Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (February 5, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 047018230X
ISBN-13: 978-0470182307
Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.8 x 10 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #66,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #3 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Visual Arts > Painting #15 in Books > Arts & Photography > Painting > Oil Painting #604 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism
I teach painting and have learned so much from this book. Whether someone is just starting out or been involved in painting for years, this book brings new ideas and information. It's lovely as well, with plates of in-process and completed works. A must for anyone interested in learning to paint or learning new ways of working with color! Thanks for writing this!
This is a great book for all us self-taught artists. It teaches us what all those terms and things are that we never understood, and how to acomplish them. I've been painting for 45 years and this book helped me a lot...."Back to the drawing board!"
Of all the oil painting instructional books I have purchased, this one is the very best. It takes you from the basics or oil painting in a very understanble way for any novice. Through the book, you are taught every element of oil painting from beginning to end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has the desire to oil paint. Make it the first one in your library.
Even I am 72 years old man, drawing & painting since I was a boy, I found this book is very interesting, I learned lots of things from it, I incorage any onewho likes painting to uy it, finaly sory for the grammar !
I have read through half of the book and, even though I have some experience with oils, am learning something new or different in each section. It is easy reading and is designed to allow you to read each section independently in any order. However, reading it straight through exposes some redundancy - not necessarily a bad thing. The color mixing study, in the end, helps you to understand how to mix colors to create highlighting and shading. But the mixing proportions are not defined clearly enough - so the exercise does not yield accurate results. The author does not explain that the same color in different brands are not truly the same and produce different results. But you get the idea.
This book should be everyone's first instructional text regarding oil painting! I can't think of another "how to" book on the subject that is even close to offering as much, and in such an easy to understand manner. Granted, once you have "mastered" this issue, you will need to go deeper somewhere else. The only downside is the title and humiliating cover that everyone on the street recognizes (you don't want to walk in the front door of your local Museum of Modern Art with one of these beauties under your arm!) - if you are a beginner, amateur, or it has been a long time since you picked up a brush....buy it, you'll love it, it is probably exactly what you have been looking for.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt as though I learned something the minute I opened this book. It is easy to understand and I am very happy with the my results. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is new to oil painting because everything makes sense. It is written so that even a novice like me can come up with a finished project. Love the book. Well worth the money.
I have dabbled in many mediums but have never had any training or study program. This book is it! As I have been reading the thing that I like best is that it tells you why and why not.People say, "Experience is the best teacher" but I have found the corollary - Experience may be the best teacher but it is also the most expensive". Say you happen to paint a beautiful picture but you didn't prime the "support" (anything you paint ON)...and then in a couple of years it start falling apart from the underside THEN you'll be sorry you hadn't known....or you put a lot of thinner ON thick paint and the thinner layer dries way faster and the oil never dries. Or you are sketching with a paint extremely thinned with terp and you love the effect and so decide to leave it. With time you sadly discover that that thinned paint was not stable and can be dusted off, ruining your masterpiece.This book is like a college course of the basics. But it still lets you have the basics and gets you started before you have to learn it all. I did not give it a five because as I was writing this review I realized that so many topics I went to refer to were not in the index. Examples: Primer, yellowing paint, cracking paint...still I recommend this for anyone who wants to learn all aspects, but especially for beginners - it is quite comprehensive.BUT NOW A YEAR LATER I find I don't open it at all BECAUSE there is not an adequate index.
Oil Painting: Learn Oil Painting FAST! Learn the Basics of Oil Painting In No Time (Oil Painting Tutorial, Oil Painting Books, Oil Painting For Beginners, Oil Painting Course, Oil Painting) Acrylic Painting: Learn Acrylic Painting FAST! Learn the Basics of Acrylic Painting In No Time (Acrylic Painting Tutorial, Acrylic Painting Books, Acrylic ... Painting Course, Acrylic Painting Book 1) Acrylic Painting: The Complete Crash Course To Acrylic Painting - Painting Techniques for: Still Life Painting, Landscape Painting and Portrait Painting Oil Painting Techniques: Learn How to Master Oil Painting Working Techniques to Create your Own Successful Paintings (Artist's Painting Library) Acrylic Painting: Learn How to Easily Paint Beginners Techniques with Acrylic Paint. Discover the Art of Acrylic Painting (Acrylic Painting, acrylic painting techniques, acrylic painting books) Acrylic Painting for Newbies: Guide To Acrylic Painting With 12 Step-By-Step Instructions And Tutorials (Acrylic Painting Books, acrylic painting techniques, acrylic painting for beginners) Oil Painting For The Absolute Beginner: A Clear & Easy Guide to Successful Oil Painting (Art for the Absolute Beginner) Essential Oils for a Clean and Healthy Home: 200+ Amazing Household Uses for Tea Tree Oil, Peppermint Oil, Lavender Oil, and More Oil Painter's Solution Book - Landscapes: Over 100 Answers to Your Oil Painting Questions The Art of Painting Landscapes, Seascapes, and Skyscapes in Oil & Acrylic: Disover simple step-by-step techniques for painting an array of outdoor scenes. (Collector's Series) Discover Oil Painting: Easy Landscape Painting Techniques Painting Landscapes in Oils (Oil Painting Tips & Techniques) Painting Landscapes in Oil (Watson-Guptill Painting Library) Painting Still Lifes in Oil (Watson-Guptill Painting Library) Art: Painting For Artists - Styles: Acrylic And Oil Painting (art history, art books, art theory, art techniques Book 2) Impressionist Painting for the Landscape: Secrets for Successful Oil Painting Still Life Painting Atelier: An Introduction to Oil Painting Oil Painting For Dummies Acrylic Painting For Beginners: Everything you need to know before painting your first acrylic masterpiece (Acrylic Painting Toturials Book 1) Watercolor Painting: A Practical & Easy To Follow Guide For Beginners (Painting, Watercolour Painting Book 1)