Success with Oils

Oil painting has a reputation for being extremely difficult, extraordinarily messy, and an art form fit only for professionals. In Success with Oils, professional painter and instructor Melanie Cambridge quickly dispels that ill-deserved reputation in this instantly accessible, easy-to-follow primer on oil painting, the medium favored by many of art history’s most revered painters. Starting off with the fundamentals, the author demonstrates how to work with oils effectively and shows an array of simple, practical techniques for creating a successful oil painting in just one session. First, she walks readers through the basics like mixing colors, value, composition, and other essential techniques. Next, she details how to paint a variety of vibrant landscapes in oil from sketches and photographs. Chapters are devoted to such specific topics as landscapes, figures, flowers, and even painting on location. Plus, a number of clear, step-by-step illustrations detail exactly how each picture is built up. Beautifully illustrated, richly detailed, and expertly written, Success with Oils is the ideal guide for the artist who has always wanted to try painting with oils but has imagined it to be too difficult. With this indispensable resource, painters will quickly find the confidence and creativity they need to create an oil painting they’ll treasure forever.