Painting-the

The book is the next best thing to actually visiting a working ranch and smelling leather, sweat or burning hair -- or visiting Willie's gallery on a fine December evening for a showing of new works.

This is a BEAUTIFUL book!! I've had it for several years and I never put it away. I keep it out within easy reach so I can look again and again at the stunning watercolors within. In fact, the reason I was looking at Amazon for this book was to send it to friends for a Christmas present.

Willie Matthews does wonderful work depicting the lives of cowboys today. Much of my family have been in the cattle ranch business for generations. Being a cowboy is hard work and generally low pay. They work so hard day in and day out, with little vacation time. It's people like Matthews who appreciate this profession and record it for the world to see. My brother also happens to be one of the cowboys in this book. This is a great book of selected paintings of a dying trade

The visual demonstrations are certainly helpful but Colley's
techniques are not fast tricks and gimmicks.

He emphasizes the importance of good draftsmanship (drawing)
in his art. A whole section is devoted to showing the
relationship between preliminary sketches/drawings and the
finished painting in his work as well as in the work of
Monet and other Impressionists.

He encourages the reader to practice drawing as much as
possible in order to grow as a painter.

I admire Whisson's compositional skills, taste, and artistic
integrity.

If you are looking for techniques to learn how to paint en plein air, this book is a valuable find. Colley is able to capture the envelope of light that Monet and others sought by employing his bravado brushwork and traditional training. The photos of his paintings draw you in. One can actually feel the raking sun and smell the fresh air. However, Colley's technique is NOT Impressionism, it is Contemporary Realism. Impressionism is about learning to see color, color that other people cannot see unless they are trained to see it. It is known as full-color seeing (check out the books by Lois Griffel and Susan Sarback to learn how to see color). Colley's emphasis is more on value than color. Also, he uses large brushstrokes and completes his paintings in one session (or almost). Most of the French Impressionists worked on their paintings many, many sessions, building up thick layers of paint (Renoir was an exception to this in his iridescent period; he used thin transparent color juxtaposed with thick opaque dabs). I am not saying that one has to place little touches of color all over the place to be an Impressionist nor does one have to work on a painting more than one session. There is a great deal of freedom to develop one's own style. I am just saying that the emphasis in true Impressionism is on "observed" color. Whether you are a beginner or an accomplished artist, I am sure that you will love everything this book has to offer. Colley is a brilliant painter!

Due to the author's great and simple instructions and step-by-step demonstrations, I was able to come out with two Impressionistic paintings from reading this book. For someone who is impatient, the author has kept in mind to keep the instructions more visual than verbal. I recommend this book immensely to other oil painting beginners who wish to make their own French Impressionist masterpieces. I hope Whisson will delve into other styles of oil painting because he has a winner in this book.

In this book, Mr. Alster uses language that is easy for children (the intended audience) to understand. The art in the book is stimulating! Not only does he give easy-to-follow advice, he gives pointers and tips throughout the book that readers may find quite helpful. Jason's no-nonsense approach is a breath of fresh air. I urge anyone interested in this book to also check out "Being in Control", also by Jason Alster. Together, these two books are sure to encourage any child to be creative!

Creative Painting is a book for reluctant young artists of all ages. Written by a multi-talented author who has a treasure box full of affirming tips and techniques, this little book will inspire you to dive head first into art. Go ahead, take a chance. "The most valuable coins and stamps are the ones double minted by mistake. So don not try to please everyone, just yourself first." This is one of the most empowering statements I've read.

You'll find tips, techniques and affirmations to encourage your child (or you!) to muzzle negative thinking and replace it with positive affirmations. You'll read how the author began exploring the world of art, and suggested stepping-stones to begin your own journey.

This is a nice, neat and colorful book to own. You'll find yourself referring to it often.

"Creative Painting for the Young Artist" is an excellent guide for teachers of art students of any age. The book presents a comprehensive outline that instructors can adapt to the age and experience level of students in a particular class. Each principle has helpful illustrations included."

If you want a better understanding of David Hockney buy this book. It is a wonderful display of illustrations and information of a great British artist.

"David Hockney: Paintings" is well written and organized to foster a greater understanding of how Hockney evolves over the course of his career. Moreover, you will be impressed by the outstanding quality of the the black & white and color illustrations.

Authors Paul Melia and Ulrich Luckhardt provide the reader an excellent insight to the artistic thoughts of David Hockney. It also studies and explains the tremendous global popularity of the artist. This is a great book to have in the house.

Being a tremendous fan of Hockney's work, I was delighted to find this beautiful and informative book.

I liked the chronological organization as the book traced the artist's development over the years. I always find this such an interesting perspective, seeing how an artist's vision changes and evolves. And I also liked the way that the relationship between Hockney's life and his art is explored.

The illustrations were grand too!

A worthwhile book and a good study of Hockney, his life, and his works.

I was more than pleasantly surprised by the extremely high quality of the reproductions. The book is split up in six chapters covering the main artistic phases in Hockney's live and giving a lot of information about his paintings.
I find it extremely interesting not just to see Hockney's work but also to read the details on the creative process leading up to the finished painting. A wonderful book!

Well organized, informative, good pacing, pertinent topics: Susan Young has done an admirable job in putting together this book. Craftpeople and craftpeople-wannabes will find all topics thoroughly covered

Whether you're new to decorative craft painting or are an advanced painter who wants to take your craft public, there is so much in this book! A lot of my friends are crafters and not painters --and they tell me the business information and the author's sense of humor is a treat that will entertain and help all crafters!

The tips and hints sprinkled throughout this book along with Susan's experiences are excellent. But don't let the name fool you! The sound and innovative business advice in this book could apply to any craft business. So as a non-painter I recommend this book to ANYONE in the crafting business!

My daughter loves to draw and loves horses. She has never been able to get them right. The first day the book came in she drew the body of the horse unbelievably well. Just by following the guidelines in two of the pages. Of course the legs need some work but there's lots of help within the book for that. A real keeper!

This book is a perfect guide for learning to draw horses. Sam Savitt's artwork is excellent, and he captures horses in a amazing way. Great book for anyone who loves drawing!

I familar to Sam Savitt; I say he best Artist who can trully capture the horse at their best form. I suggest this book to any person who studing horse to artist form to motion the horse. This is a must for any Equine lovers' collection.

Its a very good book, at the same time similar and not similar to Thom Taylors "How to Draw Cars like a Pro".
I gave this book a 5 star rating, but there is just one thing that was making me feel like giving it a "4", the thing is that the book could have some more explanation about the colouring process, beacause painting is not that simple to understand for a beginner artist. Well, I hope that more books similar to this one will be published and i can promise i will buy all of them. I like it.
Thanks Amazon.

There are a lot of photographers specialized in capturing exciting moments in motor racing. On the other hand, painters on motor racing is not easy to find. Michael Turner has been painting racing cars for some years and his works had been published and well accepted by F1 fans.

This book is not one just to demonstrate his works but it actually walks you through on how to draw and paint racing cars. With Michael's expertise in this area, you won't feel lost while picking up the techniques described. If you want to try it out yourself, this is a very good book to start with. Don't expect to become an expert right away but at least you have the expert telling you where and how to start.

This book is absolutely one of its kind, you couldn't find any other like this one.

What a fantastic book! Michael Turner not only shows you amultitude of examples, most of which are beautiful full colorpaintings of various racing subjects from what appears to be the 50's right through to present day, but he also provides basic lessons that will assist beginners and professionals alike. The cover gives away the content in that the bulk of the book consists of Formula 1 cars, but the principles contained within can be applied to other drawing disciplines. Mr. Turner provides suggestions for the materials to be used to render your artwork and covers all aspects from drawing the car itself to background setting and the various details in between. Rudimentary lessons are provided in the basics of perspective, ellipses, and overall development of the vehicle's appearance from a simple shell to a fully detailed racing machine!

It would be foolish to say that reading this book will instantly have you creating masterworks on level with those in the book, but the techniques contained within will certainly set you in the right direction. I cannot recommend this book enough. As an aspiring artist and racing fan, I often lamented the fact that there were no books that specifically combined my two loves. Thanks to an ad in an issue of MotorSport (which I picked up on a whim) my wish has now been answered! For artists, or just for fans of racing art, this book is highly recommended!

I thought the book would be a little beyond my son's abilities, but he loved the book from the cover. We have a different edition from the one pictured here - the one we have has two large birds on the cover. I read the stories aloud to him and they held his attention through most of the text - I skipped through some parts. I would definitely recommend this book for reading aloud and/or when the child is able to read himself or herself.

This is one of the most remarkable books of fables that I have read. The stories are told in a riveting style, the illustrations are tremendous, and the added bonus of the author himself reading the tales puts this over the top, and into the realm of "outstanding"!

This book was a complete joy for our whole family. It has good pictures, beautiful typography, and tells the traditional Northwestern indian lore in its best style: humourous, frightening, and full of character. A wonderful bonus is a CD with cheif Lelooska himself telling the stories in the book.

Wow! Where was THIS watercolor book hiding? The techniques Roland Roycraft shares here are seemingly easy; splashing or flowing paint onto paper, masking and more. He also gives some very good hints for composition with clear details. Also value sketches (black and white, showing the density of darks and lights. This is a valuable technique for painters.)

I may not choose to imitate Roycraft's style, but I sure will be incorporating these techniques into my next paintings. If you want to improve your watercolor, I can't recommend this book and his other book on nature enough. They are just great.

This is a good book for seeing what effective use of masking can do for a painting. Mr. Roycraft's use of masking is an integral (if not THE prime) technique for creating the numerous paintings demonstrated in this book. The other technique he uses is pouring the watercolors onto the surface rather than painting most of it with a brush.

This is not a painting method for anyone not willing or able to know precisely all the places to mask. The sparkling waves of an ocean in one of his paintings must have taken quite some time to mask and most likely needed a detailed pencil sketch beforehand. While the pouring is imprecise the masking is not.

The book has 1 chapter that gives a step-by-step demonstration of his pouring method. One can tell from some paintings produced that this can be a time-consuming method of producing watercolor paintings if the subject matter is intricate or detailed although the results are breathtaking.

I would like to see more demonstrations from Mr. Roycraft and perhaps more details about the masking as part of the process. Statements such as "I masked only the light areas before beginning the painting. This is negative painting in reverse and makes a beautiful abstract pattern." show the thought that guides the final results.

Most of the book shows paintings in a semi-finished state with the final result and some comments on the process and thoughts in creating it. I liked this book very much and would recommend it to any watermedia painter because it helps thinking in terms of positive and negative shapes and light. It also introduces a unique way of painting with watercolors which I suspect would work with fluid acrylics as well.

The book amazes me a lot. I particularly like the effect of the pouring. It seems difficult to learn, how to control the color flowing smoothly across the desired area? Is it time-consuming to prepare the masking(questions for Mr. Roland Rycraft) I would like to know some details of the procedure.

You've seen those wonderful grained picture frames or pieces offurniture in the shops for thousands, but never went to a classbecause it was too expensive or none was offered in your area. This book is the answer to your prayers! It is filled with loads of photos of antiques and furniture, etc. that have been decorated with vinegar glazes or with handsome primative-style murals. It is also one of the few books that even reveals how to do smoke graining...the whispy finish on many an old rocking horse or on furniture and smalls. Just add this to your shelf which should also include THE ART OF FAUX by Finkelstein, PROFESSIONAL PAINTED FINISHES by Marx, and DECORATIVE FURNITURE FINISHES WITH VINEGAR PAINT by Russell. All are well worth the investment. Happy Painting!

These authors are among the best at recreating the look of old painted furniture/folk art. Very clear pictures are helpful. Also, they use an easy recipe (basically, vinegar, honey and pigment) which is easy to concoct for new users, unlike mesy oil based potions or those horribly complex formulae or lousy British-based ingredients which noone has ever heard of or found. For as cloise to instant gratification as you can get, this is the book to order for all beginners and intermediate grainers. (Advanced finishers can write heir own book.....) Enjoy!!

This book does the best job I know of showing wood graining, vinegar paint finishes, and Rufus Porter style landscape painting that I know of, and is also very sound on marbleizing. The illustrations and photo gallery are the best I have seen in any book anywhere. It has a narrow focus on doing Early American style furniture, but if you have any interest in this area you need to have this book. 7 stars!