Myshelf.com
Oct 09
Landscapes must surely be the most popular of all subjects for artists to paint. If you choose to depict them in acrylics, you have picked a medium that combines the properties of oils and watercolors in a unique way. Here is a book full of advice on how to get the best out of your paints and your pictures. Quite a lot of the advice in here will apply to anybody who has decided to take up any kind of painting with any kind of paints, which is as it should be. Not too much space is given up to listing materials, and not too many are considered to be necessary. Ms Jelbert then takes a few brief chapters to discourse on working from photographs, keeping a sketchbook, composition etc and then it is on with how to work with acrylics. She shows what the paint looks like when used in a variety of different ways, such as oil, watercolor and using additives and how to apply the paint. There are several projects in here laid out in the invariable Search Press manner, showing how to build up your picture a little at a time in a series of staged photographs which is such a foolproof way of learning in my opinion. These show a range of different landscapes and locations, from a field of sunflowers to Lake Garda, a mountainscape in Colorado to a Cornish beach. In each project you will learn a variety of different techniques for painting in acrylics, getting to grips with the nature of the beast. It is a fun way to learn, and this is a good book for anybody who is perhaps not a total beginner (this word is not mentioned in the title, take note) but has done a bit of painting and wants to learn how to use acrylics.
Artbookreview.net
Aug 09
The Tips & Techniques series provides an excellent variety of extensively illustrated demonstrations frequently focussing on quite a narrow subject area. The advantage of this is that you can pick exactly what you want without having to wade through the authors obsession with something in which you have no interest , at the same time giving yourself a deep immersion in a single topic. Theres a good variety of subject matter here and Wendy offers tips covering all the main landscape elements as well as techniques for recession, colour and perspective. Overall, its excellent value for money and something you should find yourself coming back to again and again for both advice and inspiration.
