The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted: Guided Lessons for Beginners & Experienced Artists

I got this book from the library. I always knew I could draw, and I always wanted to oil paint. I have a lot of books on oil painting, but I still struggle. Oil paints are tricky, sort of like playing the violin: you have to learn to control them before you start creating with them. Now, it IS for beginners, but it also says for "experienced" because she shows you tricks that maybe you didn't cover in other classes. She incorporates drawing lessons with the painting lessons. If you can't draw and shade a sphere, how are you going to understand a bush? She doesn't just have list of brushes, but she has exercises on how to blend paint with them. Each exercise in the book builds on the next. It is true that you are not going to paint a masterpiece with this book, but I do think you will say, "Oh, that's the problem", and then you can move forward with your own talent. She has one whole page on Taming Thalo Green, which no one else has in their books. She has a shading lesson in primary colors, and in secondary colors. She tells you how to dull a color without changing the value (mix it's exact complimentary in the same value, then add it). She explains glazing and scumbling. All the exercises are simple, so that if you are talented or not, you can do them. For example, she doesn't have you glaze a portrait like Rembrandt, but an apple. As she gets to harder things, she introduces more drawing. For example, when she gets to landscape, she talks about drawing perspective, as well as atmospheric perspective. In landscapes, she explains the tricks for trees and rocks (do the darks first). When she gets to portraits, then she talks about drawing the face. I don't think her portraits are all that hot, but she shows the steps then you can do them too, and infuse your talent. You will not create a masterpiece with this book, but you will have tools to create your own masterpiece because you won't be stumped with atmospheric perspective, how to do trees, how to make a shadow, etc. Just like you can't play the violin if you don't know where the notes are and how to get a good sound out of the bow, you can't oil paint if you don't know things like how Alizarin Crimson is going to behave differently from Cadmium Red Light. She will help you with this. She has taught beginning oil painting for 30 years, so she anticipates your problems and questions. Oil will not longer be something to fight with, but something that will do your bidding.

This book IS the oil painting course I've always wanted. I've taken a oil painting course at my local community college, but did not recieve the detailed instruction this book offers. I highly recommend it for the beginner painter. I also recommend Color Mixing Recipes by Walter Foster. It really helps you to get the color just right. It has an index on everything from apples to wet sand.Color Mixing Recipes

I would encourage anyone interested in purchasing art books to go to your local library and check some out before you purchase. That is what I did and that is why I bought this wonderful book. Her presentations are very clear and easy to understand. She has carefully constructed lessons, just as if you were taking a class. I like the structure. I like the fact that there is a whole lesson spent learning to use the brush to achieve different techniques. Each lesson takes me about 2-3 hours to complete, but when I am done I feel I have actually made some progress. The lessons build on previous lessons so you actually can see progress from week-to-week. Finally I am sticking to a schedule and actually painting instead of just thinking about it. The practice is what brings the improvement. Her book just makes it easier.

I'm a begining painter and I felt this book helped me get off to a good start. It helped me learn the mixing of colors (which I refer to often when using the greens) I liked the practice exercises which helped me to visualize the highlights and shading. The first landscape I did was the step-by-step in the book and it turned out ok for my first. I would recommend this book!!

This book happened to be the Oil Painting Course I had wanted. So many books and instructors talk in generalities, and say "mix the colour till it's right", but this book describes what colours are, what we are trying to do, and how to achieve it. And again with shapes, still life, landscape and up to portrait. Theory is presented, excersizes are given, we are led through a "paint along", and then encouraged to blossom. If you wish to learn alone, or want to have explained what your instructor really meant to say, this book is excellent.