Painting from the Inside Out: 19 Projects and Exercises to Free Your Creative Spirit

If you want an exciting and adventurous read, get this book. It turns you on aesthetically as well as giving you a strong dose of artistic guidance, incorporating wisdom in a special spiritual way.It has tremendous humor with well written and direct instructions in the "how-tos," and yet, at the same time, it encourages you to be an adventurer and to create your own way of expressing yourself in paint. Although there are basic rules, it transcends mere technique and allows you the freedom to follow your own path. I love this book!

While this book is an excellent manual on fresh ideas, innovative techniques, and unusual and creative uses for painting materials, it is much more. With each turn of the page, Stroud beckens your artistic spirit to soar with the possibilities that lay before all of us who crave to create with freshness and vitality. The art is a visual feast and the text is evidence that the author is both an accomplished painter as well as a an author with wit, clarity and something worth saying. This is a must for everyone who is serious about their journey as an artist.

A wonderful book, written with the freshness and exuberance that characterize the author's paintings, many of which appear here in all their splendor. The illustrations are themselves worth the price of the book, but they are perfectly complemented by an eminently readable text that is concise and to the point, yet engagingly personal in tone. The author's remarks are keyed to the paintings and provide practical directions and inspiring observations on everything from materials to techniques to subtleties of composition, form and color. Very highly recommended.

Painting From The Inside Out: 19 Projects and Exercises to Free Your Creative Spirit. by Betsy Dillard Stroud.Run! Grab your paint brushes and get ready for an adventure in creating. Stroud takes you up and down, in and out on an eye-boggling excursion into a realm of discovery. From zen and ignota to swashbuckling freestyle with Picasso she guides the willing participant through various channels to your inner being. While there she nutures and instructs you through her knowledge of art history and years of practice in art to find a painterly mode of expression for your thoughts and feelings. This book teaches, illustrates and inspires you to let go and enjoy the wonder and esthetics of the painting experience. It employs techniques in layering, stamping, pouring, resists, lifting etc. to free you for your creative endeavors. Stroud has found herself in her love of dramatic color, energetic design and daring freedom of imagination.: Mary Todd Beam AWS. DF.

This is a great book for the fearful artist wanting to break out of old habits or one who wants a workshop in a book. Stroud's plain language demonstrations are fun and refreshing for me to try, freeing my brush and mind to find new techniques. She works with acrylics and watercolors, so if this is your medium, it's worth reading. The oil painter may be able to employ some theory, but won't be able to apply most of the techniques.I found her tips on art supplies and usage to be really helpful, for anyone in a small town (with crappy art stores)who wants specifics on weights of papers etc, this may be for you too. Stroud is not afraid to make muddy puddles on her working surface and I needed this to lighten up with my painting process. I highly recommend the book, especially to younger artists who are interested in the creative process and having fun. I have been walking around the house and garden cradling it for days now.