Oil Painting Techniques and Materials

Harold Speed has distilled years of painting and pedagogical experience
into an expert instructional program covering painting technique,
painting from life, materials (paints, varnishes, oils and mediums,
grounds, etc.), a painter's training, and more. Especially instructive
is his extensive and perceptive discussion of form, tone, and color, and
a fascinating series of detailed "Notes" analyzing the painting styles
of Velasquez, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Franz Hals, and Rembrandt.
Nearly
70 photographs and drawings illustrate the text, among them prehistoric
cave paintings, diagrams of tonal values, stages of portrait painting,
and reproductions of masterpieces by Giotto, Vermeer, Ingres, Rembrandt,
Titian, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hals, Giorgione, Poussin, Corot,
Veronese, and other luminaries. In addition to these pictorial
pleasures, the author further leavens the lessons with thought-provoking
opinion.
Clear, cogent, and down-to-earth, this time-honored
handbook will especially interest serious amateurs studying the
technical aspects of oil painting, but its rich insight into the mind
and methods of the artist will enlighten and intrigue any art lover.