Customer Reviews

Painting People

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This book was printed quite some time ago, so many of the images are black and white, a small drawback when using this book for study (except to see how values are handled).

Burt Silverman, like John Singer Sargent, records people in frozen states and poses that are more of a nicely painted document rather than a deep insight into the model's character. This is not always the case with his work, but if you're looking for infusing your paintings with strong emotions you won't find much here. The strengths here are simply about making excellent pictures, handling methods and materials, and great insights into Burt's painting processes.

I have years of experience in the watercolor technique shown in this book, you can visit my website to see some examples of this method, and you can check out my review on Burt's other book "Breaking The Rules Of Watercolor" here on Amazon for details on using this marvelous technique.

Great book! Demos included. Silverman is very generous in sharing his expertise.

The best part of this book is the biographical information. Silverman was a realist painter when abstract expressionism (Pollock) was the rage. He discusses what it was like to belong to a group of realist painters selling their work in a small gallery and how they moved on from that. He also describes his thought process while he is painting and is not afraid to talk about his 'failures.'

Couldn't wait to get the book. So helpful the way Silverman shares his thoughts. Each painting presents it's unique problems and Burton explains how he works through them and even has failures. Inspiring!

Received the book quickly and in perfect condition.

Thank you.