Like many people, Heather Williams was not encouraged to embrace her creative side during childhood and as a result turned her back on part of her inner life. Beginning with an explanation of how she reclaimed her artistic impulses, this book invites readers to explore their own resources for creativity. With a·step-by-step approach to personal development in the tradition of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and The Artist’s Way, it teaches not only the technical skills needed to draw but also ways to delve into our inner lives for healing and inspiration. The book is divided into three sections: Pencils and Perception (observing and drawing what is seen in the physical world); Crayons and Consciousness (drawing the interior landscape); and Ink and Intuition (drawing on one’s intuitive wisdom). With 300 black-and-white illustrations, this is an easy, fun way to unlock creativity and unleash the spirit.
Williams combines her natural teaching abilities (she's a California high school instructor) with a lifetime devoted to art in this encouraging guide. Readers are urged to find sanctity in their drawing. Many exercises explore expressing feelings by drawing with the nondominant, less intellectual hand. Williams emphasizes, perhaps too frequently, that readers should be patient and gentle with themselves during their artistic explorations, and she reminds all-thumbs aspirants that "there's nothing wrong with stick figures." This accepting book is packed with dozens of exercises and hundreds of evocative drawings, thus favorably recalling Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. Not to be used as an instructional drawing guide, this is recommended for all self-help collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.