Product Details
Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present

Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present
By Virgil Elliott

List Price: $35.00
Price: $23.10 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com

38 new or used available from $21.01

Average customer review:

Product Description

As more and more artists today look to the past, there has been a tremendous resurgence of interest in painting realistically--in creating convincing illusions of three-dimensional depth on two dimensional surfaces. How did the Old Masters create their masterpieces? What kind of education allowed these great artists to create such beautiful work, and how can an artist learn these lessons today? Traditional Oil Painting answers those questions and many more. This comprehensive sourcebook explores the most advanced levels of oil painting, with full information on the latest scientific discoveries. Author and distinguished artist Virgil Elliott examines the many elements that let artists take the next step in their work: mental attitude, aesthetic considerations, the importance of drawing, principles of visual reality, materials, techniques, portraiture, photographic images versus visual reality, and color. Traditional Oil Painting helps artists master the secrets of realistic painting to create work that will rival that of the masters.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #30751 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-08-07
  • Released on: 2007-08-07
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 224 pages

Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Virgil Elliott is a world-respected painter and writer. He is included in the Art Renewal Center’s Gallery of Living Masters and one of only twenty-four artists worldwide with certification from the American Portrait Society. A Signature Member of the American Society of Portrait Artists and the Society of Western Artists, and the chairman of the ASTM International Task Group on Artists’ Pastels, he lives in Pennegrove, California.

Customer Reviews

must have book5
I can't say enough good things about this book. It goes into great detail about so many important things. This book should be in every artists library.

Mediocre work2
My impression is based on looking at the pictures on the author's web site. They are wooden and uninspired. He is technically adept in some respects, but altogether is work is not better than that of many art school students. Technique does not make a picture speak. Why even bother with the book?

Excellent Reference Book5
This is not a "how-to" book; it is an excellent reference book to keep within reach when you are working. The older books are so obscure, so difficult to try to understand (I am thinking of the Doerner book in particular) and based on speculation about the techniques and materials used by the masters of the past. Mr. Elliott has kept abreast of discoveries by conservators in the major museums using the most up to date, sophisticated technology; as well as the continuous testing of other experts in various fields (Paint manufacturers) and the ASTM. That is why he can warn about using zinc white; how and when to use the umbers; how to organize your pigments and use them according to their innate characteristics; the safe support to use for your painting; why some paintings from the '70s are falling off the canvas, etc. Again, it is an invaluable reference tool. I think other reviewers have been thinking of it more in terms of a how-to book, rather than as nuts-and-bolts information to bring to your own artwork.