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Drawing on the Artist Within: An Inspirational and Practical Guide to Increasing Your Creative Powers

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Whether you are a business manager, teacher, writer, technician, or student, you'll find Drawing on the Artist Within the most effective program ever created for tapping your creative powers. Profusely illustrated with hundreds of instructional drawings and the work of master artists, this book is written for people with no previous experience in art.

AH-HA! I SEE IT NOW!
Everyone has experienced that joyful moment when the light flashes on -- the Ah-Ha! of creativity.

Creativity. It is the force that drives problem-solving, informs effective decision-making and opens new frontiers for ambition and intelligence. Those who succeed have learned to harness their creative power by keeping that light bulb turned on.

Now, Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, the million-copy best-seller that proved all people can draw well just as they can read well, has decoded the secrets of the creative process to help you tap your full creative potential and apply that power to everyday problems. How does Betty Edwards do this? Through the power of drawing -- power you can harness to see problems in new ways.

You will learn how the creative process progresses from stage to stage and how to move your own problem-solving through these key steps:
* First insight
* Saturation
* Incubation
* Illumination (the Ah-Ha!)
* Verification

Through simple step-by-step exercises that require no special artistic abilities, Betty Edwards will teach you how to take a new point of view, how to look at things from a different perspective, how to see the forest and the trees, in short, how to bring your visual, perceptual brainpower to bear on creative problem-solving.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

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Betty Edwards

32 books567 followers

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5 stars
3,470 (46%)
4 stars
1,936 (25%)
3 stars
1,353 (18%)
2 stars
462 (6%)
1 star
236 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Becky.
Author 1 book3 followers
March 20, 2009
If you have ever said or thought, "I can't draw for shit," or envied someone with that "natural artistic ability," READ THIS BOOK. Edwards breaks down the mythical assumption that creativity and artistic talent are gifts one must be born with. Her hands-on, psychological approach confronts, interestingly, the left/right split as the crux of the problem for those of us who buy into the cultural delusion that drawing, unlike math, science, reading, and writing, cannot be taught. The exercises and techniquess she suggests provide a means for the adverage person (in her argument, the potential artist), and as well as the experiened artist (in whatever medium) to shift more freely back and forth between right and left brained thought, and are meant to make creators more aware of the significance of such shifts, the advantages provided by each side, and the limits each suggests.
Profile Image for Barbara Carter.
Author 9 books59 followers
February 7, 2017
I found this book much more interesting than Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
I love the insights to our innate ability of how to express emotions with lines. This wonderful inner knowing we possess.
I've used bits and pieces of this book in art classes I've taught.
And one of the paintings I did as a teen has an eerie similarity to a drawing in the book, only mine was upside down to the image in the book. I recognized the shape immediately and pulled out the old painting I'd saved from my earlier years.
Don't know what it means, but I think it touches on the wonderful coincidences in life.
And that's there are lots of things we don't fully understand.
To me this book touches on the magical power of creativity and self expression.
Profile Image for Katelyn Jenkins.
205 reviews31 followers
October 4, 2018
A book to inspire the artist within.

True to the title, the aim of this piece of literature is to get non-artists their start in expression of the mind, and to trained, tried and true artists to assist in understanding their own mind and innate known concepts.

It provides much insight into the nature of visual arts and it's AMAZING accessibility to every person, regardless from where they attain their beginnings. It shows the underpinning of expression and meaning in simple to excitation lines, shapes... forms. It also has great project ideas; anyone can teach themselves to draw, this book is here - it must be used.

"There are times, after all, when one word is worth a thousand pictures." - Don Dame, CSULB Arts Professor
Profile Image for Camille.
2 reviews
September 19, 2012
This book and "Drawing On the Right Side Of the Brain" are highly recommended because of the benefits you'll get from the exercises. Every so called non-artist who is interested in doing art should get these books immediately.
Profile Image for Yoby.
79 reviews39 followers
January 13, 2009
Don't like this one as much as her other book , but is still pretty good. Out of the technical aspects of drawing and into more of the experimental aspects of art.
26 reviews
April 28, 2014
Excellent book that I read in part and then completed my first portrait sketches. They turned out beautifully as others have told me.
Profile Image for Ashok Banker.
60 reviews344 followers
February 21, 2012
Perhaps the best book on drawing for non-artists. It empowers you to draw regardless of talent, experience or lack of both. I'm not an artist and don't aspire to become one but as a creative person, I wanted to try my hand at art. This book was recommended by an American friend and it was amazing. Like a self-help course in art. I haven't seen the new edition but I'm told it's even better. Highly recommended.
163 reviews
November 28, 2018
Not what I thought it would be. Too much student work in a book about creativity and design thinking for me. The student’s progress is noteworthy but the abundance of examples seems unnecessary. Would have loved more discussion on the five stages of discovery.
Profile Image for Bella.
417 reviews
November 5, 2019
Not my kind of book. I was expecting a continuation of the original (“drawing from you right brain” or something or other), but this is page after page of what seemed to me theorizing.
Profile Image for Vietnam Medi-Pharm Expo.
3 reviews
June 1, 2026
Thi Công Gian Hàng Triển Lãm Y Dược Giá Rẻ – Giải Pháp Tối Ưu Khi Tham Gia Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo
Thi công gian hàng triển lãm y dược giá rẻ là nhu cầu được nhiều doanh nghiệp quan tâm khi tham gia các sự kiện xúc tiến thương mại trong lĩnh vực y tế và chăm sóc sức khỏe. Một gian hàng được thiết kế chuyên nghiệp không chỉ giúp doanh nghiệp thu hút khách tham quan mà còn góp phần nâng cao hình ảnh thương hiệu và tăng hiệu quả kết nối đối tác. Đối với các đơn vị đang tìm kiếm cơ hội quảng bá sản phẩm tại triển lãm y dược quốc tế, Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo là sự kiện thường niên uy tín quy tụ đông đảo doanh nghiệp trong nước và quốc tế.
Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo – Điểm Đến Quan Trọng Của Ngành Y Dược Và Thiết Bị Y Tế
Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo được tổ chức thường niên bởi Công ty Cổ phần Quảng cáo và Hội chợ Thương mại Vinexad, là một trong những triển lãm chuyên ngành y dược và thiết bị y tế có quy mô lớn tại Việt Nam. Sự kiện quy tụ hàng trăm doanh nghiệp, nhà sản xuất, bệnh viện, phòng khám và các tổ chức y tế đến từ nhiều quốc gia và vùng lãnh thổ.
Triển lãm không chỉ là nơi giới thiệu sản phẩm và công nghệ mới mà còn là nền tảng kết nối giao thương hiệu quả, giúp doanh nghiệp mở rộng mạng lưới khách hàng và tìm kiếm cơ hội hợp tác lâu dài trong lĩnh vực chăm sóc sức khỏe.
Vì Sao Doanh Nghiệp Cần Đầu Tư Thi Công Gian Hàng Triển Lãm Y Dược?
Trong môi trường cạnh tranh tại các triển lãm chuyên ngành, gian hàng đóng vai trò là điểm chạm đầu tiên giữa doanh nghiệp và khách tham quan. Một gian hàng được thiết kế khoa học và chuyên nghiệp sẽ giúp doanh nghiệp nổi bật giữa hàng trăm đơn vị trưng bày khác.
Những lợi ích khi đầu tư thi công gian hàng gồm:
Tăng khả năng nhận diện thương hiệu.
Thu hút khách tham quan đến khu vực trưng bày.
Tạo không gian giới thiệu sản phẩm chuyên nghiệp.
Hỗ trợ hoạt động tư vấn và gặp gỡ đối tác.
Nâng cao hình ảnh doanh nghiệp trong mắt khách hàng.
Tối ưu hiệu quả tham gia triển lãm.
Đặc biệt, đối với các doanh nghiệp mới tham gia triển lãm, lựa chọn phương án thi công gian hàng phù hợp giúp tiết kiệm chi phí nhưng vẫn đảm bảo hiệu quả truyền thông.
Các Yếu Tố Cần Lưu Ý Khi Thi Công Gian Hàng Triển Lãm Y Dược Giá Rẻ
Để tối ưu ngân sách mà vẫn tạo được ấn tượng với khách tham quan, doanh nghiệp nên chú trọng các yếu tố sau:
Thiết Kế Nhận Diện Thương Hiệu Rõ Ràng
Logo, màu sắc và thông điệp cần được bố trí nổi bật để khách tham quan dễ dàng nhận diện doanh nghiệp.
Trưng Bày Sản Phẩm Khoa Học
Các sản phẩm, thiết bị hoặc giải pháp y tế nên được sắp xếp hợp lý nhằm tạo thuận lợi cho hoạt động giới thiệu và tư vấn.
Tận Dụng Không Gian Hiệu Quả
Việc bố trí khu vực tiếp khách, khu vực trình diễn sản phẩm và khu vực tư vấn hợp lý giúp tối ưu trải nghiệm của khách tham quan.
Kết Hợp Truyền Thông Tại Gian Hàng
Màn hình trình chiếu, catalogue, brochure và các tài liệu giới thiệu sản phẩm giúp gia tăng hiệu quả quảng bá trong thời gian diễn ra triển lãm.
Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo Mang Đến Những Cơ Hội Gì Cho Doanh Nghiệp?
Khi tham gia Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo, doanh nghiệp có cơ hội:
Giới thiệu sản phẩm và công nghệ mới.
Tiếp cận khách hàng chuyên ngành.
Kết nối với nhà phân phối và đối tác tiềm năng.
Gặp gỡ bệnh viện, phòng khám và cơ sở y tế.
Mở rộng thị trường trong nước và quốc tế.
Cập nhật xu hướng phát triển mới của ngành y tế.
Đây là lý do nhiều doanh nghiệp lựa chọn đầu tư bài bản cho gian hàng nhằm tối đa hóa hiệu quả tham gia triển lãm.
Hoạt Động Kết Nối Tại Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo
Bên cạnh khu vực trưng bày sản phẩm, triển lãm còn tổ chức nhiều hội thảo chuyên ngành, chương trình kết nối doanh nghiệp và hoạt động xúc tiến thương mại. Những hoạt động này giúp doanh nghiệp tiếp cận đối tác phù hợp và mở rộng mạng lưới hợp tác trong ngành y tế.
Các thông tin và hoạt động liên quan đến triển lãm được cập nhật tại: https://www.facebook.com/VietnamMedipharmExpo
Thông Tin Liên Hệ Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo
Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo được tổ chức thường niên bởi Công ty Cổ phần Quảng cáo và Hội chợ Thương mại Vinexad.
Thông tin liên hệ:
Website: https://medipharmexpo.com/
Địa chỉ: 799 Nguyễn Văn Linh, Phường Tân Mỹ, TP. Hồ Chí Minh
Điện thoại: 090 349 8285
Email: medipharm@vinexad.com.vn
Đơn vị tổ chức: Công ty Cổ phần Quảng cáo và Hội chợ Thương mại Vinexad
Là triển lãm y dược và thiết bị y tế quốc tế được tổ chức thường niên, Vietnam Medi Pharm Expo tiếp tục khẳng định vai trò là cầu nối giao thương quan trọng giữa doanh nghiệp, chuyên gia y tế và các tổ chức trong ngành. Doanh nghiệp có thể tham khảo thêm các thông tin cập nhật về triển lãm tại: https://medipharmexpo.wordpress.com/


Profile Image for Marta Dominguez.
Author 9 books7 followers
June 15, 2018
I approached this book as a business manager and professor for my research on the topic of creativity. The fact that I am a self-taught painter and sculptress was secondary.

I reckon I was expecting some scientific and bore work. Instead, and much to my surprise, I got myself totally engaged in the art class for non-art-work-seekers that this teacher book is about.

A mixed of literary review, student exercise book and phd paper on the topic of drawing, learning to draw and (how to instill more) creativity in personal and professional projects. Prof Edwards proposes and argues a more than compelling case. The basic idea is "seeing differently" and that learning perceptual skills -like those used in the artistic language- can help with the challenge. After reading and learning by doing about the right side of our brain -the R Mode so beautifuly introduced by the professor- I feel like I know a bit more of my seeing abilities.
Profile Image for Sofia Fresia.
1,250 reviews25 followers
March 31, 2020
A metà tra il manuale e il saggio di divulgazione scientifica, Disegnare ascoltando l’artista che è in noi riprende le idee di base espresse dall’autrice nel suo primo libro (Disegnare con la parte destra del cervello) per contestualizzarle all’interno del processo creativo. È un testo interessante - forse più interessante che utile all’apprendimento del disegno - ricco di illustrazioni e disegni eseguiti da persone reali, anche se un po’ datato. L’unica difficoltà che ho riscontrato, e che era già presente nel volume precedente, è la scelta di inserire tantissime note a margine che rendono più dispersiva la lettura - soprattutto se la si affronta per imparare davvero a disegnare e non come ho fatto io per curiosità e desiderio di approfondire un argomento conosciuto da altri punti di vista.
Profile Image for venrir song.
8 reviews
June 20, 2025
Лучшая книга по искусству, которую я когда-либо читал.
Она изящно объединяет поверхностный уровень с глубиной — так красиво.
Я глубоко ценю, как она чудесно сплетает когнитивные принципы, не теряя тепла и вдохновения. Практичная, обучающая, даже философская и всё же вдохновляющая.
Это книга, которая учит не просто рисовать, а видеть.
Проницательная, вневременная и тихо преобразующая.

The best book on art tutorial I have ever read. Gracefully it merges the surface level with the complex so beautifully. I deeply appreciate how it so wonderfully weaves cognitive principles without losing its warmth or inspiration, practical, instructional, even philosophical yet empowering. A book that teaches to draw, but to see. Insightful, timeless and quietly transformative.
Profile Image for Alexandra.
31 reviews6 followers
July 27, 2019
Even though I finished art school I found so much new information here! I’m also blown away by the feeling that the author is reading my mind while I’m doing all the tasks (btw highly recommend to do all the practice). Moreover it’s one of the best books for self exploring with high potential to change your way of perceiving not only visual but all kinds of information.
130 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2018
3.5 stars. Some of the ideas were very interesting regarding literacy and the necessity of including visual literacy. The book made me think but I can’t say my after drawings were any better than my before.
1 review
March 3, 2019
betty Edwards gifted way inspired me.

This review is meant to convey how unique and creative her idea of using the right side of the brain to improve your creativity.
Profile Image for Adrienne.
Author 2 books2 followers
January 1, 2021
Really fun and informative, plus a great way to build skills. If you're an artist already this book is one of camaraderie, reflection and inspiration.
Profile Image for Andrew H.
595 reviews34 followers
May 24, 2021
An intriguing introduction to the psychology of drawing.
Profile Image for Sigrun Hodne.
417 reviews58 followers
October 24, 2021
No; I do not believe art making can be explained in a didactic well meaning way like this.
Profile Image for Tai.
37 reviews
February 7, 2022
I prefer Drawing on the right side of the brain more than this book. They have the same goal though: teach you how to draw intuitively.
240 reviews
April 16, 2025
Something about your smile makes me want to unravel its secrets. Perhaps we can explore them together tonight, with a touch that ignites a desire for something more intimate.
Profile Image for Darjeeling.
351 reviews42 followers
May 6, 2022
Read it here:
https://archive.org/details/drawingon...

The 5 components of drawing:
1) Seeing and drawing edges (sometimes called “contour drawing”)

2) Seeing and drawing spaces (called “negative spaces”)

3) Seeing and drawing relationships (called “perspective and proportion”)

4) Seeing and drawing lights and shadows (called “shading”)

5) Seeing and drawing the whole (called the gestalt, the “thing itself,” the essential nature of the
observed subject, which emerges spontaneously from the first four component skills).

There's a lot in here that reminds me of 'Ultralearning'. I know he's read her first book, so I wonder if he borrowed a few ideas, but perhaps they both did the same research and reached similar conclusions independently.

'Thomas Edison tried 1,800 different substances in his search for an electric light-bulb filament'
Yes. And none of them worked so he just stole the solution from an Englishman by the name of Swan, who later successfully sued Edison in court.

Created a worksheet for the exercise on p201, since the exercise is rather messily presented in my opinion, especially if this is a method that one intends to re-use as a problem solving activity. So here is my personal tidied up and re-usable version:

OG version:
https://archive.org/details/drawingon...

My tidied and re-usable work-sheet version \/

Overall Assessment:

What relative size is your role in the problem?


Does the problem have many parts, or is it a single mass?


Is the largest part above the line of sight or below?


Is the largest part left of centre or right of centre?


What do you now see that you did not before?


Assessment Of The Parts:

Choose one part to use as the 'one'
- the reference point to which others are compared for scale.


How big are the other parts of the problem
by comparison to 'one'.


What relative size is your role in the problem?


Does this part of the problem have many parts,
or is it a single mass?


Is this part above the line of sight or below?


Is this part left of centre or right of centre?


What do you now see that you did not before?


Now repeat this process with the next part.



Part 2:

Choose one part to use as the 'one'
- the reference point to which others are compared for scale.


How big are the other parts of the problem
by comparison to 'one'.


What relative size is your role in the problem?


Does this part of the problem have many parts,
or is it a single mass?


Is this part above the line of sight or below?


Is this part left of centre or right of centre?


What do you now see that you did not before?


Now repeat this process with the next part.



Part 3:

Choose one part to use as the 'one'
- the reference point to which others are compared for scale.


How big are the other parts of the problem
by comparison to 'one'.


What relative size is your role in the problem?


Does this part of the problem have many parts,
or is it a single mass?


Is this part above the line of sight or below?


Is this part left of centre or right of centre?


What do you now see that you did not before?


Now repeat this process with the next part.



Part 4:

Choose one part to use as the 'one'
- the reference point to which others are compared for scale.


How big are the other parts of the problem
by comparison to 'one'.


What relative size is your role in the problem?


Does this part of the problem have many parts,
or is it a single mass?


Is this part above the line of sight or below?


Is this part left of centre or right of centre?


What do you now see that you did not before?


Now repeat this process with the next part.



Part 5:

Choose one part to use as the 'one'
- the reference point to which others are compared for scale.


How big are the other parts of the problem
by comparison to 'one'.


What relative size is your role in the problem?


Does this part of the problem have many parts,
or is it a single mass?


Is this part above the line of sight or below?


Is this part left of centre or right of centre?


What do you now see that you did not before?


Now repeat this process with the next part.
Profile Image for moxieBK.
1,763 reviews5 followers
September 21, 2015
This was one of the first books I ever bought for my Kindle touch. I bought it after the paperback copy I lend to a friend never came back. Saddened by that, I thought I'd try it out on as an eBook. Honestly, it's just not the same thing, as far as usefulness on a screen. My old paperback copy had notes all over it, and some of the exercises I drew right on the page. It was that kind of a book....one where it felt OK to mark it up and make notes. For the eBook version, I don't recommend it. If I had bought it first as an eBook, I probably would have given it two stars. BUT, as a paperback, Ms. Edwards knew what she was doing with the exercises in here. Even older, first time drawers can be drawing in a few weeks. (And that's from MY OWN experience!) So, in paper form, it definitely is worth four stars.

AS A NOTE: I only really skimmed the eBook version. When I had it as a paper book, I worked through all the exercise and it took me several months, as I gently worked through it.

Four stars.
Profile Image for Hud-c.
129 reviews
Want to Read
December 17, 2012
I hope the library has a copy or the bookstore even.

I always wanted to tap that INNER TALENT (AHEM!!!) (as if!)

Kidding aside, I can draw but the creativity level hasn't been really develop or pursue when I was in my teens. Curse puberty when the boy next door or two seats away from you has been mostly the apple of a girl's eyes! (I wonder why he didn't give me any inspiration to sketch him.) 0_o

Now I know what to ask for Christmas. :D
Profile Image for Apryl Anderson.
882 reviews27 followers
July 27, 2011
Great exercises to help me understand what's going on inside.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews