Landscape Painting Inside & Out

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by Kevin Macpherson

It is hard to know what to say about this book. I mentioned before that I was excited about it coming out and it did not disappoint. Kevin's first book is great and is widely credited for the suggestion of painting many small paintings. (The "Painting a Day" movement is perhaps inspired by his Reflections on a Pond project.) This new book is even better.

I am a big fan of Kevin's style of painting. His paintings are beautiful and well thought out. The demonstrations are really fun to see and illustrate his process well. The theme of this book is how to make in studio work have the same vitality as those on location. It is just so jam packed with good advice for oil painters that I have read through it all a couple of times now. He does not waste a lot of space covering things you can read everywhere else, but he does give his advice on the basics. This one is a keeper there really is not a weak part in the book.

Capturing Radiant Light & Color

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(in Oils and Soft Pastels)
by Susan Sarback

This is an updated version of Susan's earlier book. I would put her firmly in the same impressionist camp as Lois Griffel. So, if you liked the Cape Cod school approach, you will enjoy the examples and explanations in this book. As it is a second edition, it definitely has well thought out text (and really good production values you expect in a North Light book.)

There is a nice mix of oil and pastel demonstrations. It is another book that makes me think about working in pastels, but I am not quite up to the dust breathing, yet. There is a lot of inspiration in this book.

Brushwork Essentials

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By Mark Chirstopher Weber

I have not seen any other book present the actual mechanics of painting in the detail that this one provides. Weber gives clear detail and great photos of how to paint. The techniques are directed at working in oil and water-soluble oil. The artwork featured is a beautiful set of realist paintings. I really enjoyed the time I have spent with this book. Compared to time with a real life instructor, this book is a steal. Time to get some brushes dirty!

Oil Painting Secrets from a Master

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By Linda Cateura (David Leffel)

This book is a classic you will probably have heard or read some praise for it. The "Master" is not Cateura, it is David Leffel. There are many beautiful still life, protrait, and figurative paintings shown and discussed. Leffel gives very strong, opinionated advice (maybe not "secrets", but worth reading.) The current edition is a 144 page paperback Watson-Guptill publication. The book has stood up fairly well since it was written in 1984; the advice did not become dated. My only concern is "what are those white splotches on his paintings?" I don't know if it is his style or just the plates that were produced at the time...

Painting the Impressionist Landscape

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By Lois Griffel

This is the REAL "How to Paint like an Impressionist". If you look around the net you will find a lot of praise for this book. Any praise you see is well deserved. If you love the broken color and light effects of the Impressionists, you will love this book. I think the most inspiring part of the book is Lois' painting style. Her work is featured, of course, and I really like it.

The book teaches the techniques of Henry Hensche at The Cape Cod School of Art. It stresses the fundamentals of painting block studies to learn how to see color. There are also a good number of other demonstrations on full landscapes. The book also has some history and some basics sprinkled in the text. It is all presented with the clear stong opinions consistent with producing this style. Highly recommended even if this is not your main style. It may make you get your painting knife out!

How to Paint Like the Impressionists

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By Susie Hodge

I like this book okay. It is in my personal library, but it feels somewhat like my last review with How to Paint Like Monet. This one is a nice looking book and covers demonstrations of several Impressionists, but it doesn't really teach any huge secrets.

Paint Like Monet (Masterclass)

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By James Heard

Wouldn't that be nice? Read a book and learn to paint like Monet? Well, I have mixed feelings about this new book. You will probably see it in your bookstore. It has a great title, the cover painting is the wonderful View of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice by Twilight, and it was published just this fall. The author is James Heard, who has respectable credentials, but is not a well known arts author or instructor. The book contains good information and is reasonably laid out. The real let down is that the result of the "exercises" do not inspire. They look like fairly rushed studies of the actual paintings. Was Heard pressed for time in producing the book? Maybe he was late for deadline. Too bad, since they were well chosen examples.

The highlights include information on Monet's palette and today's equivalents. The explanation of how and why the Impressionists changed how they painted shadows is superb. It clearly discusses the differences between studio and plein air painting and the science of color. The book completes with a logical, historical progression through Monet's work.

So, what about the painting on the cover? I would have liked to see a demonstration on it or at least some mention. Overall, I am disappointed. There is value in the information in the text that will help to better understand the technical aspects of Monet's work, but Heard should have partnered with someone (like Hazel Harrison) to produce the rest.

The Oil Painting Book

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By Bill Creevy

In my review of Landscape Meditations, I mentioned "Pastel is not my medium." Well, Bill Creevy is a great Pastel artist and writer of The Pastel Book, but he also is the author of a great oil painting book. This is one you will see in all the book stores for good reason. It is just a great introduction with very nice demonstrations of different techniques. I love his classy work, especially the scumbled paintings. It is just a great book. Oh, and his Pastel Book makes me even think about working with those dusty pastels.

Landscape Meditations

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By Elizabeth Mowry

Kevin MacPherson's series paintings reminded me of Landscape Meditations. Mowry's main theme in this book is the concept of landscape series paintings. This whole concept was certainly originated by my favorite painter, Claude Monet and he gets his share of credit from Mowry, too. She presents a history of theme painting and a well thought out trip through various themes that can be the subject of a series.

Subtitled "An Artist's Guide to Exploring Themes in Landscape Painting", the book itself is a beautiful collection of Mowry's and other's paintings. Her works are impressionistic pastels of light and landscape. Now, my medium is certainly not pastel, but I love this book and found its content inspiring. I hope to explore my own landscape meditations in the future.

Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color

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By Kevin MacPherson

Kevin produced a popular book that stressed plein air work with pochade boxes in 1997. That was about when the plein air revival started and it is still going strong. Kevin has some great advice as well as good instruction. He covers working with a limited palette in several examples of color mixing. There is also good instruction on the process of creating a painting. He includes a strong recommendation to create 100 picture “starts” as important method to growth. Still life gets its own section as well as useful advice on working in plein air.

MacPherson is an inspiring artist with interesting projects. His paintings are beautiful and rendered with only 4 colors. His book “Reflections on a Pond” is from a project and exhibition from painting a New Mexico alpine pond over several years and includes paintings done on every day of the year. I love this idea as I am a real sucker for reflections and I am a huge fan of series paintings "a la Monet".

Soon to be published is “Landscape Painting – Inside & Out” which I am eagerly awaiting. It must cover more on studio and plein air; I bet.