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| The Drawing Breakthrough Book: A Shortcut to Artistic Excellence | 
 enlarge | Author: John Hastings
Publisher: Draw Three Lines Pub
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $10.85
You Save: $5.10 (32%)
Buy New/Used from $9.64
Avg. Customer Rating:  (26 reviews)
Sales Rank: 171057
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Pages: 103
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 11.2 x 8.6 x 0.4
ISBN: 0974941824
Dewey Decimal Number: 740
EAN: 9780974941820
ASIN: 0974941824
Publication Date: July 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The Drawing Breakthrough Book: A Shortcut to Artistic Excellence builds on and transforms standard drawing concepts. It presents a practical approach to creating line drawings that will enable nearly anyone to see in a fresh way and to draw more accurately. In Part One, you'll learn many of the secrets to seeing and drawing like an artist. In Part Two, you will master the building-block lines. To assist you in this mastery, you'll use breakthrough techniques to practice drawing squares, circles, and ellipses. As you progress, you'll choose and practice drawing simple objects in more and more advanced arrangements. In Part Three, you will first learn how to apply basic principles of composition. Then you'll apply those principles plus your mastery of the building-block lines to composing, seeing, and drawing objects with all types of lines.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 No Breakthrough Here June 11, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The author is not a professional artist, but is in electronics and technical communication, and the book reads like it. Laborious and confusing descriptions of "visualized" and "implied" lines and rectangles and "points" seem like an engineering text. There is no "breakthrough" here; you can find these subjects better and more lucidly discussed in many other books on how to draw. The book seems padded out with unnecessary drawings that don't really tell you anything new or helpful, e.g., pgs. 54-56 (I don't think looking at subjects through a drinking glass helps you), and pgs. 94-97(if a person can't tell whether or not a line is straight or curved, they should go to an optometrist to be checked for astigmatism). This book isn't worth the money and would only confuse a beginner.
 Move Your Drawing Skills Up a Level May 25, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've been drawing forever, mostly little cartoons, but wanted to move into nature sketching. It was frustrating that my mushrooms, chipmunks and trees didn't resemble the vision I had in my head. Luckily for me, I discovered the Drawing Breakthrough Book.
Right away, the sections on measuring angles, working with guidelines, and seeing shapes showed me some areas where I was going wrong. Sometimes people say, "I can't even draw a straight line." Well, it isn't all that easy, so the author devotes a whole chapter to mastering straight lines. At last, something to help me understand perspective. After he breaks down a topic and helps the reader visualize how it works, then there are exercises to put the technique to work. For the chapter on straight lines, the exercise involves drawing boxes stacked haphazardly with plenty of angles to challenge the art student.
The next chapter tackles Mastering Circular Lines. There's also a chapter on elliptic lines, and one on composition.
The book includes plenty of visuals and step-by-step instructions and examples. Here's to better drawing in the future.
An Art Instructor's re-review March 3, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I posted a lengthy review some time ago and it must have gotten lost in the web...so, here's a copy of my "blog" entry for my digital art classes at lvsonline.com:
I seldom recommend books, other than Betty Edwards, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", because they all appear to be variations on a theme. Even when using search engines, the answers are hard to come by. I recently had a student who really could have used this book! I will be recommending other books in the future if I am particularly impressed by them or if students can profit by another's words.
John Hastings asked that I take a look at his book "The Drawing Breakthrough Book (A Shortcut to Artistic Excellence)" some time ago. I was flattered by his request and intrigued by his humbleness. He just happens to be one heck of a nice guy to deal with. Due to time constraints, I procrastinated until I could actually "read" the book. In more years than I want to admit, I've read and also own a lot of "how-to" draw/paint/sketch, etc. books.
I have finally found one that I can unequivocally recommend. (Perhaps it was the delicious cover that got me, or maybe the title or maybe the fact that he was an ex-frustrated student.) No matter! John has discovered yet another "missing link" in the usual approach to drawing.
As an instructor in both digital and real-life art, I've had the occasional student who couldn't seem to grasp the "traditional" ways to understand and apply even simple theory. I've figuratively torn my hair out in trying to explain a simple theory. This is where John's book is the answer!
With great pleasure, I can tell you that he has managed to address his words to those who fit into what I call the "stuck in the left side of the brain" students/artists. They need logic in order to do the illogical without becoming intoxicated with my fermented coconut milk and with a minimum of confusion and a maximum of efficiency.
To paraphrase his news release): His premise is that the key within every drawn picture has three types of simple "building-block" lines, which can be utilized to draw anything from the simple to the complex, from the primitive to the elegant. His book offers the results of John's years of experience and research in the form of step-by-step, "student-friendly" instructions and exercises that anyone can employ in order to quickly achieve competence in their own artwork.
To put it simply, you get more "bang for the buck" packed into 100 pages of wonderful illustrations, simple explanations and great tips. It's unique, just as John is -- someone who isn't afraid to profess his frustration with the traditional and is willing to share his knowledge!
Don't just purchase it and add it to your library! Take some time and really try out his technique(s). I've posted the link in my list of recommended books!
:) Hillary
P.S. John has given me permission to post some of his tips, so I shall be tantalizing you with them in the future...LOL
 4.5* Analytical Intro to Drawing February 25, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a very basic, step-by-step introduction to pencil line drawing. It's folio size is deceiving as it consists of about 100 pages with 3 diagrams per page. So, it has relatively few words--yet it uses them very efficiently indeed. It is divided into 3 sections (Starting to Draw, Mastering the Building-Block Lines, & Expanding Your Drawing Skills) consisting of 8 chapters. The author's basic approach is to create visualized reference points for the object being drawn which are transferred to the drawing via standard lines, arcs, etc. He uses household items (e.g. a glass, tissue box) to illustrate this as well as perspective. His teaching method is very analytical--breaking objects down into their component "parts"--i.e. points & lines.
Indeed, he emphasizes observation & visualization which are useful far beyond drawing--he quotes p. 57 Bill Harvey: "If you are familiar with an object that's very similar to the object you're viewing, your mind projects its stored image & you won't truly see what's actually in front of you." This is rather profound IMHO. He also includes some lovely art quotes such as p. 82 Georgia O'Keefe's "Art is filling space in a beautiful way."
While most of the book is more science than art, chapter 7's description of drawing composition enters the world of creativity--more art than science. I found some of his observations here highly useful for photography & art appreciation as well as for drawing. Thus, this book has value even for those not interested in developing drawing skills. Of course, to really use these skills one must practice, practice, practice until the methods become automatic--and a little natural artistic ability wouldn't hurt either!
A complete drawing course in one slim volume February 7, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
John Hastings has released a complete drawing course in one deceptively slim volume. I am not an artist nor have I ever aspired to draw anything more than geometric doodles, but I was intrigued by the story of John Hastings, a man so frustrated with traditional art lessons that he applied his professional electronics background to writing a manual about the process of learning to draw. Hastings has written a how-to book like no other, one that breaks drawing down into manageable, digestible pieces.
Lessons are presented in a two-column format, with sketch samples or black and white photographs running down one side, and explanations on the other. The firm organization of the book was appealing to me, as is the fact that I can repeat lessons as necessary as I work at my own pace through the course. The only supplies needed for following Hastings's course are a pencil, eraser, and paper. He doesn't even require that you have an arsenal of pencils - this book is focused solely on line drawings.
After finishing the exercises prescribed by Hastings, which range from seeing to measuring to drawing, the reader will view the world differently. He or see will see new shapes, appreciate composition, and having the confidence to translate a real-world image into a paper drawing.
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