[.ca] Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques (ISBN 1581806388)

A good reference book on acrylics landscape painting.:
In painting, I am an experimentalist. What it translates into is that I inadvertently keep my checking account on a diet plan! (Hope you get my joke!) Although being a die-hard oil painter (en plein air landscapes and figure painting), I am also using acrylics in figure painting (and other media such as watercolor, charcoal, and ink occasionally). I find this book a good one to own. Acrylics, "the medium of the 20th century" (or so I'm told), combined with landscape painting, "the mind-opener to artists", are the subject of the book. As the title stated, the readers will have a chance to enjoy a broad spectrum of knowledge on light, color, and texture using acrylics. The fact of the matter is "light, color, and texture" are ALL one needs in painting. Well, someone may argue with me that, "What about value, hue, edge, and so on?" Value is light, hue is color, and edge is no stranger to texture. (The legendary realist artist Burton Silverman is not even a big fan of "edge", so I digress.) The bottom line is this book covers the most fundamentals of painting (landscape in particular) in acrylics. More specifically speaking, the readers will learn from this book: - using value and light to create an aerial perspective (nearness, farness), as well as time and weather effects - using a limited palette to create a wide range of colors - using acrylics in different techniques, such as those in watercolor and oil, to create a variety of effects. These techniques include, but not limited to, washes, glazes, splattering, and others - All of the above, IN ACRYLICS This is a good reference book on acrylics landscape painting, although the techniques discussed in the book (with respect to acrylics, that is) can be used in painting other subject matters as well. Before seeing the book, I had had a chance to experiment on how to paint figures to make them look as if they were painted in watercolor, then in oil, and (of course) in acrylics (!). It is a valuable repertoire in my art endeavor. This book is not only an ego-booster (for me only, since I had tried some of the techniques before reading it), but it also widens my knowledge of this medium in painting landscapes. (I only paint landscapes in oil.) Speaking of painting landscapes, "too much information" is what Mother Nature is so generous of giving to the artists. It is like an ample portion of a delicious meal. The trick is to know how to choose what fits one's appetite most. That "something", or as we all know it as "a center of interest", and how to develop it, is also discussed by the author. All in all, this is a good reference book on acrylics landscape painting to own!

Wonderful technique!:
HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THE GREAT TECHNIQUES IN THIS BOOK. i RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY.

Somewhat Lacking:
I bought this book hoping it would give me basic information on color mixing, brush technique and composition. It did not. The book has some beautiful examples of the author's art but gives very little information as to how he got there. It is not a step-by-step instruction book. Mr. Greer does not tell how to handle the acrylic medium as for as how to mix and apply the paint to get various results. If you are a beginning landscape painter looking for basic instruction in acrylic painting techniques, buy another book. If you have the basics down pretty well then this book may be for you. The author is a good landscape painter but not the greatest teacher.

Gained knowledge from the first page on:
I appreciate the complexity of nature and the way this book relates to the observing and using your inner feelings to paint. Thank you for such a good book to paint from and use often.

Disappointment!:
I am a beginner and I was looking for some supplementary instruction to my classwork. This book was unable to give me much help unless I wanted to paint a picture just as the author paints. There was little color mixing or actual technique explained here, and not much on basic brush usage. Perhaps this was meant for a more experienced painter. It has little to offer us beginners.