From the start, I was impressed.  Instead of using the usual photos of art supplies as he talks about what he paints with, Durkee actually painted pictures of his art supplies.

That’s pretty cool.

Then, he lost me when he talked about objects being based on one of four shapes, or a combination of them: A cube, cone, sphere or cylinder.

I’d seen my mother feel constrained by that approach; she’d learned it in art school (Mass. College of Art) many years ago, and… well, that’s one reason why she didn’t want me to go to an art college.  She didn’t want my creativity cramped by rules like that.  So, that section of the book was an instant turn-off for me.

However, Durkee’s artwork is refreshing.  His use of color is so free-thinking and vibrant, it’s almost at the fantasy level.

His tips and instructions are insightful and useful for landscape painters.  For example, on page 50 he said, “… as the flat plane of land recedes, you see it through a thicker layer of moist air,” and “… receding hills become lighter and cooler with distance.”

This is the kind of information that will help any landscape painter identify the areas that he (or she) can improve.

All in all, I like this book.  Though it’s not as exciting as some books I own, it’s a book I’ll refer to often, especially to develop my skills as a landscape painter.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Expressive Oil Painting: An Open Air Approach to Creative Landscapes by George Allen Durkee

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Expressive Oil Painting: An Open Air Approach to Creative Landscapes
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Pencil Drawing Techniques puts a definite emphasis on drawing from life. Working with photo references and using a grid is only briefly mentioned. There is also minimal information on different drawing media and how to use them.

The author dedicates a substantial portion of the book to drawing landscapes. He has especially helpful information on simplifying a busy or cluttered scene, creating a center of interest and developing darks. His chapter on drawing portraits shows several steps from the beginning to the end of the drawing. He shows numerous types of animals in different poses with a few step by step examples.

The last part of the book is on using colored pencils. He includes information of the different types of colored pencils and their attributes. There is also a good section on mixing colors, including changing value and intensity. There are several examples of different types of techniques associated with colored pencils such as burnishing, and using solvents and blenders.

CONS: Most of the drawings shown are sketchy, without a finished quality to them. The section on drawing portraits was a little short.

PROS: This book is a good overview of basic drawings techniques as well as compositional tips. If you like to improve your sketching abilities this would be a great book to have. Several different artists have work included in this book so you can see different styles of working. I have found this book especially helpful when trying to teach about value studies and their importance in planning a finished work.

Summary

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Pencil Drawing Techniques
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“This book is about drawing; about the experience of drawing and seeing drawings; and about the possibilities of extending our traditional concepts concerning the parameters of drawing”, R. Kaupelis

Experimental Drawing by Robert Kaupelis is a very good text on the infinite varieties of drawing. Written by a college art professor, it is intended for beginning to advanced students and is an excellent text for teachers to use in the art classroom. The author covers a vast amount of information including contour, gesture and modeled drawing, basic composition and using value. He goes on to cover using photographs, and working in a series. He ends his book with a series of exercises that will get you working in a more expressionistic manner.

This is a great book if you are interested in the process of drawing versus the product. Your drawing skills will improve and expand and your concept of what drawing is will surely change.

CONS: This book may be overwhelming for beginners working on their own. Many of the exercises are designed to teach you about drawing, rather than showing you how to draw something specific. The author’s writing style, while clear, tends to be a little wordy and the type face is small.

PROS: As a teacher, I have found this book to be invaluable. The huge number of exercises can be used to expand student skills and their definition of what drawing is. There are many images of unusual and contemporary drawing styles.

If you just want to learn to draw a still life or a portrait, there are other books that will better suit your needs. However, if you really want to know what drawing is all about, this is a book that will push you to explore and create drawings like you have never done before.

Summary

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Experimental Drawing
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This is a wonderful book if you are interested in learning about using photographs as reference material. The author gives explicit information on photographing flowers, people, animals and still life. She includes tips on lighting and painting the illusion of light.

She also includes solid information on making enlargements, as well as simplifying, cropping and combining photos to get the best composition.

There are many excellent photographs that show the early, middle and end steps of a painting, including color suggestion. Her text is well organized and easy to follow.

The author also has a section on some of the most asked student questions such as how to paint brilliant darks and how to paint the folds of fabric.

I have used this book extensively in teaching high school students. There are many wonderful tips for scaling and enlarging images, easy perspective tricks and painting different types of details.

CONS: This book in not for beginning watercolorists. Information on paint, brushes, paper and basic techniques is not included. In addition, while all the photos are excellent, they are only from the author.

PROS: Even though this book is about painting with watercolors, there is excellent information on taking and using photographs, composition, perspective and lighting that can be applied to any media you happen to be working with. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their painting skills.

Summary

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Painting Beautiful Watercolors from Photographs
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Almost every book about succeeding as a full-time artist tells you to have a “cohesive body of art”  before approaching a gallery.

That means at least eight to ten paintings in the same style.

However, if you’re like me, you just paint. You don’t think about style.  And, if that’s working for you, that’s fine, but it wasn’t working for me.

I painted realistically for many years, and then realized that I’m more comfortable with a less photographic style. Since I love Impressionist paintings by Monet and Bonnard, I read lots of books about that style of painting and incorporated their tips in my own work.

My art was often well-reviewed and sold in shows. My best works sold for (and were appraised at) about $500. “Not bad,” I thought. It validated me as an artist, and it paid the bills.

Then, I decided to become professional about marketing my art… and I hit a creative wall. Nothing about my art stood out, to distinguish it from… well, every other competent, semi-Impressionist painter of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

After looking at this book in the bookstore for several weeks, I bought a copy.

Then, I glanced at it every few months, got overwhelmed, and put it down again.

Finally, something clicked, and I began reading the book and answering the questions in it. I also looked for more art by the featured artists, to see why I like their work, and what it has in common with my past (and most successful) drawing and painting styles.

All of a sudden, the lights came on. I understood where I needed to go with my art.

For me, it explained how my plein air¹ studies connect both my Tonalist² and Semi-representational³ works. It showed me the areas where I need to practice more, to improve my art. I gave me a sense of the elements in my work that could make a show cohesive, and how I can improve my personal artistic voice to stand out in the crowd.

I stopped being stuck as an artist, and started learning my craft again. I’m growing by leaps and bounds as an artist.

I won’t claim that this book was the complete answer, but it was definitely a pivotal element in resolving my long-term dilemmas and confusions as an artist.

If you’re not sure where you’re going with your art, and you need to clarify that to take your next step as a professional, I highly recommend

SUMMARY

• Discover your unique, personal style as an artist.
• Many styles represented; can be overwhelming at first.
• Vital for artists who need a cohesive body of work.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Finding Your Visual Voice: A Painter’s Guide to Developing an Artistic Style
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² Tonalist paintings tend to be landscapes with soft focus and a limited range of colors that represent the light and dark (tone) of the subject. Tonalism was popular during the same era as Impressionism, and the two sometimes overlap.

³ Semi-representational paintings are usually very stylized and almost abstract, but the viewer can usually guess what the subject is.