Much more than just another guide to artists’ materials, The Painter’s Handbook is an amazingly useful resource, with information on everything from the canvas up: the canvas itself, plus paper, sizes and grounds, pigments and binders, solvents and thinners, varnishes and preservatives. Dozens of step-by-step recipes for make-it-yourself paints, pastels, varnishes, gessoes, sizes, supports, and equipment take this indispensable guide way beyond the competition. Authoritatively written by Mark David Gottsegen, chair of the federal government’s ASTM committee on artist’s materials, the revised Painter’s Handbook considers the enormous changes in the art-materials world since the first edition was published in 1993. New materials, new health issues, new information on outmoded and even harmful supplies and practices mean that every painter needs a copy of The Painter’s Handbook.

One of the most classical of all painting mediums, this all-in-one guide will help you in selecting materials, equipment, and techniques.

A must-have reference book for today's artists and art students. Every artist needs to learn and master the still life. Written by a well-known artist and expert instructor, The Art of Still Life offers a comprehensive, contemporary approach to the subject that instructs artists on the foundation basics and advanced techniques they need for successful drawing and painting. In addition to Casey's stunning paintings, the work of over fifty past and present masters is included, so that the book will do double duty as a hardworking how-to manual and a visual treasure trove of some of the finest still life art throughout history and being created today.

Here is everything you need to know about getting into oil painting—and maintaining a safe, solvent-free oil painting practice—in a slim, sophisticated guide. Oil painting is an exciting and adventurous medium, but aspiring artists can feel daunted by complex setups and the thought of using harsh chemicals. All of that changes now. The New Oil Painting walks you step-by-step through oil painting fundamentals—which materials you actually need, how to mix paint, how to set up your painting space—and, most revolutionary of all, how to eliminate harmful solvents from your work and replace them with safe, effective substitutes. This instructional handbook is organized into chapters with helpful diagrams throughout illustrating various techniques and tools. Whether you're a true beginner or have been painting with oils for years, you will find that this book has everything you need to build a new, thriving, toxin-free practice. • UNIQUE APPROACH: Not only does this book help aspiring artists build a repertoire of skills and materials, it also offers all artists, regardless of their experience levels, methods for eliminating solvents and other toxic substances from their oil painting practices. What was once a dangerous pastime is now a guilt-free, health-conscious, and rewarding activity. And using safe, nontoxic materials is better for the environment! • LONG-TERM USE: Good art instruction can deliver over a long period of time, and this handy guide is no exception. Along with being able to use this as an entryway into oil painting, you can also use it for reference or reread sections when you need a brushup. • EXPERT AUTHOR WITH IMPRESSIVE CREDENTIALS: Painter Kimberly Brooks was the founding arts editor at Huffington Post. As a painter, she exhibits her work frequently throughout the United States and was a featured artist with the National Endowment for the Arts. She has led oil painting workshops, and now she shares her vast knowledge of the subject in this accessible and comprehensive handbook. Perfect for: • Artists and art aspirants interested in exploring a new medium • Experienced oil painters looking to eliminate solvents from their practices • Painting students and teachers

Alla Prima is a comprehensive guide to direct painting, characterised by bold, expressive brushwork and a painterly, atmospheric surface. It covers the history of the direct methods in both Europe and America. From there, it includes detailed step-by-step lessons and discussions on drawing structure, broken and smooth brushwork, and colour development.

A master class in a book, this volume offers a comprehensive, contemporary, and accessible foundation of color theory and advanced techniques every oil painter at every skill level needs in their toolbox. Written by well-known artist, expert teacher, and successful art-instruction author Todd M. Casey, The Oil Painter’s Color Handbook provides everything the oil painter needs to understand all aspects of color. Beginning with an in-depth look at the use of color throughout art history, Casey then breaks down the process of understanding color into easily digestible lessons--each clearly explained and richly illustrated with both historic and contemporary paintings--so that the reader can learn progressively and layer more complex ideas as each skill is mastered. Through clear instruction, step-by-step demonstrations, and challenging exercises, the readers will learn to apply these techniques and concepts to their own painting.

Landscapes in Oil is the first-ever comprehensive guide to classical landscape painting reinterpreted for the twenty-first century. Drawing from the tradition established by American painters of the Hudson River School--artists like Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, and George Inness--author and painter Ken Salaz reveals great masters' philosophy and methods, updating their approaches for the contemporary landscape painter. Beginning painters are given the basic tools and step-by-step demonstrations, intermediate painters are challenged with unpublished techniques that allow them to break through to the next level, and advanced painters learn to apply their skills under unified theories. Landscapes in Oil devotes a chapter to each of the fundamental elements of landscape painting--drawing, value, color, composition, and light quality--and offers critical advice on selecting tools and materials, choosing colors, and structuring your palette for best results. Emphasizing the necessity of plein air drawing and painting, Salaz demonstrates how to translate small, quick studies made outdoors into full-scale studio paintings. He provides detailed step-by-step breakdowns of the creation of four of his own paintings, focusing not only on application but also on the ideas that underpin every decision a landscape painter must make. The scores of landscape masterworks, past and present, that illustrate this book have been carefully chosen for their aesthetic power and because each embodies a specific aspect of the landscape painter's craft. For Salaz, landscape painting is a noble pursuit, and the goal of the landscape artist is not to paint "pretty pictures" but to create compelling images that express human beings' profound connection to nature in all its diversity and grandeur. At a time when classical landscape is enjoying a renaissance in art schools, ateliers, and galleries across North America, this book is an essential resource for beginning and experienced painters alike.

Finally - a book to help you solve all your painting problems! Inside you'll learn how to study a painting and correct problematic areas. Study topics include: Ideas - Is there a good abstract idea underlying the picture? - What details could be eliminated to strengthen the composition? - Does the painting have a focus? - Are the unessential parts subbordinated? - Does the painting "read"? - Could you finish any part of the painting? Shapes - Are the dominant shapes as strong and simple as possible? - Are the shapes too similiar? Value - Could the value range be increased? - Could the number of values be reduced? Light - Is the subject effectively lit? - Is the light area big enough? - Would the light look stronger with a suggestion of burnout? - Do the lights have a continuous flow? - Is the light gradiated? Shadows - Do the shadow shapes describe the form? - Are the shadows warm enough? Depth - Would the addition of foreground material deepen the space? - Does the background recede far enough? - Are the halftones properly related to the background? Solidity - Is the underlying form being communicated? - Is the symmetry in perspective? Color - Is there a color strategy? - Could a purer color be used? - Do the whites have enough color in them? - Are the colors overbended on the canvas? - would the color look brighter if it were saturated into its adjacent area? Paint - Is your palette efficiently organized? - Is the painting surface too absorbent? - Are you using the palette knife as much as you could? - Are you painting lines when you should be painting masses? - Are the edges dynamic enough? - Is there enough variation in the texture of the paint?

An Authoritative, Comprehensive Guide for Contemporary Figurative Artists At a time when renewed interest in figurative art is surging throughout the art world, author Robert Zeller presents The Figurative Artist’s Handbook—the first comprehensive guide to figure drawing and painting to appear in decades. Illustrated with Zeller’s own exquisite drawings and paintings as well as works by nearly 100 historical and contemporary figurative art masters, the handbook is also a treasure trove of the finest figurative art of the past and the present day. Included are Michelangelo, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Gustav Klimt, Edward Hopper, Andrew Loomis, Andrew Wyeth, Lucian Freud, Odd Nerdrum, Eric Fischl, Bo Bartlett, Steven Assael, John Currin, and many others. Original and thoroughly modern in his approach, Zeller brings together three figure-drawing methods long thought to be at odds, synthesizing these seemingly incompatible techniques to achieve a cohesive and complete understanding of the human figure. Although all three methods underlie contemporary fine-arts practice and education, no artist’s handbook has ever combined them before: The Study of Gesture (Disegno): Rooted in the Italian Mannerist style of the 16th and 17th centuries, the gestural method emphasizes life, rhythm, and movement in the human body. The Structural Approach: A mainstay of 20th- and 21st-century art instruction, this method applies an architectural perspective to the body, using a block conception for anatomically sound, solid figures. The Atelier Method: Based on the training provided by 18th- and 19th-century art academies, the atelier approach creates sensual, smooth renderings based on meticulous study of the figure’s surface morphology in light and shadow. Covering all the basics as well as many advanced techniques, The Figurative Artist’s Handbook is aimed at both students and experienced artists. A practical, how-to guide, it provides in-depth step-by-step instruction and—rare among figure-drawing books—features sections on composition, portraiture, and painting. Chapters on creativity and on using a sketchbook help readers hone their artistic vision and evolve ideas from the initial inspiration to the fully developed work. Also included is an extensive section highlighting the great movements in figurative art throughout history—from ancient Egypt and Greece to the present.