What Painting is


Book Description

Here, Elkins argues that alchemists and painters have similar relationships to the substances they work with. Both try to transform the substance, while seeking to transform their own experience.




What is Painting? (Second Edition)


Book Description

At the turn of the twenty-first century, many felt sceptical or confused about paintings on-going cultural relevance. In this context, Julian Bells What is Painting? provided an accessible and inspired account of artistic thinking and practice, and of the complexities then facing artists and their audiences. Eighteen years on, the situation is partly reversed. Painting has proved too resilient a practice to be marginalized any longer. Yet is there any sense of forward momentum for the art? Interrogating the factors that have changed our ideas of painting over the past two centuries, Bell addresses relations between figuration and abstraction and between narrative and non-narrative painting, as well as the waning of conceptual arts dominance and the proliferation of experiments with the physical limits of painting. He also clarifies general concepts such as expression and representation. Fully revised to provide a fresh look at the situation of painting, this new edition maintains the objective of lucid, historically informative explanation that earned the original edition its status as a text of lasting value. The book provides a general readers introduction to theories of painting that is not only reliable, but also stimulating and amusing to read.




Traditional Oil Painting


Book Description

"Traditional Oil Painting is that rare sourcebook that comprehensively covers the most advanced techniques and concepts of oil painting"--P. [2] of cover.




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




Painting as an Art


Book Description

One of the twentieth century’s most influential texts on philosophical aesthetics Painting as an Art is acclaimed philosopher Richard Wollheim’s encompassing vision of how to view art. Transcending the traditional boundaries of art history, Wollheim draws on his three great passions—philosophy, psychology, and art—to present an illuminating theory of the very experience of art. He shows how to unlock the meaning of a painting by retrieving—almost reenacting—the creative activity that produced it. In order to fully appreciate a work of art, Wollheim argues, critics must bring a much richer conception of human psychology than they have in the past. This classic book points the way to discovering what is most profound and subtle about paintings by major artists such as Titian, Bellini, and de Kooning.




Our Beautiful, Dry, and Distant Texts


Book Description

Elkins argues that writing is what art historians produce, and, whether such writing is a transparent vehicle for the transmission of facts or an embattled forum for the rehearsal of institutional relations and constructions of history, it is an expressive medium, with the capacity for emotion and reflection. Therefore, it needs to be taken seriously for its own sake: it is the testament of art history and of individual historians, and it is only weakened and slighted by versions of history that imagine it either as uncontrolled dissemination or as objective discovery and reporting.




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.




Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza


Book Description

The first time she made a pizza from scratch, art historian Nancy Heller made the observation that led her to write this entertaining guide to contemporary art. Comparing modern art not only to pizzas but also to traditional and children's art, Heller shows us how we can refine analytical tools we already possess to understand and enjoy even the most unfamiliar paintings and sculptures. How is a painting like a pizza? Both depend on visual balance for much of their overall appeal and, though both can be judged by a set of established standards, pizzas and paintings must ultimately be evaluated in terms of individual taste. By using such commonsense examples and making unexpected connections, this book helps even the most skeptical viewers feel comfortable around contemporary art and see aspects of it they would otherwise miss. Heller discusses how nontraditional works of art are made--and thus how to talk about their composition and formal elements. She also considers why such art is made and what it "means." At the same time, Heller reassures those of us who have felt uncomfortable around avant-garde art that we don't have to like all--or even any--of it. Yet, if we can relax, we can use the aesthetic awareness developed in everyday life to analyze almost any painting, sculpture, or installation. Heller also gives concise answers to the eight questions she is most frequently asked about contemporary art--from how to tell when an abstract painting is right side up to which works of art belong in a museum. This book is for anyone who agrees with art critic Clement Greenberg that "All profoundly original art looks ugly at first." It's also for anyone who disagrees. It is for anyone who wants to get more out of a museum or gallery visit and would like to be able to say something more than just "yes" or "no" when asked if they like an artist's work.




The Big Book of Painting Nature in Pastel


Book Description

Introduces the tools, materials, and techniques of pastel drawing, and presents a series of demonstrations with photographs of the original scene for comparison




Painting with God


Book Description