Expressive Oil Painting

You'll Love This Oil Painting Book If:

• You love painting landscapes & want to learn more
• You want to learn how to work with oil paint like an expert
• You love learning along with professional painter, George Allen Durkee

Express yourself in a new artistic way with the great oil landscape painting techniques found in Expressive Oil Painting by George Allen Durkee. With these basic fundamentals you'll be creating original art in no time. Learn about the artistic process & the types of supplies you'll need with these fun and easy-to-follow demonstrations and lessons. In Expressive Oil Painting you'll also learn about color and composition in nine in-depth landscape painting demonstrations.

Great for beginners and more advanced oil painting artists, you'll discover how to bring greater sensitivity, intuition and authenticity to your work with this oil painting book. As you move along, you'll find a diverse sampling of ideas and approaches for painting landscape elements, capturing mood, simplifying the complexity of nature and more. George Allen Durkee is a great teacher and accomplished artist.

In Expressive Oil Painting You'll Learn:

• How to capture light, depth, movement & your own point of view in an oil landscape
• About the supplies and work habits you'll need to achieve success
• Top landscape painting techniques & tips such as drawing, color and composition

A Word From the Author:

When I paint, brushstrokes rarely look exactly the way I imagine they will, paintings seldom turn out just the way I visualize them, and during the painting process, there is often a period when the work in progress looks nothing like the thing I'm painting. I gave up on many paintings before learning that chaos is simple one of the stages in bringing a painting together. So take a break, then put some more paint on the canvas and keep going.

To arrange time for leaning, you may need to work around commitments that are not negotiable --like your job, school or family. The time left is yours for painting. Claim your time and use it efficiently. Starting can sometimes be the most difficult part of painting. If you paint regularly, a rhythm will develop to your work. Start because painting is what you do. If you are a weekend painter or experience interruptions due to the vicissitudes of life, it may be more difficult to get started. The day before you plan to paint, check your equipment. Make sure you have enough paint, rags, turpentine or mineral spirits and something to paint on. Get everything lines up and ready to go. Meditate on what you want to accomplish the following day. Then, when you wake up in the morning, you'll be ready to begin. --George Allen Durkee

Check Out This Excerpt From Expressive Oil Painting:

What To Paint On:
I prefer Fredix Red Label medium-textured canvas. You can also use 1/8 (3mm) hardboard panels from your local building supply, primed with two coats of acrylic gesso brushed on in opposite directions. Non-absorbent, canvas-textured paper pads make economical experiments, as well.

Mediums and Thinners:
Mediums and thinners are two separate categories of liquids used to adjust the handling qualities of the paint. Thinners like turpentine or mineral spirits that have been mixed with tube paints evaporate quickly without altering the chemical composition of the paint. I use straight turpentine. Mediums, on the other hand, do alter chemical composition because they add oils or varnishes to the paint. However, they may help you achieve some textural qualities more easily than with thinners. Most are safe when used judiciously. You can mix a common medium by combining one part linseed oil, one part damar varnish and two or three parts turpentine or mineral spirits.

Sketch Pad and Pencils:
Your sketching equipment can be simple or elaborate. At a minimum carry a clipboard, a few sheets of computer paper and a 4B drawing pencil.

What Other Artists Are Saying:

"I can honestly say that I have learned more in the first reading of this book than from all the workshops and classes I've taken combined. I've waited a long time to find a book like this one. It is simple and easy to understand. it is a beautifuly structured book with no wasted motion. Every word and every picture and diagram is on point. Durkee has taken the complexity out of the complex subject of oi painting. Thank you George!" --Frank Richardson

"I like this book a lot. The pictures alone are worth the purchase price. Durkee is a very skilled landscape painter and also a sensitive teacher. When I read his words, I feel as though he's speaking to me alone. He doesn't talk over my head, but explains complex concepts of painting in a way that I can get what he's talking about. Has anyone else ever explained how to actually apply color theory as clearly as this? There is a subtle undertone to the book that goes beyond just describing how to get the right color in the right place; George imparts a deep spiritual message, cleverly and often subliminally teaching how to capture the emotion of the landscape. What more could any painter want? He not only shows what to do and how, he also explains why. This is a worthwhile book. I recommend it for beginning and intermediate painters, and also for more experienced painters who are hungry to learn advanced painting techniques."- S. Armstrong

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