Read This if You Want to Be Great at Painting

by Selwyn Leamy

Overview

Painting isn't as hard as it looks. And it's fun. Whether you're a total beginner or have been painting for years, this indispensable guide cuts through the jargon and provides clear, practical advice and tips to help develop your skills. Techniques and ideas are described and explained, inspiring you to make your own great paintings. Addressing the fundamentals of painting with watercolour, oil and acrylic, the book encourages you to explore the limitless possibilities painting has to offer.

Read This if You Want to Be Great at Painting is an accessible and jargon-free guide to painting, including watercolour, oil and acrylic. The book includes more than 40 examples of great paintings by masters and contemporary artists and simple diagrams and practical activities help you practice each technique.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786279033
Publisher:	Laurence King Publishing
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Series:	Read This Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Selwyn Leamy is an artist based in London, UK. He is a co-founder of the creative travel company Frui, and has taught drawing and painting in various beautiful locations around the world. He has exhibited his landscape paintings extensively in the UK and also in Italy.

Table of Contents

You can do this 5

Start 7

Technical Tangent:

Before you start 8

From drawing to painting 10

Get a feel for the paint 12

Define your freedom 14

Small is beautiful 16

Be economical 18

It's right in front of you 20

Technical Tangent:

The basic stuff 22

Process 25

Back to front 26

Reducing it down 28

Break it down to build it up 30

Start out light and loose 32

Technical Tangent:

Paint handling techniques 34

Work it out with a drawing 38

Piece it together 40

Technical Tangent:

Build your painting 42

Form 47

Two tone 48

Brown or white? 50

Darks make depth 52

Go big (with your brush) 54

Change your direction 56

Fade out into the distance 58

Technical Tangent:

Light and depth 60

Colour 63

Technical Tangent:

Colour theory 64

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

Technical Tangent:

Tonal values 84

Simplify 87

Leave it out! 88

The power of suggestion 90

Don't overdo it 92

Keep it simple 94

Let the paint do the work 96

Make your own language 98

It's good to exaggerate 100

Technical Tangent:

Composition 102

Style 105

Be clear and definite 106

Bring it off the page 108

Be intuitive 110

Get the right set-up 112

Make it a painting 114

Do it in a day 116

Materials, Resources & Set-UPS

Paint 118

Supports 120

Ground 121

Palettes 121

Colours 122

Solvents 123

Brushes 124

Set-Up 125

Index 126

Acknowledgements 128

Credits 128