Professional painting instructor Lea Colie Wight demystifies the formulaic process of oil painting into a simple approach to help you paint confidently and accurately in full color. Develop a core foundational skill set to develop your paintings and discover a signature way of working from life that can be applied to figure painting, portraits, landscapes and still life. Though the focus is on oils, the methods in this book can be applied to all painting mediums including as acrylic, pastel and watercolor. • Informative lessons and simple exercises help to build confidence and lay the foundations for successful oil painting • Learn a straightforward system for painting realistically with a focus on accurate color. • 4 full-length step-by-step demonstrations show how to paint a figure, a portrait, a still life and a landscape

The equivalent of a foundation course in traditional oil painting for beginning to intermediate level artists, this in-depth book uses the still life as a practical way to master oil techniques. The still life is a practical, forgiving genre as it does not require the likeness of a portrait or the accurate proportions of the figure and, unlike the landscape, it doesn’t change with the weather. Instead, it gives aspiring artists ample time to study and the opportunity to look closer. It can be used as a purely formal subject for drawing and painting techniques, or a platform for emotional expression using personal symbolism and imagery. However, though the still life is used throughout as a teaching tool, this is first and foremost a book about oil painting. It begins with simple compositions that build to more complex arrangements. Starting with essential information on how to best set up your studio—including lighting, equipment, materials (paints, solvents, brushes, mediums), and preparing your canvas and paper for oil painting—Still Life Painting Atelier then offers concrete lessons in a logical progressive sequence, with step-by-step illustrations, finished paintings, diagrams and tips. Chapters cover: • How to address composition through thumbnail sketches and line drawings • Using underpainting to study the characteristics of light and shade • The basics of color theory and color mixing • How to use a variety of brushes to create sharp and soft edges • Techniques that are helpful when painting metal and glass • How to apply glazing and scumbling to bring luminosity and texture

"Traditional Oil Painting is that rare sourcebook that comprehensively covers the most advanced techniques and concepts of oil painting"--P. [2] of cover.

Everything you always wanted to know about oil painting...but were afraid to ask. Or maybe you weren’t afraid—maybe you just didn’t know what to ask or where to start. In The Oil Painting Course You’ve Always Wanted, author Kathleen Staiger presents crystal clear, step-by-step lessons that build to reinforce learning. Brush control, creating the illusion of three dimensions, foolproof color mixing, still-life painting, landscapes, and portraits—every topic is covered in clear text, diagrams, illustrations, exercises, and demonstrations. Staiger has taught oil painting for more than thirty-five years; many of her students are now exhibiting and selling their paintings. Everyone from beginning hobby painters, to art students, to BFA graduates has questions about oil painting. Here at last are the answers!

Here, Elkins argues that alchemists and painters have similar relationships to the substances they work with. Both try to transform the substance, while seeking to transform their own experience.

Bridging the fields of conservation, art history, and museum curating, this volume contains the principal papers from an international symposium titled "Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice" at the University of Leiden in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from June 26 to 29, 1995. The symposium—designed for art historians, conservators, conservation scientists, and museum curators worldwide—was organized by the Department of Art History at the University of Leiden and the Art History Department of the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science in Amsterdam. Twenty-five contributors representing museums and conservation institutions throughout the world provide recent research on historical painting techniques, including wall painting and polychrome sculpture. Topics cover the latest art historical research and scientific analyses of original techniques and materials, as well as historical sources, such as medieval treatises and descriptions of painting techniques in historical literature. Chapters include the painting methods of Rembrandt and Vermeer, Dutch 17th-century landscape painting, wall paintings in English churches, Chinese paintings on paper and canvas, and Tibetan thangkas. Color plates and black-and-white photographs illustrate works from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

A landscape painting guide for oil painters that breaks landscapes down into component elements from nature, and showcases tools and techniques used by classic and modern oil painters for bringing these scenes to life. Landscape painting is one of the most popular subjects for painters working in the medium of oils--from classic masters to contemporary artists. In The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting, established Watson-Guptill author and noted instructor/painter Suzanne Brooker presents the fundamentals necessary for mastering landscape oil painting, breaking landscapes down into component parts: sky, terrain, trees, and water. Each featured element builds off the previous, with additional lessons on the latest brushes, paints, and other tools used by artists. Key methods like observation, rendering, and color mixing are supported by demonstration paintings and samples from a variety of the best landscape oil painters of all time. With The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting, oil painters looking to break into landscape painting or enhance their work will find all the necessary ingredients for success.

Stimulating, informative guide by noted teacher covers painting technique, painting from life, materials — paints, varnishes, oils and mediums, grounds, etc. — a painter's training, more. 64 photos. 5 line drawings.

From a leading art instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, a complete survey of drawing as an art form covering its history, materials, and key techniques, alongside step-by-step demonstrations. Foundations of Drawing is a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the history, aesthetics, methods, and materials of the drawing medium. Throughout, clearly defined demonstrations provide easy access to the practice of drawing as well as the history and development of core drawing techniques. Richly illustrated, the book contains reproductions of the finest master drawings from the fifteenth century to the present. Unlike other drawing instruction books that focus on step-by-step lessons exclusively, Foundations of Drawing provides readers with the context and background to help understand just why these materials and methods are so vital for successful drawing.

How to paint oil portraits like the Old Masters Mona Lisa. Girl with a Pearl Earring. Madame X. The infinite variety and beauty of humankind--like the mysteries behind sparkling eyes, a sly smile or an averted gaze--has captivated artists since the beginning of time. This expanded edition of Chris Saper's best-selling guide, Classic Portrait Painting in Oils, reveals keys for mastering how to paint beautiful portraits in oil to create soulful works of art. Through easy-to-follow lessons and expert oil painting tips and techniques, you'll find secrets for working from life, using reference photos and more to create rich, realistic portraits imbued with timeless character. • 14 step-by-step demonstrations teach how to paint 7 diverse subjects of varying skin tones from life and from photographic reference • Additional exercises reveal expert oil painting techniques for defining facial details, like eyes, mouths, wrinkles, facial hair and eyeglasses • Professional tips for working from life, including ideal session times, posing, seeing and mixing color and even how to work with children • The basics of using natural, artificial, creative and "Rembrandt" lighting to light your subject and convey a mood • Expanded key concepts of "perfect practice," the importance of regularly painting subjects in real time and an insistence on excellent photographic reference material, including a checklist for how to take--and self-edit--your own quality photos • New material on how to approach and execute paid commissions, including step-by-step demonstrations for painting both corporate and family subjects Through Saper's universal techniques, painters of all skill levels will learn to render more realistic portraits of every subject they paint, with predictable and joyful results.