The Drawing Mind: Silence Your Inner Critic and Release Your Creative Spirit

by Deborah Putnoi

Overview

When we drew as children, we never worried about making mistakes—we took risks and trusted ourselves, and had fun in the process. But as we become adults, anxiety steps in: “Am I doing this right?” “What is expected of me?” “This is wrong!” And from drawing, we can extrapolate into the rest of our lives. The fear of making a mistake hinders us from being as creative as we could be.

Deborah Putnoi’s interactive sketchbook helps us reconnect to that open, nonjudgmental state, which she calls the “drawing mind.” Her bold, lively drawings and encouraging instructions lead you on a process of self-discovery, first reclaiming the freedom to express yourself through drawing and then learning how to take that freedom into the activities of your daily life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590309438
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	04/03/2012
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	7.56(w) x 8.78(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Deborah Putnoi is an artist, educator, and researcher with a Masters in Education from Harvard and an advanced degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Her work has been exhibited nationally in galleries and museum settings. She is best known for her paintings and works on paper, and her work is in numerous collections. She worked at Project Zero at Harvard University with Howard Gardner and Jessica Davis and has taught and been a resident artist in public and private schools and universities. Her particular interests are using art to effect social change and finding new and unusual ways to access the creative mind.

Editorial Reviews

If I wanted to draw, I’d like to have Deborah Putnoi by my side.  Now, thanks to her evocative and crystal clear book, all readers can have this opportunity.”—Howard Gardner, author of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed

“Deborah Putnoi is a brilliant artist and teacher. In this completely original, accessible, and beautiful book, she welcomes us into her artist’s world and shares her magic with anyone willing to make a mark. I want copies of this wonderful book for my family, friends, and students so that they can all experience firsthand the power and pleasure of making sense through drawing. Brava.”—Jessica Hoffmann Davis, EdD, educator and author of Why Our Schools Need the Arts and Why Our High Schools Need the Arts

“A bold and interactive workbook to get you to pick up your pencil. Putnoi really picks up on the concept that as adults we need to release what has been holding us back—often, in drawing, what is our inner critic. The table of contents is anything but linear and sets the stage for what Putnoi is asking you to embrace. Well worth exploring!”—San Francisco Book Review

From the Publisher