Acrylic Landscape Painting Techniques (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "What are you doing now?" a classmate inquired when I recently attended my fortieth high school reunion..." (more)
Key Phrases: Diarylide Yellow, Quinacridone Magenta, Cerulean Blue (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Filled with inspirational artwork and solid instruction, this guide will delight loyal acrylic painters and encourage artists from other mediums to cross over. Greer's instruction capitalizes on the brilliant colors available in acrylics and shows artists how to paint with them using proven "watercolor" and "oil" techniques. Starting with 16 mini-demos, artists are encouraged to jump right in and follow step-by-step instructions for mastering techniques such as masking, splattering, underpainting, washes and more. They will also learn tips and tricks for rendering many elements of landscape including trees, flowers, roads and reflections. The second section of this book features four complete painting demonstrations that challenge artists to exercise their new painting techniques through a variety of landscape subjects. Two demonstrations also show artists how to use acrylics as an effective base for other mediums.

About the Author

Hugh Greer exhibits his paintings in galleries throughout the US, and he also teaches regularly at workshops and seminars. His work has appeared in several publications, including Art of the West magazine. He lives in Wichita, Kansas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (November 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581800630
• ISBN-13: 978-1581800630
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #797,894 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good reference book on acrylics landscape painting., January 31, 2002

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

In painting, I am an experimentalist. What it translates into is that I inadvertently keep my checking account on a diet plan! (Hope you get my joke!) Although being a die-hard oil painter (en plein air landscapes and figure painting), I am also using acrylics in figure painting (and other media such as watercolor, charcoal, and ink occasionally). I find this book a good one to own.

Acrylics, "the medium of the 20th century" (or so I'm told), combined with landscape painting, "the mind-opener to artists", are the subject of the book.

As the title stated, the readers will have a chance to enjoy a broad spectrum of knowledge on light, color, and texture using acrylics. The fact of the matter is "light, color, and texture" are ALL one needs in painting. Well, someone may argue with me that, "What about value, hue, edge, and so on?" Value is light, hue is color, and edge is no stranger to texture. (The legendary realist artist Burton Silverman is not even a big fan of "edge", so I digress.) The bottom line is this book covers the most fundamentals of painting (landscape in particular) in acrylics.

More specifically speaking, the readers will learn from this book:

- using value and light to create an aerial perspective (nearness, farness), as well as time and weather effects

- using a limited palette to create a wide range of colors

- using acrylics in different techniques, such as those in watercolor and oil, to create a variety of effects. These techniques include, but not limited to, washes, glazes, splattering, and others

- All of the above, IN ACRYLICS

This is a good reference book on acrylics landscape painting, although the techniques discussed in the book (with respect to acrylics, that is) can be used in painting other subject matters as well. Before seeing the book, I had had a chance to experiment on how to paint figures to make them look as if they were painted in watercolor, then in oil, and (of course) in acrylics (!). It is a valuable repertoire in my art endeavor. This book is not only an ego-booster (for me only, since I had tried some of the techniques before reading it), but it also widens my knowledge of this medium in painting landscapes. (I only paint landscapes in oil.)

Speaking of painting landscapes, "too much information" is what Mother Nature is so generous of giving to the artists. It is like an ample portion of a delicious meal. The trick is to know how to choose what fits one's appetite most. That "something", or as we all know it as "a center of interest", and how to develop it, is also discussed by the author.

All in all, this is a good reference book on acrylics landscape painting to own!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment!, July 8, 2002

By A Customer

I am a beginner and I was looking for some supplementary instruction to my classwork. This book was unable to give me much help unless I wanted to paint a picture just as the author paints. There was little color mixing or actual technique explained here, and not much on basic brush usage. Perhaps this was meant for a more experienced painter. It has little to offer us beginners.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Lacking, March 2, 2003

By	Jimmy1946 - See all my reviews

I bought this book hoping it would give me basic information on color mixing, brush technique and composition. It did not. The book has some beautiful examples of the author's art but gives very little information as to how he got there. It is not a step-by-step instruction book. Mr. Greer does not tell how to handle the acrylic medium as for as how to mix and apply the paint to get various results. If you are a beginning landscape painter looking for basic instruction in acrylic painting techniques, buy another book. If you have the basics down pretty well then this book may be for you. The author is a good landscape painter but not the greatest teacher.