Painter's Handbook


Book Description

Much more than just another guide to artists’ materials, The Painter’s Handbook is an amazingly useful resource, with information on everything from the canvas up: the canvas itself, plus paper, sizes and grounds, pigments and binders, solvents and thinners, varnishes and preservatives. Dozens of step-by-step recipes for make-it-yourself paints, pastels, varnishes, gessoes, sizes, supports, and equipment take this indispensable guide way beyond the competition. Authoritatively written by Mark David Gottsegen, chair of the federal government’s ASTM committee on artist’s materials, the revised Painter’s Handbook considers the enormous changes in the art-materials world since the first edition was published in 1993. New materials, new health issues, new information on outmoded and even harmful supplies and practices mean that every painter needs a copy of The Painter’s Handbook.




The Oil Painter's Handbook


Book Description

One of the most classical of all painting mediums, this all-in-one guide will help you in selecting materials, equipment, and techniques.




The Oil Painter's Color Handbook


Book Description

A master class in a book, this volume offers a comprehensive, contemporary, and accessible foundation of color theory and advanced techniques every oil painter at every skill level needs in their toolbox. Written by well-known artist, expert teacher, and successful art-instruction author Todd M. Casey, The Oil Painter’s Color Handbook provides everything the oil painter needs to understand all aspects of color. Beginning with an in-depth look at the use of color throughout art history, Casey then breaks down the process of understanding color into easily digestible lessons--each clearly explained and richly illustrated with both historic and contemporary paintings--so that the reader can learn progressively and layer more complex ideas as each skill is mastered. Through clear instruction, step-by-step demonstrations, and challenging exercises, the readers will learn to apply these techniques and concepts to their own painting.




The Oil Painter's Guide to Painting Water


Book Description

IN 50 PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATIONS, A WORLD-RENOWNED NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER AND A FAMOUS LANDSCAPE ARTIST JOIN TALENTS TO HELP YOU ACQUIRE THE SKILLS TO BRING VIVID SCENES TO LIFE ON YOUR CANVASES




The New Oil Painting


Book Description

Here is everything you need to know about getting into oil painting—and maintaining a safe, solvent-free oil painting practice—in a slim, sophisticated guide. Oil painting is an exciting and adventurous medium, but aspiring artists can feel daunted by complex setups and the thought of using harsh chemicals. All of that changes now. The New Oil Painting walks you step-by-step through oil painting fundamentals—which materials you actually need, how to mix paint, how to set up your painting space—and, most revolutionary of all, how to eliminate harmful solvents from your work and replace them with safe, effective substitutes. This instructional handbook is organized into chapters with helpful diagrams throughout illustrating various techniques and tools. Whether you're a true beginner or have been painting with oils for years, you will find that this book has everything you need to build a new, thriving, toxin-free practice. • UNIQUE APPROACH: Not only does this book help aspiring artists build a repertoire of skills and materials, it also offers all artists, regardless of their experience levels, methods for eliminating solvents and other toxic substances from their oil painting practices. What was once a dangerous pastime is now a guilt-free, health-conscious, and rewarding activity. And using safe, nontoxic materials is better for the environment! • LONG-TERM USE: Good art instruction can deliver over a long period of time, and this handy guide is no exception. Along with being able to use this as an entryway into oil painting, you can also use it for reference or reread sections when you need a brushup. • EXPERT AUTHOR WITH IMPRESSIVE CREDENTIALS: Painter Kimberly Brooks was the founding arts editor at Huffington Post. As a painter, she exhibits her work frequently throughout the United States and was a featured artist with the National Endowment for the Arts. She has led oil painting workshops, and now she shares her vast knowledge of the subject in this accessible and comprehensive handbook. Perfect for: • Artists and art aspirants interested in exploring a new medium • Experienced oil painters looking to eliminate solvents from their practices • Painting students and teachers




The Oil Painter's Guide to Painting Trees


Book Description

50 lessons in painting masses of trees, individual trees and leaves, bark, flowers and fruit in all weather and seasons.




The Landscape Painter's Workbook


Book Description

"The Landscape Painter's Workbook takes a modern approach to the time-honored techniques and essential elements of landscape painting, from accomplished artist, veteran art instructor, and established author Mitchell Albala"--




Gruppé on Painting


Book Description

Dust jacket notes: "Vibrant, fresh, immediate! The direct oil painting technique is an intense reaction to nature, a race with time to capture the color, the light and shadow, the design and the spirit of a subject in a few short hours. And now, Emile Gruppe - master of the direct oil painting technique - shows how you can use the broad strokes and lively colors of this spontaneous approach to infuse your own paintings with vitality, vigor, and on-the-spot freshness. A firm believer in using the best materials for the best results, Gruppe begins with a quick review of his favorite brushes, colors, easels, and painting surfaces. Next, he covers the basics of good design, what to look for and how to orchestrate what you see: masses, lines, values, and relationships. Turning to color, a fundamental element of his painting technique, Gruppe discusses complements, color harmony, color vibration, local color, reflected color, and using color to create atmospheric perspective. He explains how color appears on various kinds of days - foggy, clear, cloudy - and under different lighting conditions - front lighting, backlighting, sidelighting. In subsequent chapters, the author focuses on composing seascapes and landscapes; he explains how to paint rocks, ocean, lighthouses, boats, piers, pilings, roads, trees, streams, snow, mountains, valleys. Then, in full-color step-by-step demonstrations, the author shows how he captures a subject in his unique, exuberant, on-the-spot style.




Problem Solving for Oil Painters


Book Description

Finally - a book to help you solve all your painting problems! Inside you'll learn how to study a painting and correct problematic areas. Study topics include: Ideas - Is there a good abstract idea underlying the picture? - What details could be eliminated to strengthen the composition? - Does the painting have a focus? - Are the unessential parts subbordinated? - Does the painting "read"? - Could you finish any part of the painting? Shapes - Are the dominant shapes as strong and simple as possible? - Are the shapes too similiar? Value - Could the value range be increased? - Could the number of values be reduced? Light - Is the subject effectively lit? - Is the light area big enough? - Would the light look stronger with a suggestion of burnout? - Do the lights have a continuous flow? - Is the light gradiated? Shadows - Do the shadow shapes describe the form? - Are the shadows warm enough? Depth - Would the addition of foreground material deepen the space? - Does the background recede far enough? - Are the halftones properly related to the background? Solidity - Is the underlying form being communicated? - Is the symmetry in perspective? Color - Is there a color strategy? - Could a purer color be used? - Do the whites have enough color in them? - Are the colors overbended on the canvas? - would the color look brighter if it were saturated into its adjacent area? Paint - Is your palette efficiently organized? - Is the painting surface too absorbent? - Are you using the palette knife as much as you could? - Are you painting lines when you should be painting masses? - Are the edges dynamic enough? - Is there enough variation in the texture of the paint?




Creative Color


Book Description