Customer Reviews

Creating Impressionist Landscapes in Oil

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If you are looking for techniques to learn how to paint en plein air, this book is a valuable find. Colley is able to capture the envelope of light that Monet and others sought by employing his bravado brushwork and traditional training. The photos of his paintings draw you in. One can actually feel the raking sun and smell the fresh air. However, Colley's technique is NOT Impressionism, it is Contemporary Realism. Impressionism is about learning to see color, color that other people cannot see unless they are trained to see it. It is known as full-color seeing (check out the books by Lois Griffel and Susan Sarback to learn how to see color). Colley's emphasis is more on value than color. Also, he uses large brushstrokes and completes his paintings in one session (or almost). Most of the French Impressionists worked on their paintings many, many sessions, building up thick layers of paint (Renoir was an exception to this in his iridescent period; he used thin transparent color juxtaposed with thick opaque dabs). I am not saying that one has to place little touches of color all over the place to be an Impressionist nor does one have to work on a painting more than one session. There is a great deal of freedom to develop one's own style. I am just saying that the emphasis in true Impressionism is on "observed" color. Whether you are a beginner or an accomplished artist, I am sure that you will love everything this book has to offer. Colley is a brilliant painter!

I was disappointed that a book whose subtitle is "How to Master Impressionism -- Step-by-Step" didn't have much down-and-dirty how-to advice. There's never a definitive "This is realistic landscape painting, and this over here is impressionism" juxtaposition to explain exactly HOW impressionism might differ from traditional or realistic landscapes. Not sure about the "contemporary realism" review, since I'm not familiar with that as a specific term, but I'd have to agree that some sort of modifier on the "impressionism" label might be appropriate here.

There are a great many paintings by Whisson showcased, and most are quite nice, with a few even breathtaking. Most are done on a very small scale, the 10x12" range.

What few step-by-step demos, or even partial demos, there are are rather pale. Many "compositional plan" examples are merely ghosted-back visuals of the finished painting with a grid superimposed and little explanation as to composition or positioning choices. Most "tonal plans" (value sketches) are just b&w photos (badly screened, imho, so you can't see the patterns well) of the finished painting. Some of the all-the-way demos seem to be done after the fact, as in he started with a finished painting he wanted to demonstrate, and then did another one, this one being photographed as he did it. The results don't match. We are rarely told the why behind choices made.

The use of color is almost ignored entirely.

He does stress sketching, which is great! But if he were to redo this book, I'd advise him to do actual demos, explaining all the way as to his specific reasons for doing everything, and how this demonstrates impressionism. He should go into composition, into value determination, and most especially, into color.

The value of this book is the many Whisson paintings showcased and the inspiration derived from same. For "how to" value, I would recommend trying to find another book.

The visual demonstrations are certainly helpful but Colley's
techniques are not fast tricks and gimmicks.

He emphasizes the importance of good draftsmanship (drawing)
in his art. A whole section is devoted to showing the
relationship between preliminary sketches/drawings and the
finished painting in his work as well as in the work of
Monet and other Impressionists.

He encourages the reader to practice drawing as much as
possible in order to grow as a painter.

I admire Whisson's compositional skills, taste, and artistic
integrity.

Due to the author's great and simple instructions and step-by-step demonstrations, I was able to come out with two Impressionistic paintings from reading this book. For someone who is impatient, the author has kept in mind to keep the instructions more visual than verbal. I recommend this book immensely to other oil painting beginners who wish to make their own French Impressionist masterpieces. I hope Whisson will delve into other styles of oil painting because he has a winner in this book.

I really like this book because it is teaching you how to paint impressionist style.
It shows how you can any photo turn in to masterpiece of your own and not how to make a copy.
Yes, It's not step by step how to book for absolute beginners and those who want an instant results without working on it...like painting by numbers. You have to know your colors and how to hold a brush and what are you doing on the canvas.. There are no miracles, you have to work on your painting to be good and practice a lot. Wihout no masterpice...:-)
I will recomend this book for people who ready to do that..

This is a fabulous book! It's criminal that it's been allowed to go out of print frankly - it is far superior to a number of oil painting books that have remained in print over many editions. Heartily recommend this book to anyone.

This is an excellent book that clearly reveals the secrets to impressionist painting. First, Colley Whisson's paintings are beautifully painted and printed in this book. Second, he covers how the Impressionists handled composition, brushwork, color, color temperature, value, and subject matter, etc. Every principle is explained in writing and shown in a step by step demonstration. Following Whisson's approach can teach you to paint in the impressionistic style. Excellent book to have in your art library.