expert on faeries and their lifestyle, and, in addition, he can teach you to draw too! I would highly recommend this book.

5 out of 5 stars The right key.......2006-06-28

This book definitely has the keys successful faerie illustration. Endless entertainment, lots of enjoyable scenes to choose from and many fun challenges. As in a few other books I own by Hart, the examples are simple, fun and produce great results. The informative background side by side the technique explanation and the easy steps to follow, makes Faerie drawing simple and exciting. Anyone with a soft corner for faeries and like of a pencil should own this book. Great companion for the coming summer
Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections, Elevations
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Good resource
  • Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century
  • Not good enough
  • Excellent Resource
  • Great Teaching Resource
Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections, Elevations
Richard Weston
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0393731456

Book Description

Newly-drawn scale drawings of 100 significant and influential buildings brought together for reference in one handy volume.

This book provides the essential data for landmark buildings of modern architecture. Arranged chronologically for purposes of comparison, each building is represented by color photographs as well as accurate scale drawings prepared for use by students and professionals. Succinct text gives the history of each building and shows why it is innovative and important. An accompanying CD-ROM contains all the drawings, allowing readers to examine them in detail and to resize them for use in their own work. An opening essay gives a brief overview of the history of architecture in the twentieth century, highlighting key developments. Among the architects included are Frank Lloyd Wright, Antoni Gaudí, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Gunnar Asplund, Charles and Ray Eames, Jorn Utzon, Louis Kahn, Eero Saarinen, Robert Venturi, Norman Foster, Mario Botta, Richard Meier, Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, and many more. 150 color illustrations, 500 line drawings, CD-ROM.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Good resource.......2007-03-08

This book delivers as its title promises, Plans, Sections, and Elevations. However, there are few (only one per building) pictures of the spaces in each building.

4 out of 5 stars Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century.......2007-02-08

This is a very good reference that will appeal to practicing architects as well as students of architecture. The CD that comes with the book contains plans, elevations and sections of these key buildings and this is perhaps one of the main reasons for purchasing it. This 'strength' is also perhaps also one of the books major weeknesses as all drawings are in dxf and postscript formats, which means they are displayed in a single colour inside your CAD program and/or Photoshop. Given the size and complexity of some of the buildings in this book, having all lines as a single colour is at times very confusing for the eye. The dxf files do not contain any text, so it's a matter of looking at the drawings in both the book and on the screen at the same time; though the text in the book is also a bit on the 'light' side; and genreally you're often left to your own devices in determining the function of many rooms. All drawings are reasonably well executed but have an unfinished feel that I found quite annoying. That said, Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century is a valuable reference source for anyone wishing to study these key buildings. I don't think too many purchasers will be dissapointed with what they find inside its covers.

2 out of 5 stars Not good enough.......2007-01-31

Not pretty enough for a coffee table book and definitely not informative enough as a resource for an architecture student.

4 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource.......2006-02-24

I am a current architecture student in college and found this book to be a wondrful resource. So often, as students, we are urged to look at precedents to learn how other architects have solved problems, or designed for a certain climate, or what materials they used for different projects. This book provides a good insight to many famous projects by many different architects and is a good read. It also comes with scaled drawings of each project on a CD-ROM which is also a nice bonus.

5 out of 5 stars Great Teaching Resource.......2005-06-01

This book is valuable for anyone in Architecture education at any level. The accompanying CD provides .DXF files that can be used by a variety of CAD/3D software programs.
Drawing the Light from Within: Keys to Awaken Your Creative Power
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • the basics of creating visual art and much more
Drawing the Light from Within: Keys to Awaken Your Creative Power
Judith Cornell
Manufacturer: Quest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Job Hunting & CareersJob Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books | General | Guides | Interviewing | Job Hunting | Job Markets & Advice | Resumes | Vocational Guidance | Volunteer Work
CreativityCreativity | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Creativity & GeniusCreativity & Genius | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
IntelligenceIntelligence | By Topic | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0835607569

Book Description

Eleven easy-to-learn keys can help you unlock your imagination and creative potential.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars the basics of creating visual art and much more.......1998-08-01

Cornell's well-structured course offers a satisfying combination of basics and exercises that serve to stimulate and encourage individual creativity. The instruction is suitable for beginners, but also has something to contribute for those whose study of art may be more advanced. Exercises guide the student through the basics of composition, painting, drawing, and creating with color pencils. Cornell's aim, however, goes beyond teaching the basics of art. The structure of the exercises includes meditation techniques designed to enhance creativity. Emphasis is placed on learning to use values from light to dark to create compositions that vibrate with light.
What Shall I Draw (What Shall I Do Today Series)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Easy and fun
  • amazing!!!
  • 6 Year old girl loves it!
  • Helped turn my non-artist into a VanGogh!
  • Great for elementary school
What Shall I Draw (What Shall I Do Today Series)
Ray Gisson , and Amanda Barlow
Manufacturer: Usborne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
DrawingDrawing | Art | Arts & Music | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0746020244

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Easy and fun.......2007-05-13

This book is cute to look at, easy to follow, and the colorful, fun pictures are wonderful. We have this for my son, but all of his friends (girls and boys, 6 years old) want to draw everything from every page and they can do it very well. Steps are simple to master for ages as young as 4, and the book helps build confidence because the kids can really draw what is shown. Variations are easy too. Perfect book to have laying around to encourage children to try drawing. Great gift idea!

5 out of 5 stars amazing!!!.......2007-04-22

The instruction is simple and easy to follow and all makes sense. The minute I saw it I knew it'd work. The minute my 6 years old daughter laid her eyes on it she fell in love with it. Not only can she draw a lot better than before, even I could use some help from this book when requested by my 2 years old son to draw a truck. Is there any more book like this?

4 out of 5 stars 6 Year old girl loves it!.......2007-01-10

It's been two weeks since we gave our six year old girl this book. Last night she still was using it to draw a rocket ship. She loves it.

5 out of 5 stars Helped turn my non-artist into a VanGogh!.......2006-07-17

This product, and the others like it "I Can Draw Animals" and "I Can Draw People" are incredible! Just a year ago, I was able to pick my son's artwork out of his entire class: It was the unfinished or poorly executed one. Then, he started bringing some wonderful drawings home from Kindergarten. I asked him who drew them, and he said he did. I was shocked. Then, I found out his teacher has this series of books. The teacher told me that my son eagerly thumbed through the books when given a drawing assignment for ways to construct characters. My son - the one who was drawing stick figures a few short months ago! I quickly ordered the entire series and now we have a "super silly art gallery" in our home. He loves to draw now. I realized that he just didn't know how to get started before. He even lent the books to his older cousin that needed to draw a wizard for a school project. Now that he's more skilled, he is able to draw great things even without referencing the books. I am amazed and so very pleased.

5 out of 5 stars Great for elementary school.......2006-06-04

I just got through my first year of teaching and this book was really fun for some of my kids who lack confidence in drawing. They were able to have great success with the ideas in this book.
How to Draw Celtic Key Patterns: A Practical Handbook
Average customer rating: Not rated
    How to Draw Celtic Key Patterns: A Practical Handbook
    Andy Sloss
    Manufacturer: Blandford Pr
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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    GeneralGeneral | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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    Folk ArtFolk Art | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
    ASIN: 0713726520
    AIR POWER: KEY TO SURVIVAL WITH A PROLOGUE ON THE LESSON OF KOREA
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      AIR POWER: KEY TO SURVIVAL WITH A PROLOGUE ON THE LESSON OF KOREA
      Alexander P. de Seversky
      Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      ASIN: B000JWG7GU
      The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt : Illustrated With Photographs, Prints, and Drawings
      Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
      • The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone
      • An ideal introduction to how heiroglyphics were decoded.
      • This is a young persons book, written with not much detail
      The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt : Illustrated With Photographs, Prints, and Drawings
      James Cross Giblin
      Manufacturer: Ty Crowell Co
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

      GeneralGeneral | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Multilingual | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 0690047975

      Book Description

      "Until the Rosetta Stone was finally translated and the decoding of hieroglyphic writing made possible, much of Egyptian history was lost. The author has done a masterful job of distilling information, citing the highlights, and fitting it all together in an interesting and enlightening look at a puzzling subject." —H. "The social and intellectual history here are fascinating. A handsome, inspiring book." —K.

      Notable Children's Books of 1991 (ALA)
      Notable 1990 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
      Children's Books of 1990 (Library of Congress)
      100 Books for Reading and Sharing (NY Public Library)
      Parenting Honorable Mention, Reading Magic Award

      Customer Reviews:

      3 out of 5 stars The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone.......2004-07-12

      The Rosetta Stone, found in Egypt in 1799 by the French but later turned over to the British, contains text written in three alphabets: Greek, Egyptian, and hieroglyphics. Decoding the hieroglyphics on the stone remained a puzzle to many experts for years. This book provides a biography of the stone, describing the contributions made by many linguists that eventually led to deciphering the mysterious symbols.

      Black and white photographs of the stone as well as portrait illustrations of the men who helped decode the symbols break up the text. The book provides a very informative history of the writing system of ancient Egypt.

      5 out of 5 stars An ideal introduction to how heiroglyphics were decoded........2001-03-04

      "The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone" is accessible to our 9-year-old would-be Egyptologist with just a bit of vocabulary help from adults, yet is not the least insulting to her parents. This small book, with fewer than 100 pages, largeish type, and many clear illustrations, gives a readable and straightforward account of how the Rosetta stone allowed scholars to understand and even find the pronunciation of a language long after its last speaker was long dead. We learn, for example, that to the ancients, she was "Cleopadra" and not "Cleopatra".

      There is enough detail to help understand the process, and to convince the reader that the reconstructions are sound. The stone and its translation is put into its historical context, both ancient and modern.

      This is an admirable, brief, and inexpensive introduction to the subject, and is well-written. The professional will look elsewhere, and the complete greek, demotic, and heiroglyphic texts are available in the inexpensive Dover reprint of E.A. Wallis Budge's "The Rosetta Stone", which I review separately.

      3 out of 5 stars This is a young persons book, written with not much detail.......1999-01-12

      A nice little book, easy to read and worth the price paid for it. I would have liked to see more detail, perhaps in the next book I buy. I gave it three stars as it is a light report of the Rosetta Stone. I read the whole book in about 1/2 hour. It does have other sources from which to select more detailed books.

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      2. Learning By Heart (Jossey-Bass Education)
      3. Lovell and Winter's Pediatric Orthopaedics (2-Volume Set)
      4. Man and His Symbols
      5. Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali & the Artists of Optical Illusion
      6. Max Beckmann
      7. Motherstyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths
      8. Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance
      9. National Geographic Guide to America's Outdoors: Pacific Northwest: Nature Adventures in Parks, Preserves, Forests, Wildlife Refuges, Wilderness Areas ... Outdoor) (NG Guide to America's Outdoor)
      10. New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing

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