How to Paint: Oils

Reviews / Votes

Nov 08



This new series from Search Press concentrates on the absolute basics and assumes very little prior knowledge on the part of the reader. It's one stage on from those omnibus "how to paint everything in every medium" books that are - or claim to be - an even more elementary introduction for the general reader. Some of them are good, but a lot are aimed at people who know someone who "wants to paint" and assume that a fat, suspiciously inexpensive, tome is the way forward. That the recipient probably never gets further than the first 20 or so pages and one half-completed watercolour means that their real value is never really tested.







I'm sorry, we seem to have got a bit off-topic there and I should add there are some really quite good big fat introductions around that are the ideal starting point for someone who's reasonably serious but hasn't got as far as deciding which is their medium yet.







But, back to our sheep [revenons a nos moutons]. If you've got as far as browsing this series on the shelves, you've also got as far as making a decision on which medium you're going to pursue and that's the first rung up the ladder. So, we'll assume that you know what a brush is and what paints are, but that you don't really have much experience in using them. And this is where this series comes in. There's a very good section on materials and media that will show you the basics of colour mixing and brushstrokes and then a series of 3 fairly straightforward demonstration paintings that will get you started.







64 pages isn't enough to offer an exhaustive study, but the point is not to bog you down, but to give you something to achieve reasonably quickly so that you can move on with a sense of something already achieved. * Artbookreview.net * Nov 08



Another excellent book from the How to Paint series. As an artist new to oils I looked forward to reading this book and wasn't disappointed.



Stephen Rose has written a great book for the beginner to oil painting, he assumes no previous knowledge of oils and methods and



explains in very easy to understand terms exactly what you need to know in order to start oil painting.



There is a clear, easy to understand overview of materials, including paints, supports, brushes and knives, and the very important



information on cleaning these. They can be very expensive and properly taken care of will give long lasting use. For those interested



in preparing their own canvasses there's some information here on how to do so. Stephen also clearly explains the difference between



types of mediums and solvents, something very important to use oils successfully. Then of course there are descriptions of peripherals



to painting such as easels, palettes and smaller useful items.



Stephen's section on Techniques will be familiar to artists working with other mediums but may differ in actual manner for oil paints.



It's very easy to assume that one needs to work in the same way with different mediums whereas in fact they need differing ways



of use. He describes very briefly four distinct methods that have evolved through time, and I found his demonstration of staged painting



very clear and useful, it show why we do such things as fat over lean and under-painting in a concise manner.



He ends with three excellent demonstration projects designed to promote confidence in colour mixing and handling of the paints.



This is an excellent book for both artists already established in using other media and those completely new to painting. * JeannieZelos.com *