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Of the relatively few outstanding books on the subject of drawing, Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson (1985) would certainly have to be, in my opinion, one of the two best approaches to the subject of finding artist freedom. The single most helpful aspect of this book is the huge number and variety of very different techniques Bert Dodson used in compiling it. No other book on the subject of learning to draw is so thorough. It certainly stands alone as the single more diverse book of its kind. It would be hard to think a person could begin going through the many exercises and not finish with a greatly improved drawing ability. In my 20 years as a college fine art instructor there have only been 2 books that have come to my attention with such a vast amount of power to bring out the drawing skill of anyone who truly applies the techniques. The first book, which I believe to be without equal would have to be Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards (The original 1979 edition). In my experience no other book has the power to find and free the creative artist within a person than it had. Yet what Edwards' book lacked was the ability by itself to free the artist, unless the reader was also able to interact with a qualified art instructor who understand the Right Brain concepts. Otherwise, almost without exception, the Right Brain Drawing readers would complete the first 3 or 4 exercises and then bog down, seemingly unable to continue moving forward. Even though they were all able to see great improvement their drawing ability. But over the years many dozens of my students said had begun with Edwards book, only to find themselves unable to continue at a point near the beginning of the book, and needed help to activate the lessons. Dodsons' Keys to Drawing, approach all but eliminated that need. Yet exactly why the book has the power to set free the artist trapped within, along with the clearly stated reasons why so many people feel artistically trapped to begin with are not found in Keys to Drawing. Even so Dodson managed to design so many well thought-out exercises that the artist seemed able to emerge to a great degree anyway. The only missing element in Keys, I believe, would be the very helpful and clear details Edwards gave for why and how the artist ability is trapped. Dodson spends no time at all dealing with the subject. In fact I would have to say that he totally ignored that it exists at all. Yet, if a person is willing to devote the necessary time to doing the exercises found in Keys to Drawing, great improvement is sure to occur all the same.Read full review
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