Painting the Secret World of Nature [Hardcover]

John Agnew (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

To look at John Agnew's work is to enter the mysterious and enchanting world of a forest floor, mountainous cliffs and crags, the heights of a rain forest or the surface of a hidden pond. Each painting draws you in to its unique environment. The lifelike environments Agnew has been so extremely successful in creating in his well-known murals he now brings to his acrylic paintings as well. In this book, Agnew shares his secret techniques about how to create those special atmospheres, textures and creatures by controlling the light, color, point of view and design of his painting. The book is filled with mini-demonstrations showing readers how to paint all of the above, as well as a full demo and techniques on painting murals.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Agnew is one of the country's premier artists, specializing in fine art, realistic nature murals and immersion exhibit design. He has designed and painted many large dioramas and murals for Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and the Cincinnati Zoo.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581800509
• ISBN-13: 978-1581800500
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #656,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Arts & Photography > Painting > Still Life

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tangible art, December 2, 2001

By 

Sergey and Olga Karengin (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Painting the Secret World of Nature (Hardcover)

There are many good books on nature; there are many good books on art; there are many good instruction manuals. John Agnew's "Painting the secret world of nature" is a rare book that excels in all three of these.

Beginners as well as experienced artists will find this book both technically helpful and aesthetically pleasing. Its clear-cut instructions and step-by-step illustrations, showing the process of creating and elaborating a visually striking image, will help a practicing artist to improve the technique of realistic painting.

All professional artists have their own trade secrets; few are willing to share them; even fewer are able to do it in a way that makes sense to others. John Agnew's book is the one that does it superbly.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You won't learn to airbrush from this book, but--nice pix!, March 20, 2002

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Painting the Secret World of Nature (Hardcover)

Gorgeous nature artwork. The frog is exceptional. Agnew's rendering of translucent animal skin, dewdrops and leaves is miraculous, but you won't learn how exactly to airbrush those types of things. How the works get from roughed-in ideas to detailed airbrushed plant foliage is NOT well-documented here. If you want to learn how to do detailed airbrushing, this is not the book for you. But if you want to be inspired by some great technique and learn some of it (for example, how to do translucent effects) this book is excellent.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have., January 2, 2007

By 

Patricia Buzo (Saint Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Painting the Secret World of Nature (Hardcover)

I've found this book to be extremely useful as an artist. There are several easy to understand demonstrations on how to achieve various techniques, such as creating haze, fog, and humidity both for close up scenes and those at a distance. Other demo's include creating light and shadow, animal skins, furs & feathers, foliage, water, snow & ice, and sand & mud, to name a few. Each demo is accompanied by a complete materials list of easy to find items. Some of his techniques call for the use of an airbrush, but there is no need to run out and buy the best model available as a simple craft airbrush/air could work. The airbrush techniques described can be achieved with a little practice. Even if one didn't wish to use an airbrush and preferred to use glazes, I would still highly recommend this book because the exercises do not focus on the use of an airbrush, but rather a layering of paints.
In the final chapter John Agnew showcases a few of his works, including some breathtaking murals he completed for various zoo exhibits and museums.