Customer Reviews

Brushwork Essentials

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In spite of an extensive drawing background (I actually majored in art) I somehow never really learned how to paint. I have long been able to "color in" ink drawings & create sort of expressionistic painting-like things...but even when I've been able to pull something off I've felt like some core knowledge was simply missing & always will be.

But this book has opened the door! He explains right away that this book has no intention of teaching everything about painting, but has been created solely to focus on the very practical issue of how to actually apply paint to a surface depending on your goal. In spite of all the instruction that is out there, there is mystery in the actual process of touching a brush to the canvas which is rarely discussed.

What brushes are out there and what EXACTLY does each one do? How does paint respond depending on how much you have thinned it? How do you physically mix paints? (there are different ways depending on what you are going for) How do you load the brushes with paint (again depending on what you want to achieve)? What angle do you hold the brush to create a smooth, blended effect & how for a rougher look? All this and much much more, including the one section less directly related to brushwork about light.

There is so much information in this book, practical and helpful. Mr. Weber has a clear respect for a wide range of approaches to paintings and also presents ones that he himself does not use.

The diagrams analyzing different brushstrokes in various paintings is very demystifying. You look at a fabulous painting & hone in very clearly on specifically how the petals of the daisies were actually physically done, or the flow of the water, or the striation (stratification? sorry, I can't remember the word) of the rocks.

Basically, the book leaves you with a crucial portion of the tools you will need in your art study & gives you a specific independence that almost all other sources neglect.

I suggest you go to a bookstore & look through this book just a bit - and if it is what you need you will know without a doubt. I am SO glad that I chanced upon it because for me it was the missing piece.

Considering there are not many (if any) books discussing brushwork, this book is nice to have. (The last book I read about this subject was published in the 1970s without color prints.)

The author starts out with how to buy good brushes, paints, mediums, then moves on to different paint consistency from very thick (good for impasto) to very thinned (with medium, good for wash). Next, the author discusses a handful of ways to pick up paint and apply paint on canvas, as well as mixing them either on palette or right on canvas. Nice pictures are used to show the angle of the brush and some paintings done by the artist, in which the techniques in point are indicated briefly.

Throughout the book, several full paintings are demonstrated briefly at the end of the book to show how these brush techniques were used by the artists.

I have no comments regarding the pictures presented in the book, but to say that they are nice. Almost all of them were done over a period of time, meticulously rendered.

A few things that I feel a bit misled. For instance, the introduction mentions the use of a palette knife (implying 'knifework', or so I thought). In fact, the book only covers how to mix paints with a knife, which is shamefully basic! (Any painter who bothers to buy palette knives to use should be able to figure that out for herself!)

Anothing that disappoints me is that since all the paintings were done realistically in the Flemish style (14th & 15th century or so), the use of the brushes to create 'mystified' EDGES such as those seen in other Alla Prima painters (my style) is completely missing, at least in the demostration aspect of the book. I am in no position to critique the author's artwork and style. (Also, there are no points to do that.) However, a book about brushwork should definitely include those.

Briefly, the book is good (for beginners, especially), but it seems too basic and limited.

This book is fantastic! I have learned a few of the techniques through trial and error and others showed me why things weren't working for me. No oil book talks as much about HOW to paint with a brush. While primarily for oils, it is helpful for acrylics, too. Has great info on water-mixable oils, too.

DO NOT buy this book if you are beyond beginner's level.
Reading the reviews I thought I was getting something to show me how to render better texture - forget it!
To be fair, this would be ideal for a beginner, but not anyone over that level - essentially, it is only showing how to use a brush - i.e. how to load and make a stroke. Waiting for it on the other side of the world, it was a bitter disappointment indeed!

I am sorry to be the `nay sayer', and no doubt some will disagree, but in my opinion this book has far more fluff than significant information, (at least on the designated subject mater).
Sure, I have bought books that miss their mark no worse that this one. It is just that this book's title was specific and it was such a disappointment to have a title with such a promising topic turn out to offer less information than those tomes, which I have already bought that, did not profess any special "brushwork" insights.
All in all, this is a book that took itself a little too "unseriously" and turned out as an underachiever.

(Also, the author's attempts at humor eluded me entirely, just more fluff.)

I've never found another book or taken a class where the info
given was what i wanted -- this turned out to be it! how to
get the paint on the support, without just scrubbing it around!

Finally, a book devoted to a topic not covered well, if at all, in the other art books I've looked at. It's well written with very helpful, clear photos of the techniques covered. I also enjoyed the style of writing and the author's sense of humor. I've read and reread the book several times!

This is an outstanding book for those who are trying to learn to paint. I've come to this hobby in middle age, and I've struggled to find high-quality instruction on the mechanics of the craft. Weber shares his secrets and knowledge generously, and I find myself reaching for this book again and again.

This is a tough book to review. I give this book 3 stars (the above is inaccurate) I like the idea of learning how to apply paint to the canvas (or whatever) but somehow looking at photos and reading the text leaves something to be desired. In my opinion this would have been better as a DVD where a person could actually see the process taking place.

The review of materials (in every Northlight book) gets tedious. The author seems to assume the reader hasn't painted before; however, I doubt a beginner in painting would purchase a book on brush technique.

Brushwork Essentials does cover a lot of territory and it does demenstrate the importance of knowing what your combo of brush and paint can achieve. A lot of learning is included in the book. The problem is visualizing what the author is talking about. A couple of photos with text doesn't carry the ideas forward very well. Many people will benefit from this book, but it isn't something that is all that easy to grasp.

After buying and reading numerous art books I have become disappointed with Northlight books. They publish a ton of books on every conceiveable subject; however, they are very repetitious and often do not manage to put the ideas forward very well. Northlight should switch to DVD or other types of presentations because their books are not cutting it as far as I am concerned.

If you want to buy this book I suggest getting it used because I do not think it is worth the full price (which I paid). Cheated again by good advertising and poor execution.

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Mark Christopher Weber, artist and author, in his "Brushwork Essentials" provides the beginner with generous amount of information and examples related to the use of the brush. He covers:

Types of brushes and what they were designed to do
Choosing and purchasing a brush
Choosing and shaping a brush for use
Mixing paint with a brush
What consistency of paint to use with a brush to get the desired effect
The mechanics of using a brush and results
Wet on wet painting and blending
Caring for the brush
And, putting it all of the essentials together for landscapes, figures, and still life.

This is a great step-by-step book for the beginner or for those who need a refresher on the use and care of the brush.