Customer Reviews

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

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This book is a blessing for the beginning, intermediate, and even advanced painter. It is thoughtful and considered. The writing style is one reason I enjoy turning to it for guidance--Albala wastes no words relating essential information, while imparting a calm, pointed knowledge. I am sure to re-read this book many times: not the case with the half dozen other contemporary "how-to" painting books that seemed rather thrown together and which I've wound up reading less than half of.
Albala's use of his own and other artist's work is both inspiring and deeply instructive. Each photo is married to a caption that explains why he is using this work to illustrate the sectioned concept. These are high quality examples, as unlike...you know.
Being a book designer myself, I'd also like to commend the book designer of Landscape Painting. The design is as clean, thoughtful, and useful as the words. A different design would have changed the experience of this book. Kudos to you.

An excellent instruction book that covers all the basics, as well as discussing more advanced painting techniques in later chapters. From the start the author acknowledges that there is more than one way to make a successful painting, unlike many art books which use a "my-way-or-the-highway" approach to art instruction. The book also provides the best explanation I have read on how different artists approach color and the many different strategies employed to use color to create the desired effect.

Using artwork examples by many different artists to highlight the concept or technique being discussed is much better than if the author had tried to "fit" something of his own or created something simply to illustrate the point being made. Excellent quotes from many artists and creative thinkers, as well as the author's insightful margin notes, are helpful and inspiring.

The chapter on working with photographs and using digital effects as a tool for creating better paintings is refreshing. However, the book also acknowledges that photos and the computer are not replacements for painting outdoors, directly from nature, but provide a way to learn and grow as an artist using the tools currently available.

The chapter on abstracting nature will be helpful to anyone who has yet to try pushing their paintings in this direction.

One thing that would have made the book even better would have been to include more painting exercises, like the three on massing. However, this is a minor point. There is enough information for painters at any skill level, beginner to advanced, to study and then try out on their own.

This book provides a comprehensive and thorough approach to Landscape Painting. For any painter wanting to improve his/her skills, this book provides a well conceived discussion and approach for the landscape artist. There are plenty of examples, demonstrations, photographs with practical and clear writing. I also loved the beauty of the book - its layout, inspirational quotes and phenomenal paintings. I'm going to enjoy this book for a long time!

This book was written by someone who obviously has been teaching oil painting for some time. The writing style, the organization and the informational content is exceptional. I am a novice oil painter who has struggled with various aspects of this medium--especially in a plein air setting using the direct alla prima method. Most of my oil painting education has come from reading many, many books--yet there remained signficant impediments to my learning curve. Well, finally some hope for progress as this book addressed my particular issues like no other. It was almost as if Alabala watched me struggle in one of his classes and then wrote sections of the book just for me. Even some of his sidebar helpful tips--so seemingly simple at first glance--have helped me immensely. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to become a better oil painter in particular and a better artist in general.

I am an amateur painter who is self-taught, with the help of instruction books. Over the years I have bought many art books, some of which have indeed been very helpful. I would say, however, that this book is outstanding as a general text on how to paint.

This book does not necessarily contain concepts that are better than those found in some of the other books. Rather, this book presents them better. The concepts are very well presented in words and by illustrations (excellent paintings that demonstrate the particular lessons being taught in words).

I wish this book had been available when I started learning to paint; I could have saved a lot of the money spent on some of the other books. (It is slanted towards oil painting, but the concepts will apply also to painting in other media.) Very well done.

I, like several other reviewers, feel that Albala's book is the best one published to date since Carlson's classic Guide to Landscape Painting. Albala strikes a position distilling the didactic forcefulness of Carlson -- every painter needs a Carlsonian inner-voice -- and marries it to a humanist liberal arts tradition. His is a thoughtful and analytical discussion. Perhaps overly analytical to a beginning painter, but as one progresses this groundwork should pay off if you are not merely an arm-chair painter! The stunning examples taken from a myriad of plein air painters will have you ringing up your paint-buddy in anticipation of once again trying to capture the light!

This book is fantastic I have about 30 books on painting and this is the best by far. Mr. Albala writes with clarity and insight concepts that are neccessary for correct paintings. Ideas I thought I had a handel on were made crystal clear. By page 30 I had more than my moneys worth. If you buy 1 painting book this year make sure it this one. I LOVE this Book!!!!!!!!