Oil Painting Books

Landscape Painting Inside and Out: Capture the Vitality of Outdoor Painting in Your Studio With Oils

Kevin D. MacPherson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Best book on painting outside that I've ever read...period. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I read Kevin's earlier book and mentioned it previously here on Amazon and yes, I thought it was great but THIS one...this one is...is...damn...words fail me. It's just simply the best book on plein-air painting I've ever read (and I must have 30 or more on this subject alone). Kevin has outdone himself with this one. He's taken all the valuable info contained in his previous book and just added to it and added to it. I'm looking and looking but I can't find ANYTHING that he may have left out or not talked enough about.

Years ago, before he established himself as The Man when it comes to teaching people how to paint outdoors, I took a couple of workshops with him and, during the first couple of days outdoors and trying to be somewhat easy in his suggestions to improve my picky little paintings, he finally got frustrated with what I'd continued to put on the canvas and, took his thumb and WHOOSH--smeared out a laborious passage I'd painstakingly put in there and wiped off his thumb and WHOOSH, did it a second time and I'll never forget how much BETTER the painting looked after those two swoops. My biggest mistake was in not stopping right there, putting it away and saving that thing for me to look at again and again. That same mentality permeates his book; you can't help but improve your paintings if you read this book and apply the principles therein.

Another note is the two back-pages by his wife, Wanda, who was only just beginning to paint when I knew them. She can really paint now but she
maintains that being really good (which she is) is not the point, but that just getting out there and not being afraid to fail and just enjoy yourself should be a reward in itself. I found her remarks to be in good juxtaposition to Kevin's solid, on-target prose about well, "Landscape Painting Inside and Out".

Buy it. Better yet, go to his website and see if you can get into a workshop with him. You won't be disappointed.

Editorial Review:

Offers down-to-earth advice on painting gorgeous outdoors scenes through 10 step-by-step demos Teaches painters how to master the art of observation Shows readers how to translate field notes and sketches into fully realized studio paintings The overwhelming beauty of the outdoors is one of the most inspiring - and elusive - subjects for painters. With Landscape Painting Inside and Out, Kevin Macphearson first shows readers how to see like an artist, then teaches them how to recreate their vision into stunningly realistic outdoors scenes. His insightful process encourages readers to focus on the small details to achieve big results.

Problem Solving for Oil Painters

Gregg Kreutz

List Price: $24.95 By: Watson-Guptill Publications Amazon Marketplace: 21 new & used starting at $6.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Practical and inspiering 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

For the beginner and intermediate artist, "Problem solving for oil painters" is a must have on the bookshelf. The more experienced artist isn't going to learn anything new from this book, however it is a good book to keep for practical reference and inspiration. Beautifully illustrated with very many photographs of breath taking oil paintings. That alone is a reason to get this book.

For serious beginners or intermediate painters 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book suits more for the serious beginners or intermediate painters 'cause you have to be familiar with the basic concepts. It offers a way to verify the quality of your paintings point by point.
My point of view is that you have to read it entirely before you can point on the problem. The topics are easy to reach after you know what you're searching for.
Sometimes I would like to have more examples or explanations on some points.
Simple but effective if you're not a complete beginner...

Problem solving for oil painters 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

An excellent clearly written informative book. Will be much referred to and treasured for many years. Thankyou Mr. Kreutz

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive guide to correcting common mistakes in oil painting.

The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted: Guided Lessons for Beginners and Experienced Artists

Kathleen Staiger

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Watson-Guptill Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $11.85

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Oil painting can be tricky - this book helps control oils 5 out of 5 stars.
24 of 24 people found this review helpful.

I got this book from the library. I always knew I could draw, and I always wanted to oil paint. I have a lot of books on oil painting, but I still struggle. Oil paints are tricky, sort of like playing the violin: you have to learn to control them before you start creating with them.

Now, it IS for beginners, but it also says for "experienced" because she shows you tricks that maybe you didn't cover in other classes.

She incorporates drawing lessons with the painting lessons. If you can't draw and shade a sphere, how are you going to understand a bush? She doesn't just have list of brushes, but she has exercises on how to blend paint with them. Each exercise in the book builds on the next.

It is true that you are not going to paint a masterpiece with this book, but I do think you will say, "Oh, that's the problem", and then you can move forward with your own talent.

She has one whole page on Taming Thalo Green, which no one else has in their books. She has a shading lesson in primary colors, and in secondary colors. She tells you how to dull a color without changing the value (mix it's exact complimentary in the same value, then add it). She explains glazing and scumbling. All the exercises are simple, so that if you are talented or not, you can do them. For example, she doesn't have you glaze a portrait like Rembrandt, but an apple.

As she gets to harder things, she introduces more drawing. For example, when she gets to landscape, she talks about drawing perspective, as well as atmospheric perspective. In landscapes, she explains the tricks for trees and rocks (do the darks first). When she gets to portraits, then she talks about drawing the face. I don't think her portraits are all that hot, but she shows the steps then you can do them too, and infuse your talent.

You will not create a masterpiece with this book, but you will have tools to create your own masterpiece because you won't be stumped with atmospheric perspective, how to do trees, how to make a shadow, etc. Just like you can't play the violin if you don't know where the notes are and how to get a good sound out of the bow, you can't oil paint if you don't know things like how Alizarin Crimson is going to behave differently from Cadmium Red Light. She will help you with this.

She has taught beginning oil painting for 30 years, so she anticipates your problems and questions. Oil will not longer be something to fight with, but something that will do your bidding.

Editorial Review:

Did you ever wish you could go to a really good art school and learn how to paint in oil? Or perhaps you have painted for years and are still struggling with color mixing and wish you could find a good teacher to help. In the Oil Painting Course You’ve Always Wanted, author Kathleen Staiger gives you a complete painting course you can take at home. Crystal clear, step-by-step lessons build from learning about light and shadow, brush control, and foolproof color mixing, to still life painting, landscapes, and portraits—every topic is covered in clear text, diagrams, illustrations, and demonstrations, with guided projects in every lesson. Tips and extra help sections appear throughout the book to help with common problems. Staiger has taught oil painting for more than thirty-five years; many of her students are now exhibiting and selling their paintings. Every painter from beginning hobby painters to BFA graduates has questions. Here atlast are the answers!

Oil Painting Secrets from a Master : Prominent Artist/Teacher David A. Leffel Shares His Secrets for Making Professional-Quality Paintings

Linda Cateura

List Price: $24.95 By: Watson-Guptill Pubns Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $11.85

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not for Beginners.... 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

....or anyone who doesn't want to be Rembrandt. This author is perhaps a Master, but the title implies an Old Master. His technique of painting appears skillful, yes, but didn't appeal to me because they were all in the Rembrandt mode of painting.
I'm sure the prose, though disjointed and sometimes contradictory, may be helpful to Intermediate/Advanced artists or Art Teachers, but way too much combing through of the book is required than should be necessary. The info is not organized in a useful way. Sorry....

Editorial Review:

Like some of the most popular art instruction books ever written, this 25th anniversary edition of a W-G classic is based on student notes culled over the years from actual workshop sessions. For more than two years, Linda Cateura pursued master teacher David A. Leffel, notebook in hand, as he critiqued the work of students. Her succinct notes capture his insights, philosophy, and painting tips and tricks. Leffel's classic, painterly, old master style, much in the manner of Chardin or Rembrandt, affords ample illustration of the ideas expressed--through his many paintings, details, demonstrations, and diagrams. No matter what the level of skill--beginner, intermediate, advanced or professional--there is something here to apply, ideas that will enable artists to rethink their approach to painting, tips that save time and effort, and clear solutions to persistent painting problems.

Oil Painter's Solution Book Landscapes: XX Answers to Your Oil Painting Questions

Elizabeth Tolley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The must-have reference for every oil painter!

Spend less time reading and more time painting with award-winning artist and instructor Elizabeth Tolley as she answers over 100 of the most pressing questions artists have about painting landscapes in oil. The handy Q&A format covers everything from basic brush techniques to deciding what to paint first while on location. Learn how to:

• Choose the right materials for you
• Prepare indoor and outdoor workspaces
• Design spectacular compositions
• Select eye-catching color for visual impact
• Paint with new brushstrokes and techniques
• Evaluate your own work

Including 10 mini-demonstrations to help refine your technique and 7 complete step-by-step projects, the Oil Painter's Solution Book: Landscapes is one reference no painter can be without!

Popular Landscape Questions Include:

What type of palette should I use?
How do I divide space in my painting?
How does light change at different times of day?
Can I work back into a dry painting?
How can I see and correct mistakes?

Get the answers to all these questions and more!

Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present

Virgil Elliott

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

As more and more artists today look to the past, there has been a tremendous resurgence of interest in painting realistically--in creating convincing illusions of three-dimensional depth on two dimensional surfaces. How did the Old Masters create their masterpieces? What kind of education allowed these great artists to create such beautiful work, and how can an artist learn these lessons today? Traditional Oil Painting answers those questions and many more. This comprehensive sourcebook explores the most advanced levels of oil painting, with full information on the latest scientific discoveries. Author and distinguished artist Virgil Elliott examines the many elements that let artists take the next step in their work: mental attitude, aesthetic considerations, the importance of drawing, principles of visual reality, materials, techniques, portraiture, photographic images versus visual reality, and color. Traditional Oil Painting helps artists master the secrets of realistic painting to create work that will rival that of the masters.

Mellon: An American Life

David Cannadine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

history and sadness 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What I found interesting about this book is that is a history lesson in American business and early regulatory policies that shaped the landscape we see today. At the same time, it is a story of classic love and betrayal. I found the author doing a great job when the story focused on Mellon's marriage and the demise of such, but he tended to become a bit lost in the details when describing all of the political ups and downs. Overall, a fine book and great American story

Editorial Review:

A landmark work from one of the preeminent historians of our time: the first published biography of Andrew W. Mellon, the American colossus who bestrode the worlds of industry, government, and philanthropy, leaving his transformative stamp on each.

Andrew Mellon, one of America’s greatest financiers, built a legendary personal fortune from banking to oil to aluminum manufacture, tracking America’s course to global economic supremacy. As treasury secretary under Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and finally Hoover, Mellon made the federal government run like a business–prefiguring the public official as CEO. He would be hailed as the architect of the Roaring Twenties, but, staying too long, would be blamed for the Great Depression, eventually to find himself a broken idol. Collecting art was his only nonprofessional gratification and his great gift to the American people, The National Gallery of Art, remains his most tangible legacy.

Oil Painting for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Painter

Steve Allrich

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great for a beginner painter 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I found this book to be very easy to read and helpful with basic concepts needed for a strong foundation in painting with oils. I especially like the info about shading, color for impact and components to make your work more polished.

a bit disappointed 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I should have listened to the other reviews. The images are yellow toned and it makes it very difficult for a beginner to learn how to mix paint and get the right colors. The book also doesn't guide you on this matter which makes all the difference. I haven't used this book once.

Oil Painting for the Beginner 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is not for the true beginner. It may be good for someone with a lot of experience but not me. I wanted a book with the basics of painting, a how-to book.Oil Painting for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Painter

Editorial Review:

Priced to reach a broad market, this book offers an inviting introduction to the materials and techniques of oil painting. Allrich begins with an outline of the essential components of good painting, then describes the basic materials and tools of the oil medium. The fundamentals are strongly stressed and lessons on defining concept, toning the canvas, and understaning light sources are covered. 125 color illustrations.

Best of the Joy of Painting

Robert H. Ross

Amazon Price: $16.06 List Price: $22.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Living Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $9.12

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An Abundance Of "Happy Old Trees" 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Good old Bob Ross! I used to watch his series in high school and his shows were great. This book conveys their tone and has the added bonus of giving us his finished landscapes to look at as long as we want. I got this book so I could see the paintings, but under his step by step instruction I've also tried my hand at creating my own---and making art this nice isn't as easy as Bob makes it look! Whether you want to use this as a how-to guide for your own time in front of a canvas, or you simply like Bob Ross' artwork, this is a friendly visit with everyone's favorite PBS guru of oil painting.

Editorial Review:

It's Bob Ross. The man with the gentle voice who can paint a landscape in thirty minutes right before your very eyes in your own living room.

Reaching millions of homes every day, Bob Ross is unquestionably America's favorite art instructor. Now avaiable in paperback, The Best of the Joy of Painting -- Bob Ross's first book -- contains sixty of his favorite paintings, all of them originally created during the Joy of Painting show.

Each painting comes complete with a full-color photo and a series of black-and-white instructional photos, accompanied by step-by-step instructions that guide you through the painting process. With this book in hand, you will be amazed at the ease and skill with which youcan create your own Bob Ross original.

Roy Lang's Sea & Sky in Oils: Painting the Atmosphere & Majesty of the Sea

Roy Lang

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Search Press Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $9.55

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

With this book you're able to paint the sea! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Purchased the book thinking it would be a good overview. The reviews seemed promising. I've read it like three times now! It is so good and the techniques are really straightforward. I'm about to paint my very first seascape having learned from this book that it IS possible. I understand that there is also a Roy Lang DVD that goes along with this book and am looking to get a copy. If you want to learn how to paint the sea - you can't go wrong with this book.

Editorial Review:

Award-winning artist Roy Lang shows artists how to capture in oils the power and majesty of water and air in this guidebook. Instructing readers on how the sea and sky interact in nature and how to portray their many moods, this study includes detailed sections on the properties of light and atmosphere to provide an ideal starting point for beginners. From selecting the proper materials to understanding composition, this manual features dozens of expert hints and tips for any level of artist and contains two step-by-step demonstrations that explain how to paint the sea and sky.