Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books on painting, June 5, 2005
The Speed's book was originally published in 1924. There is another excellent and modern book basically covering same topics: "Alla Prima, Everything I Know about Painting" by Schmid. In comparison, Speed's book is physically much smaller, (less than 2/3 of Schmid's), but it is distilled and very rich. It gives a concise yet in-depth discussion of the most fundamental things about painting: wholeness, unity & variety, and rhythm etc., under topics of tone value, color, edge, and design, while form and drawing are mainly discussed in his another book. While the Schmid's book is easier to understand for beginner, the two books target the same levels of readers.
When reading Speed's book, it's better to read carefully between the words. You can read Schmid's book faster, because Schmid's book uses more sentences or paragraphs to explain an idea. For example, on make decision about which edges you should paint or to blur, Schmid gives you several paragraphs of useful advice, while Speed has one-sentence summarization: "It is not the edges of the object but the edges of the tone masses that make up the visual impression, that you are painting". The sentence may be easily neglected and skipped by someone with first time reading, but if he carefully reads the context and understands the meaning, it becomes useful not only in edges selection, but also in picture design.
The book's analysis of paintings by old masters is practical and insightful. One example is its comment on an early portrait (plate 32) by Velasquez, that the edge going from the wing of the nostril to the outside of the mouth weaken the wholeness of the pictorial design. By this way, it helps you understand deeper not only the concept of wholeness and the function of edges, but also good design.
The book's most significant concentration is on the mental part of the painting process, mainly about what & how to see and to design, rather than on learning particular painting techniques and materials, therefore, I believe that the author's original title "The Science & Practice of Oil Painting" is a better one in telling you what is in the book.
The book used one chapter, 10% of the whole book, discussing `modern art', which I think is a bit too much. (Both Speed and Schmid basically hold same opinion on `modern art'. Schmid has the mentioning that what we called `Modern Art' is a different human activity from `Classical Art' except that `Modern' artists use, some times, the same tools as `Classical' artists.)
I highly recommend this book to everyone. For beginner, if you do not read carefully, you will only read the surface, so that you think the book is statically for beginner. But when you grow and you carefully read it again, you will find it is rich and it grows with you. For the very advanced, you can review its points for successful painting, which is concisely presented in the book.
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55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a rare and valuable guide to traditional painting technique, April 3, 2000
This book is a treasure. I have checked it out of the library several times already and now have finally decided to buy it. I have yet to find a better guide to traditonal painting techniques. In a world of modern techniques based on 20th century aesthetics, this is the book for those of us who follow a different path. If you want to paint like Velasquez, Titian, or Nerdrum, this is the place to start.
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Foundational Truths, August 2, 2005
After years working as a visual development artist for film, I still find the best resource in regards to teaching conventional art are found in the writings of the past. Such greats as Andrew Loomis, John Vanderpoel, George Bridgman and Harold Speed held firm to strong principles not found today in most art teachers. The foundational principles of tone, texture, color and drawing taught in unity---skills that have been forgotten by many art schools across the country.
This book is like finding an old Jedi master who teaches the principles which were once so widely taught. Mr. Speed's commentary of several paintings of the old masters inspired me to look for the lost edges and tonal variations often times over looked. I read this work from cover to cover. I knew much of what was in the teaching before hand but was drawn into the presentation of so many foundational disciplines taught as a whole to create beautiful art. Well documented.
If you think art is burning a flag(...)this book is not for you. If you think art is a medium to uplift the human soul by the means of expressing tones, edges, drawing and color to the highest level of emotional impact this book is for you. It contains many insightful truths which will help you on your journey. The price of this book is a deal considering the amount of information that's packed inside.
I highly recommend this book to serious students and professionals who will enjoy the information contained within these pages. If you are a teacher please read the contents and pass this book on to your serious students.
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