Joy to the World: Painting Holiday Heirlooms

John Gutcher was a greatly talented artist. He refers to his Santa paintings as "portraits" because of the intense quality. These step by step projects will greatly improve an intermediate oil painter's ability. The grasille Santa in the back of the book is an excellent study into the finer aspects of portrait painting. John Gutcher's graisille methods are applicable to all styles of oil painting, providing a lasting museum quality to your canvas. There is much to learn from this book. Project 7, Busy Elves, is a bit dated in terms of background and color scheme, but can easily be modernized by using current colors. Each project in this book offers much information in terms of painting skin, hair, eyes, fur, clothing, etc. High quality book, excellent step-by-step instructions. Probably one of the better instructional books on the market today.