How to Paint Like the Old Masters: Watson-Guptill 25th Anniversary Edition

The first thing that struck me as I browsed the book is the woeful quality of many of the images, with some being out of focus. This problem is also apparent in the other two books by Watson Guptill that I think compliment this one well. Kreutz "Problem Solving for Beginners" and Cateura "Oil Painting Secrets from a Master". If you are looking to paint in a realistic style in the vein of Caravaggio, Rembrandt etc. then you will find plenty of information in these three books. However all three deal with technique and for me the ability to discern the brushstrokes is a critical part of the learning exercise i.e. is the artist using impasto or thinned paint? With these images it's impossible to tell. Hopefully WG will revisit each of these books and bring the images up to scratch. Joseph Sheppard provides "how to's" allowing the reader to emulate the techniques of: Durer, Titian, Veronese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Hals, Rembrandt and Vermeer. Information on how to create specific paint mediums used by that particular artist, mixing paints, painting surfaces etc. He makes no claims that any of the information offered is absolute. As well as conducting his own studies on how to achieve a certain painterly effect he has also drawn on technical information published by the various "art experts" (listed in the bibliography). Results of recent studies of old master paintings indicating that the current thinking on techniques might be wrong. The old masters would typically have a team of apprentices working alongside them, mixing paint, painting parts of the painting that the master was probably too bored to bother with (as well as good training for the apprentice) etc. The Master/Apprentice setup allowed for a continuous stream of knowledge being passed along the generations. However as oil paint technology advanced, in particular the ability to buy premixed paints off the shelf, the painter no longer needed a team of apprentices. He could pretty much get by on his own. Hence there was no longer anyone for the painter to pass on his knowledge to. This resulted in a considerable amount of technical knowledge being lost. (A good example is the recent theory promulgated by David Hockney that the old masters were able to paint such realistic paintings as they used rudimentary projection techniques to place a guide image on the canvas, overwhich they painted. No one knows if he is right or wrong). From the 1800's on, technical experts such as Charles Eastlake ("Methods and Materials of Painting") and Max Doerner ("The Materials of the Artist") began to impart their wisdom on how the old master paintings were created. But the techniques thay had available were very rudimentary, more often than not being a case of the expert trying to reproduce a certain style and looking at the painting surface close up. The experts proferred their theories and techniques, often with much aplomb leaving no room for doubt. Unfortunately they were often quite off the mark - the

How To Paint Like The Old Masters is a must have book for any serious artist. Mr. Sheppard covers the greatest artist of all time and gives both a verbal and pictorial description of how it was done. He is especially good at showing the importance of mediums and glazing in painting. He also gives reasonable time estimates of how long it takes to create such a painting. What he doesn't do is show how impressionist, and other modern, painting is done. He is showing how to paint realistic pictures and there is next to nothing on more modern painting methods. When he says Old Masters he means Rembrandt, Vermeer, Rubens, et al. The cover shows how some of the Old Masters did it. They started with a very detailed under painting in grey tones and then advanced to color. This book illustrates that kind of technique - for the most part. Some say this book isn't for beginners. Perhaps a person brand new to painting would find the text difficult; however, for anyone who has been painting for any length of time I think this book would be helpful IF you want to try for realistic paintings in the style of the old masters. If your style is more impressionistic or if you feel you must advance away from the realism of Direr, and others, then this book would not be worth the money. I will say without reservation that the under painting in grey tones will immediately improve your paintings. It takes a LOT more time, but the results are hard excellent. For the artist looking for realism and trying to depict the world as the old masters did this book is a wonderful find.

I first saw this book at my local bookstore a few years ago. The paintings presented in this book consolidated my love of classic fine arts (AKA the Old Masters' works). At the time, I did not have enough facilities to pursue oil painting, I simply admired beautiful works by Mr. Sheppard and put the book back to the shelf. Briefly, my conclusion of his work at the time was "unreachable".I recently bought a copy of this book for myself and in fact have painted, as a practice, some paintings, using the techniques of Titian (both portraiture and nude) described in the book. I fall in love with the techniques of this Old Master simply because the choice of colors and every steps were done in oil (personally, I don't like to use charcoal or other materials in underpainting; they tend to smear and cause a mess). The following are my humble opinions about this book, based on my own experience using it:1) Don't kid yourself, this is a profound book. Objectively speaking, with only 143+ pages, the author covers the following topics: - Materials and Formulas - Techniques of Durer, Titian, Veronese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Hals, Rembrandt, and VermeerDue to space limit, expect some details that may need more in-depth discussions. However, the book does include a reference citation for further reading.2) This book does not make you a "Master", but it helps to "try out" these techniques. In my humble opinion, to fully benefit this book, the reader should have the following skills before trying the techniques described in the book:- Good craftmanship. Don't expect to create a masterpiece without a decent drawing skill to start with. Be honest with yourself, if you think you have a problem looking at an object (either live or from a photo) and render it on a canvas, you are not ready for this book yet.- A reasonably decent ability in recognition of shade, light, and halftone; and a considerable knowledge of color mixing in oil. If you have never mixed oil colors, the book does provide, to some extent, what colors to use. However, in reality, variations occurred, due to different brands of colors or medium used. In any event, you might be able to get by.3) Practice makes perfect. Do a few paintings using the techniques of your choice. You will eventually find out that no matter how strictly do you follow the techniques described in the book, YOUR WAY of painting will end up different. This is exactly what makes every artist unique. As long as your final work is good, it is a masterpiece of its own right. Who cares whether you tried to be a Titian or Rembrandt and failed. After all, that is even not a good idea, in my opinion.In closing, I am happy to have purchased this book and tried out some paintings for myself. It surely is a great reference every time I plan to do a portraiture in the Old Master's way (but then again, when the painting is done, it becomes "my" way).In a few words, "Strongly recommended".

If you are an artist and would like to have your paintings come alive is suggest reading and using Joseph Sheppard's How to paint like the Old Masters. I have found this book invaluable to the growth of my painting ability. Of the many books I have on painting this is the one I always go to when I start an important work. Beginners and advanced painters both will find this book useful.

Excellent book! ~the things they didn't teach you in art school. This book is mandatory for anybody who ever REALLY wanted to know how to paint. * It covers variations of the masters. * Life drawing skills are a must. It doesn't really touch on "alla prima" well... which is good because these master techniques are better to start with and use before moving to more immediate techniques. It is not to say this book isn't advanced, it is. The author goes step by step and shows you how forgiving and versatile the master's methods are.It helped me move from being stuck on underpaintings for ten years to finished pieces with consistency and confidence.