Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice [Hardcover]

Mitchell Albala (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2009

Because nature is so expansive and complex, so varied in its range of light, landscape painters often have to look further and more deeply to find form and structure, value patterns, and an organized arrangement of shapes. In Landscape Painting, Mitchell Albala shares his concepts and practices for translating nature's grandeur, complexity, and color dynamics into convincing representations of space and light.  Concise, practical, and inspirational, Landscape Painting focuses on the greatest challenges for the landscape artist, such as: •  Simplification and Massing: Learn to reduce nature's complexity by looking beneath the surface of a subject to discover the form's basic masses and shapes.•  Color and Light: Explore color theory as it specifically applies to the landscape, and learn the various strategies painters use to capture the illusion of natural light.•  Selection and Composition: Learn to select wisely from nature's vast panorama. Albala shows you the essential cues to look for and how to find the most promising subject from a world of possibilities. The lessons in Landscape Painting—based on observation rather than imitation and applicable to both plein air and studio practice—are accompanied by painting examples, demonstrations, photographs, and diagrams. Illustrations draw from the work of more than 40 contemporary artists and such masters of landscape painting as John Constable, Sanford Gifford, and Claude Monet.  Based on Albala's 25 years of experience and the proven methods taught at his successful plein air workshops, this in-depth guide to all aspects of landscape painting is a must-have for anyone getting started in the genre, as well as more experienced practitioners who want to hone their skills or learn new perspectives.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MITCHELL ALBALA teaches landscape painting at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle. A respected and dedicated teaching artist for more than 20 years, he is best known for his atmospheric and semiabstract landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. He has lectured on impressionism at the Seattle Art Museum, has written about landscape painting for American Artist magazine, and hosts an educational website at mitchellalbala.com. He has exhibited nationally and is represented by the Lisa Harris Gallery in Seattle

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill; 1 edition (November 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823032205
• ISBN-13: 978-0823032204
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 0.8 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Arts & Photography > Painting > Landscape
  • #82 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism

More About the Author

MITCHELL ALBALA is author of Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice (Watson-Guptill/Random House, 2009).

Visit his portfolio site at www.mitchalbala.com
Visit his educational blog at www.blog.mitchalbala.com

Mitchell is best known his atmospheric and semi-abstracted landscapes, which have been exhibited in New York City, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Portland, Ore. A respected and dedicated teaching artist for more than 25 years, he currently teaches at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle and hosts an educational website at www.mitchalbala.com. He has also lectured on Impressionism and landscape painting at the Seattle Art Museum and written for American Artist Magazine. In 2010 he had the honor of serving as juror for two exhibitions, the Seattle Co-Arts 60th Annual Art Show and Art Kudos International Art Competition and Exhibition. He is currently represented by Lisa Harris Gallery in Seattle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow-Amazing. One of the best books on painting., November 20, 2009

By 

Rico Lebrun - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice (Hardcover)

One of the best books on painting. Not just landscape painting, although that is all this book is about. You can tell this is a book written by an educator with 20+ years of experience, he is able to distill fairly complex ideas into understandable concepts. Chapter One sets the tone for the book. Simplification of Massing. Selection and Composition. Light and Color. This chapter gives a brief overview of where he is going. For those of you who are intermediate to advanced painters, you will find yourself alternately confirming long held unspoken thoughts and finding practical solutions to the unique problems presented by painting the landscape subject. For beginners, this is a book you will read many times and continue to gain insight as you gain experience. For painting is, in essence, an experiential process that needs an anchor of clear thought. This book is not only a how to (step one, step two, etc.) but a why do. How to books are easy to write as an artist, just photograph your work as you produce it. The why is much harder to write. For one thing it requires a lot more literary effort. ie. you need to have read a fair amount. There is no question that he he has been influenced by Carlson, Payne, etc. The book is filled with quotes from Hofmann, Monet, Maisel,...great example: "All color is no color"-Kenneth Clark. That is a perfect example of how this book is written for the intermediate to advanced painter. There is no way that would have made any sense to me as a beginner. It is only understanding composition and how color can be manipulated to move others through a painting. Know the importance of graying colors with complements to accentuate other colors. And the primary importance of value over color. (It took me ten years to learn that!!) You get the idea. Physically the book is beautiful. In an act of humility, his examples in the book are mostly from 36 other artist, many of whom are new to me. (I look forward to finding out more about some of these artist.) We see Chatham and Shils, a couple of modern day masters as well as Payne and Pinkham. Fantastic selection. We also get a nice selection of Mitchell's paintings, which are wonderful. The reproductions are top notch. This book is physically quite similar to Classical Painting Atelier by Aristides. Well thought out and well presented. It has been quite a while since I have seen such a book full of so much. Maybe Richard Schmid's was the last I found of such strong material.

Addendum: It has been mentioned that this is a book for beginners. That being the case, if one were to understand and implement successful all that is in this book, you would be well beyond a beginner.

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on the subject available, January 12, 2010

By 

Blue in Washington "Barry Ballow" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice (Hardcover)

Painter/educator Mitch Albala has put together a terrific book for the landscape painter which is destined to become a standard in the field. As an amateur painter, I am in constant struggle on how to organize, simplify and avoid literal representation. Albala addresses all of this head on in a way that I can connect with. Somehow, he just does it better than others who have published similar books. Every chapter of the book has been useful in some way to me.

The book has a lot to say to anyone trying to move away from strict representation and toward looser, more open painting. It includes a great chapter on abstracting nature which has been particularly useful to me. And Albala's several sections on color are also insightful, clearly presented and valuable.

Finally, Albala has included in his book not only a number of his own landscape/skyscape/waterscape paintings as illustrations, but has put in even more paintings by other, mostly contemporary, painters that serve as wonderful examples of the techniques and concepts that he's writing about. Generously, he has included web contacts for all of these artists among the book's several indexes.

Great book that will get a lot of use from this reader.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Classic in Landscape Painting, December 26, 2009

By 

Wayne Knowles "Sedona Painter" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice (Hardcover)

Mitchell Albala has written a new classic in books dealing with landscape painting. I'd place it along side Carlson's Guide to landscape Painting, Composition of Outdoor painting by Edgar Payne, Alla Prima by Richard Schmid and The Art Spirit by Robert Henri. It's a wonderful accomplishment.