Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques [Paperback]

Hugh Greer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

Filled with inspirational artwork and solid instruction, this guide will delight loyal acrylic painters and encourage artists from other mediums to cross over. Greer's instruction capitalizes on the brilliant colours available in acrylics and shows artists how to paint with them using proven "watercolour" and "oil" techniques. Starting with 16 mini-demos, artists are encouraged to: Jump right in and follow step-by-step instructions for mastering techniques such as masking, splattering, underpainting, washes and more; Learn tips and tricks for rendering many elements of a landscape including trees, flowers, roads and reflections; The second section of the book features four complete painting demonstrations that challenge artists to exercise their new painting techniques through a variety of landscape subjects. Two demonstrations show artists how to use acrylics as an effective base for other mediums.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hugh Greer exhibits his paintings in galleries throughout the US and he also teaches regularly at workshops and seminars. His work has appeared in several publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581806388
• ISBN-13: 978-1581806380
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,183,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good reference book on acrylics landscape painting., January 31, 2002

By 

The Artist "The Artist" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques (Hardcover)

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!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment!, July 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques (Hardcover)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques, July 31, 2006

By 

Nancy S. Gragg "All4U" (Alamogordo, NM) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques (Paperback)

I like the book. I like the way Hugh Greer paints and I would like to go out and do likewise. The beginning starts out with full explanation - then he gives you ways to use what he wants to teach you - but he does it with very complicated examples and not much explanation. He skips a lot of steps. I am still trying some of his ideas and hope that I can learn them because I really like his results. This book is much, much more helpful if you get his DVDs, he has three -first is very basic, but the next two go a long way to explaining some of the steps he left out.