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Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation
A Dutch artist offers his concept of seeing and drawing as a discipline by which the world may be rediscovered, a way of experiencing Zen.
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
September 12th 1973
by Vintage
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"We do a lot of looking: we look through lenses, telescopes, tubes... Our looking is perfected every day - but we see less and less."
I probably should have read The Zen of Seeing when it was written in 1973. It has the look of my old well-loved Vegetarian epicure, a sort of buff paper covered book with pen and ink sketches and hand writing. It's fast and easy, and the point is that if one draws the everyday objects in his or her world, the world slows down becomes more sane and recognizable. It'...more
I probably should have read The Zen of Seeing when it was written in 1973. It has the look of my old well-loved Vegetarian epicure, a sort of buff paper covered book with pen and ink sketches and hand writing. It's fast and easy, and the point is that if one draws the everyday objects in his or her world, the world slows down becomes more sane and recognizable. It'...more
I am not a Zen person. I am not a "spiritual" person. I was, however, a college drawing teacher for many years. This is an excellent book. It teaches you to pay attention and to truly see, which is half the battle in drawing. Even if you never pick up a pencil, this book will lead you to look at the world in a different way.
I had read one other book by Franck. His words always seem to settle me on creating art, not out of angst, but out of a place of wonder and praise, appreciation and real seeing. Seeing/Drawing is a term he came up with for a medatative excercise to trust the eye/mind/hand relationship and to cultivate it while letting go of other distractions. This work speaks much about movement and form, of study and of nature. A good read for any artist. Perhaps a bit too autobiographical attimes for my likin...more
Where has this book been? I started drawing and painting a few years back and have bought lots of books, but none like this! I don't think of myself as a Zen person or a mystic, but this book really speaks to me. The drawings are beautiful, but go beyond a superficial beauty. Even if one is not interested in drawing, there is lots in this book to recommend it. It is not just a book about seeing and drawing, it is a book about truly living.
Honestly, I only read various parts of this book in the back room, waiting to be called out and model for a life drawing class at Mendocino College. It redefines the basic concepts of drawing as I had known them all my life. I was so amazed that I went out and bought art supplies. Ok, that was about it, so far cratively over here, but my children really dug on all those supplies. This book is great tho, truly, for artists and other humans.
BTW, I didnt get to finish the book because I fainted do...more
BTW, I didnt get to finish the book because I fainted do...more
As a child, teaching myself to draw, all i knew was "how to look" at something and draw what I saw. To know that I was doing this at such an early age amazed me after finishing this read. I perfected(?) on this through my teens and then later through college, and to this very day. This book brought it all into perspective for me and helped me understand what it was I was doing all these years.
I read excerpts of this book to my art students every semester. Years ago when I was Artist-In-Residence at a federal prison, an inmate brought me his copy of this to look at. He said he thought I would like it. He was SO right! Whether or not you draw, you will find this book full of insight. It's about drawing but more than that it's about SEEING, really SEEING, the world around us.
Inspiring, and written in an artsy, quirky manner which lends itself to the subject matter. Basically, we don't really take the time to "see" in everyday life. By drawing things, we develop the gift of sight. The book makes you want to take a tablet outside and begin.
I enjoyed the sketches as well as the text, although I would have liked more sketches and less text. The words became repetitive after a while. I became lulled into a Zen-like mediation coma. I'd like to see Franck's work on the Vatican Council if I can find it.
More inspirational than practical, if you're interested in meditation as a living/active practice then this book will be a pleasant read. For more:
http://satia.blogspot.com/2009/04/zen...
http://satia.blogspot.com/2009/04/zen...
This reminds me of The Artist's Way, but instead of morning pages, you learn how to "see." This book is about the process of seeing vs. looking-at, or learning to see again. Pro-independence and awareness. Loved it.
It is a wonderful book. You can be everything in world,such as tree,bird,other people,pencil and etc...
By teaches of Zen you can develop in drawing with your soul,and enjoying from action of drawing.....
By teaches of Zen you can develop in drawing with your soul,and enjoying from action of drawing.....
A wonderful book about enjoying and seeing the beauty in simple every day things. His drawings and paintings are a wonderful example of this and are very enjoyable to look at.
Simple way of explaining what colours and art can do to your life. Very inspirational thoughts crossed my mind during hes journey. I really liked it.
Sep 17, 2012
Eris
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
inner-adventures,
for-grown-ups
I gave this book to a fellow artist right after reading it because gems like this should be shared... what an enlightening book, gorgeous in every way.
Highly recommend you take it out from the library. I am inspired to draw as part of my daily routine, and you will be, too.
Wonderful in its prose and illustrations. I started "Seeing/Drawing" and found myself less critical of my drawings and in awe of subtle movements in clouds, flowers and hermit crabs. I also enjoyed the quotes from zen masters. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to discover or rediscover their "inner-artist".
Oct 20, 2010
Greta
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
general-non-fiction,
spirituality
A lovely hand-written book with gorgeous pen drawings espousing the art of really looking at something until you see it and then let your hand draw it. Naturally. Bypass the ego and the mind and just allow the flow from eyes to hand to paper. Become the object. Maybe it won't teach you how to draw well, but you'll definitely see things differently.
I found this book to be exactly what the the author says it is. For a book like this that makes it practically perfect.
i read this after high school.
it kind of messed with my drawing ability.
it kind of messed with my drawing ability.
Loved this book, makes sense of drawing by feeling.
I love the format of the book. The whole thing is hand-drawn and hand-lettered, and he is a very good artist with very cool handwriting. There were a few good ideas I took away from it.
As a Christian, one thing that gets on my nerves is when Eastern religions try to paint Jesus as a great teacher who had reached an advanced level of personal enlightenment. They pick and choose which of his teachings to admire, and paint him as a model Buddhist. Jesus had no such pretense. The author was guilty o...more
As a Christian, one thing that gets on my nerves is when Eastern religions try to paint Jesus as a great teacher who had reached an advanced level of personal enlightenment. They pick and choose which of his teachings to admire, and paint him as a model Buddhist. Jesus had no such pretense. The author was guilty o...more
Interesting principles from a weird guy.
Helped me understand how to see and live.
The book has made me want to start drawing more and with a focus on the process, rather than the product.
Other than that, though, the book was a little out there for my tastes.
Other than that, though, the book was a little out there for my tastes.
I love this book...
Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation
This was not exactly what I expected but was interesting none the less.
This books seemed a little to full of what could be taken as quotable type drawing dialogue. I don't know. I liked the idea of it, I liked what the author had to say about seeing beyond what is visible with your eyes but it just seemed a bit too much in the seeing through the mists of existence type stuff for me, although I do that at myself sometimes too.
OK OK OK OK - I know what you're thinking but seriously this book changed the way I draw. It gets a bit new-agey / touchy feely at times but in the end - there has never been another book that got me so excited to pick up a pencil and start sketching people in public places.
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| seeing... | 1 | 2 | Jul 12, 2012 07:39am |
A friend of mine, w...more
May 22, 2008 12:12pm