Amazon.com: Oil Painting Secrets from a Master: 25th Anniversary Edition: Linda Cateura: Books

Product Description

Like some of the most popular art instruction books ever written, this 25th anniversary edition of a W-G classic is based on student notes culled over the years from actual workshop sessions. For more than two years, Linda Cateura pursued master teacher David A. Leffel, notebook in hand, as he critiqued the work of students. Her succinct notes capture his insights, philosophy, and painting tips and tricks. Leffel's classic, painterly, old master style, much in the manner of Chardin or Rembrandt, affords ample illustration of the ideas expressed--through his many paintings, details, demonstrations, and diagrams. No matter what the level of skill--beginner, intermediate, advanced or professional--there is something here to apply, ideas that will enable artists to rethink their approach to painting, tips that save time and effort, and clear solutions to persistent painting problems.

About the Author

Linda Cateura has studied painting at The New School, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Art Students League of New York. It was there that she wrote the notes that form the basis of this book.

David A. Leffel has taught life drawing, painting, portraiture, figure, and composition at the Art Students League of New York since 1971. His work hangs in both private and public collections; and his ideas and paintings have been featured in many publications.

Product Details

Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Watson-Guptill (September 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0823032795
ISBN-13: 978-0823032792
Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #93,981 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#11 in Books > Arts & Photography > Painting > Oil Painting
#28 in Books > Arts & Photography > Instructional & How-To > Painting

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
There are many art teachers, but few that can teach art well. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
raw umber, ivory black, shadow color

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Private Collection, Collection of the Artist, New York, Courtesy of Grand Central Galleries

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 1 book:

Painting women's portraits by Joe Singer in Back Cover

2 books cite this book:

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Oil Painting by Marian Appelhof in Front Matter
On Becoming a Painter by Robert A. Johnson in Back Matter

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Exploring Color by Nita Leland

Discusses:

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	62% buy the item featured on this page: Oil Painting Secrets from a Master: 25th Anniversary Edition 4.2 out of 5 stars (39) $16.47
	15% buy Problem Solving for Oil Painters: Recognizing What's Gone Wrong and How to Make It Right 4.6 out of 5 stars (42) $14.93
	10% buy Classical Painting Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice 4.7 out of 5 stars (22) $23.10
	7% buy Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present 4.4 out of 5 stars (22) $23.10

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Customer Reviews

39 Reviews

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My secrets of how to read "Oil painting secrets from a maste, September 12, 2001

By	The Artist "Extremely Untalented" (USA) - See all my reviews

OK, so the title of this review got cut off. It should read: "My secrets of how to read 'Oil painting secrets from a master.'"

Anyway, how in the world that a book could get excellent reviews in some comments, yet was claimed to be a disappointment in others? Here is the truth, as I see it.

THIS IS A BOOK ON OIL PAINTING TO OWN; and I say this based on my experience reading a considerable number of art books (see my "About You Area" for your info), as well as my own oil painting experience.

To keep it as short as possible, the following are facts and my opinions.

1) The artist: David A. Leffel is a realist artist, his style will certainly reminds the readers of Rembrandt's, you know, "the Old Master's".

2) To oil painting beginners: This book is NOT meant for beginners. Instead of giving this book a poor review, readers may be better off keeping it for future reference, when their painting skills up to par.

3) To others: This is what are covered in the book in extended bullet point format:
- Artistic thinking: on seeing, the concept
- Painting process: materials, brushstroke techniques, chiaroscuro (light/dark), massing, painting procedures, planes
- Basic advice: light and shadow, values, edges, color, painting still lifes, painting portraits, painting backgrounds
- General observations: comments on painting, attitudes that can hold you back.
For the demos, close-ups (from final painting) are shown to express points in case.

Here are my additional view:
- Mr. Leffel is one of the great names in contemporary American art (read my other reviews should you wonder what other great names may be). His open-minded and humble attitude towards painting and the learning process is very easy to connect, in my opinion, to individuals who love painting for the love of it. These individuals include those who go through painstaking efforts to ever improve their skills.

- This book is very enjoyable and profound. Advice and "secrets" (for those who love "shortcuts", or as I see them, "how an experienced, professional artist would do it - there are NO secrets, THEY ARE JUST GOOD SOLUTIONS THAT FIT YOUR STYLES AND SKILLS) like those in this book are valuable tricks of the trade.

My hat off to the artist (although I rarely wear one), and above all, let's get one thing straight: this book is a FIVE-STAR!

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

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37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good, but I expected more, December 19, 2001

By	Valentino "Tino" (Croatia) - See all my reviews

This book should have been titled "My Method Of Painting". David Leffel is famous american painter who makes no secret of his admiration for Rembrandt and Chardin. His thoughts, hints and pieces of advice collected here are helpful and valuable, particulary to those beginners and intermediate painters who want to paint in the manner of Van Rijn. Or Leffel.
If one prefer style of some other great painter - say Titian, Vermeer, Bouguerau..., he might be somewhat dissapointed.
I admit that I expected elaborate account on the basics of the painting technique: recipes for mediums, ground and varnishes, the way the pigments behave in mixtures, how to achieve certain effects, what is recommendable and what should be avoided in painting - that sort of thing.
For the truth sake, it should be emphasized that due to the fact that this book was not written by Mr. Leffel himself, no wonder it isn't as systematic and comprehensive as one might expect from such a prominent painter.
Yet, what may confound an aspiring artist even more are contradictory pieces of advice like this:
"Make your light strong so the viewer doesn't look at the shadow" vs. "Make the shadow on your objects more vivid"
Or:
"To make something look darker, make the light next to it look lighter" vs. "If something looks dark and you want to lighten it, see how much light you can put in an adjacent area."
(Of course, these quotations were not culled from the same page)
In addition, most of the reproductions here are out of focus. In a painting technique book, high quality illustrations are essential. Whoever photographed Mr. Leffel's paintings should have visited ophtalmologist first.
In a nutshell - by purchasing this book an art student can't go wrong, but there are better ones; for instance Vernon Blake's "Creative Color For The Oil Painter".

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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - Not for Beginners though, February 16, 2004

By	Z. Daniek "zachariasd" (oregon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am always skeptical of books which are meant to teach you to paint. I myself am an artist and I've learned the only way to paint is to do it and do it often. But his book is excellent because it helps you learn to "see" things you might otherwise miss. It is not for beginners but for those with some painting experience. This is one of the only books on painting I would recommend, besides perhaps, Gregg Kreutz's Problem Solving for Oil Painting, another excellent book, very similar to this one. Coincidently, Leffle [sic?], whose paintings are the ones featured in this book, was a teacher of Kreutz at the Art Students League of New York.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars art lessons are important to continued learning.
Everytime an artist studies the masters, current or old masters, it is a chance to grow. It takes much practice and time to achieve good art. Read more

Published 9 days ago by D. Reagan

5.0 out of 5 stars oil paintings from a master

THE BOOK ARRIVED IN A TIMELY MANNER AND WAS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION..I WOULD BUY FROM THIS SOURCE AGAIN WITHOUT HESITATION..JOHN LORAINE

Published 4 months ago by John Loraine

3.0 out of 5 stars Leffel is pretty good at a few things
In a way the book is silly. Leffel is more of an illustrator than fine artist in that he does not grapple with any serious compositional problems and only deals with how light... Read more

Published 6 months ago by D. FRENETTE

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for advanced oil painters
I do agree that some of the images in this book could be improved upon. But still I think there are far more positives in this book to outweigh the negatives. Read more

Published 9 months ago by John D. Hulsing

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed
I purchased Oil Painting Secrets from a Master and must say I was extremely disappointed, both with the written and the visual content. Read more

Published 9 months ago by nancnpugs

5.0 out of 5 stars good tips and tricks
This book is good for the artists who has been painting for quite a time.Its a lot of technical gargon to grapple with and only experience of what the book is recommending will... Read more

Published 11 months ago by William Shanny

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book for intermediate or advanced painters
This book is brilliant. Few book are as helpful, but not until you're ready for this one! This book is not for beginners, but for artists comfortable enough with the oil medium... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Thomas Murphy

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for Beginners....
....or anyone who doesn't want to be Rembrandt. This author is perhaps a Master, but the title implies an Old Master. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Slim RICHARDS RN

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
This book isn't a "How to Paint" book. It assumes you already know how to do that. This book tells you how to create good paintings using light, space and color. Read more

Published 19 months ago by kh

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Companion
This book is extraordinarily helpful for artists who already have some experience. It appears to be a collection of class notes with many illustrations and helpful tips, rather... Read more

Published 19 months ago by Hate Cleaning

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