The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting: Techniques for Rendering Sky, Terrain, Trees, and Water Hardcover – August 18, 2015

Brooker is a gifted teacher who writes with a clarity I haven't seen in any other painter's descriptions. She doesn't just repeat, "Fat over lean!" She describes exactly how one should proceed. She includes diagrams, very specific color comparisons, and even photographs of how familiar objects reflect light if that’s what it takes to be absolutely clear. In every demonstration, she emphasizes the thinking behind a successful painting. The book is filled with advice about how to avoid mistakes that scream, "Amateur!" I recommend the Kindle edition, which will allow you to appreciate and analyze the many lovely reproductions of other artist's work. Her demonstrations are, for the most part, pedagogical, not exciting. Fair enough. This is not a book for beginners or Sunday painters. She's writing for painters who hope to master the craft; a good part of that mastery is strategic thinking. Copying pretty pictures won't further that end.

I could immediately understand and put these techniques and color theory and mixing tips to use in my paintings. The included art examples are beautiful. The demo sections are very easy to follow. I have several books on oil painting but this is the most interesting and practically instructive. It was a little confusing to follow a couple of illustrations where the caption referred to rows but I think she meant columns, and at least one which captioned a brushstroke with a name she hadn’t defined or described in the text. I’ve looked for errata or how to contact the author without success.

I would put this together with Mitchell Albala's book in terms of helpfulness and beautiful images (and in fact Albala has a couple of paintings in this one, and I love his work, but I especially enjoyed the works here by Renato Muccillo). Although I paint in acrylics, not oils, I've been struggling with techniques I relied on in watercolor that don't work as well in acrylic. Most acrylic painting books seem to focus on gimmicks like gold leaf or carving shapes in gesso, and that is not what I want to do. I've looked at some other books on oil painting but they often relied on wet-in-wet and/or painterly techniques, which is not something I want to do with acrylics. I could see right away that this book gives many examples of the painter working over a dry layer, which is what I do, so these are techniques I can use. I have seen many examples of so-called Old Master type painting that involves toning the support, but I had not seen any colors used for that besides grays and earths. This is the first time I saw someone toning with cadmium orange. Right away I wanted to try that. I also appreciated the description of a flake white hue made from 1 parts titanium and 2 parts zinc. I have just begun working with white (since it's a no-no in watercolor, I never used it until the past year or so), and this formulation I will definitely try. The step-by-step paintings of clouds are especially helpful. Lots of good stuff here!

I found the book helpful for explaining some things about understanding how to simplify a subject and conceptualize a landscape painting. The illustrations are often black and white, so I gave 4 stars, and it was definitely years ago, so the wording can be quaint. But on the whole I gained some insight and some new ways of thinking about organizing a painting, so it was a worthwhile read.

I am a huge fan of Suzanne Brooker. She is probably one of the most generous authors in painting out there. I own all of her books. I will keep buying them if she keeps writing them. I think that the most interesting aspect of her books for me is the use of color theory that is woven throughout. The use of underpainting in particular. She has also included painters that I have been totally unaware of. These are people that aren’t a part of the New York scene where I lived for thirty years. But, wow, are they interesting. Her books are well worth investing in.

Many artists limit their selection of paintings in their books to their own works. This book, in contrast, includes the artist's own works (particularly when she is showing, step by step, how she goes about painting), but also works from many other magnificent landscape artists. (In fact, this book first came to my attention because the cover features a work by Renato Muccillo). The paintings are very well selected to illustrate particular points she's making. I love that the instruction in this book encompasses both the big picture and the nitty gritty (such as brush techniques). While many art books are geared to beginners, this is an excellent art book that I believe has a lot to offer even for advanced painters. I consider myself intermediate, and it's perfect for me.

Muy claros los conceptos. Excelentes ejemplos.

This wasn't as good for a beginner as it was advertised. For someone who already knows how to paint it's probably great.