American Artist Guide to Painting Techniques

American Artist Guide to Painting Techniques is one of the most thorough and complete painting techniques guides available. With such valuable and timeless content, this book is the must-have manual for all painters from the complete novice to the most seasoned of experts.

An easy-to-navigate resource, this book provides clear instruction, new painting ideas, and time-honored methods with encyclopedic detail for any artist picking up a brush. Inside you'll find 45 painting techniques from oil frottage to wax resists with specific details for using each of the techniques with oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastels. As a bonus, you'll also discover how to apply these techniques to subjects of particular difficulty such as animals, seascapes, faces, and more! Beginning painters will love the seemingly endless painting possibilities and helpful hints, while the more experienced painters will enjoy having such a thorough reference material that is reliable and easy-to-navigate.

An invaluable resource, American Artist Guide to Painting Techniques is a guidebook that any painter would love to own.

Table of Contents

Foreword          
Preparing to Paint      
Stretching canvas
Stretching caper
Home-made canvas boards
Priming and staining
Texturing
Making a Start
Alla prima
Building up: oil and acrylic
Building up: pastel
Color mixing
Surface mixing
Blending
Flat and graded washes
Variegated wash
Highlighting
Underdrawing
Corrections
Ways of Working
Brushwork
Impasto
Knife painting
Wet-in-wet
Wet-on-dry
Lifting out
Glazing
Scraping on
Sponge painting
Finger painting
Colored grounds
Broken color
Special Techniques
Splattering
Salt spatter
Wax resist
Gum arabic
Blown blots
Impressing and imprinting
Line and wash
Wet brushing pastel
Sgraffito
Backruns
Masking
Masking fluid
Wash-off
Themes
Animals
Buildings
Landscapes
Portraits
Skies and clouds
Still life
Water
Weather effects
Index
Acknowledgments