Completely free of arty jargon, this full-color guide has all the hands-on instruction you need to master the basics. You'll see how to plan a painting, build an image in layers, mix colors, and create stunning compositions. You'll also find everything you need to know...

"In any exhibition of amateur work . . . it is not at all unusual to find many charming water-colour drawings, but . . . it is very rarely that the work in the oil medium is anything but dull, dead, and lacking in all vitality and charm." Harold Speed
Such provocative assertions are characteristic of this stimulating and informative guide, written in a highly personal and unique style by a noted painter and teacher. Brimming with pertinent insights into the technical aspects and painting in oils, it is also designed to help students perfect powers of observation and...

Leffel's classic, painterly, twentieth-century old master style, much in the...

The perfect reference for painters

Enliven your landscapes Inside you'll find more than 40 complete step-by-step demonstrations for capturing a range of challenging landscape elements, including clouds, skies, trees, foliage, water, reflections, rocks, mountains and much more.

These acrylic, watercolor and oil demonstrations feature the diverse artistic styles of 21 accomplished artists and explore all kinds of settings, the four seasons and different times of day. With every lesson, you'll gain new inspiration and confidence as you overcome trouble spots in your work,...

"Everything was alive, pulsing with light and color."--Susan Sarback

This is more than a how-to-paint book. It's a how-to-see book...specifically, how to tune in to nature's glorious subtleties of light and color.

Forget complex theories. "Full-Color Seeing" is based on direct observation. It's about overcoming preconceptions and perceiving true color based on the colors that surround it, the way light hits it, time of day, season, weather conditions, and too many other factors for a mere formula to incorporate. You'll learn to see your subject--any subject--just as life...

Paint with passion, purpose and pleasure.

What do you want your landscape painting to say about this place, this moment? How do you use the visual vocabulary--line, shape, value, color, edges--to say it? With this book, your conversation with nature will direct your brush. With an exhilarating, synergistic combination of indoor and outdoor painting, Kevin Macpherson shows you how to create personal, poetic landscapes that capture the feeling of being there.

Learn how to:

• Use a limited palette in a way that is more liberating than...

The quick-start guide to great results

Oil painting doesn't have to be rocket science, although some books on the subject make it seem that way. Filled with encouraging, easy-to-follow instruction, Oil Painting for the Absolute Beginner is a no-fear, no-experience-required guide to enjoyable painting and happy results. Focusing on the needs of the first-time painter, this book covers everything from selecting brushes and setting up your palette to key principles of color and composition, presented in a way that moves you confidently from first strokes to finished...