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| 60 Minutes to Better Painting: Sharpen Your Skills in Oil and Acrylic | 
 enlarge | Authors: Craig Nelson, Nelson Craig
Publisher: North Light Books
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $4.50
You Save: $25.49 (85%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 50647
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 9.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 1581801963
Dewey Decimal Number: 751.426
UPC: 035313319693
EAN: 9781581801965
ASIN: 1581801963
Publication Date: November 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Concentrating on quick studies allows painters to get to the essence of painting. This proven method focuses on the gist of the subject and the ability to make fast decisions, rather than the minute details that seem to mire some artists and prevent them from improving. Based on more than 10 years of quick studies classes the author has taught to students of all mediums and abilities, this guide features lots of examples, step-by-step demonstrations and engaging exercises that will have readers diving right in. After a brief explanation of how and why this painting approach works, readers will explore nine distinctive areas where quick studies will improve their painting, including: -Editing and Brush Confidence -Color and Composition Exploration -Lighting effects -Capturing new subjects -Basic practice and recreation
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 somewhat helpful June 4, 2008
I thought this book to be somewhat helpful but really didn't learn anything profoundly new. I loved a few of the paintings but overall other than reinforcing the theme of painting everyday it didn't excite me. It's an alright beginner's or entrance level intermediate artist's manual but there are better oil painting books for beginner's or the advanced intermediate artist such as Bill Creevy's book, Vicki McMurty's or Kevin MacPherson's. I found them to be more beneficial and cover more artistic ground in the areas of color theory and painting structure.
 Fast Food Art November 9, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Fast Food Art
There is something disturbing to me about the premise of this book. The whole idea that a painting is under a time limit seems counter to all that is art. Whether a painting took 5 minutes, 15 minutes or an hour seems totally irrelevant to me. Even in trying to achieve a spontaneous quality in a painting, a much better painter than the author once said: "a painting should look loose but not be painted loosely". This is a bit of advice I believe the author of this book could benefit from.
To be fair this painting book could be a good way for a beginning painter to loose the fear of paint as has been previously stated. However in trying to rush a painting in just a few minutes, its not too far within the realm of possibilities to imagine that a beginning artist might be so discouraged from his or hers hurried results, that they may quit painting altogether.
As far as the examples of painting in the book itself, the results are inconsistent. Some were good but some were very weak. What do I mean by weak? I am referring to bad drawing, bad color harmony and bad values and edge control. I would site pages 37, 62, 63, 88 as examples of some of the weaker paintings. The author does display good skill in some of the quick studies but I get the feeling he does not know when his painting is good or when his painting is bad. He simply accepts every painting he completes as good. One of the factors that determines a great artist is an artist's taste; being able to determine what is a good painting and what is a bad painting. In addition his paintings are devoid of emotion, and isn't emotion perhaps the most important factor in art? If he took more time in his drawing, values and edges as well as his intent, the results would be better. How much time? As much as the artist feels he needs to do the job right. The painting would still have the spontaneous quality the artist is trying to achieve but look better and nobody would care if it took 5 minutes or an 5 hours. Just that it was a good painting.
Collectors of art are certainly not concerned with how much time it took an artist to complete a painting. If anything, a collector will be discouraged to hear that the painting they purchased was completed in one or two hours. They want to hear that the artist spent countless hours on their craft. They want to feel that the artist poured their heart and soul into the painting, not that they "churned" out the painting in one hour and slapped a frame on it. Producing dozens or even hundreds of paintings within a short time can only result in something trivial, nothing that has any real substance.
So in conclusion I've coined the words "fast food" to describe the approach this book takes. Like fast food, the resulting painting may at first seem good but over time it will only leave a bad taste in your mouth.
 Great Method to Paint January 8, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is great book to sharpen your skills as a painter. I feel it's better suited for intermediate to profesional artists. The theory behind quickstudies is to make you decide what is or not important in a painting in a limited time span. To be honest, it took a lot of timed paintings to get used to the speed of a quickstudy. It definitely has helped loosen me up and not paint too tight from the getgo.
Very Inspiring June 9, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Craig Nelson is right: "studies" are essential to learn painting and evolve into a good painter. It helps to get to the essence of your subject. I do not know any good painter who did not spend years painting before becoming really good.
This book does not have the perfect title but is excellent in content. The 60 minutes are what it takes to be in tune with what you are painting and finding ways to improve your artwork.
Each lesson presents a different challenge, and also leads you to explore a full spectrum of techniques. Perfect book to get you started on the "right brush"...and get you really in awe of the whole process.
60 Years to better paining. February 12, 2005
4 out of 14 found this review helpful
Yeah, right... I read this book and was completely overwhelmed. The author thinks I can do a painting like this in 60 seconds?
I don't think so. Thanks for trying. I would sell this book in a heartbeat...but my husband likes it... so on the shelf with other " How to books" ... It remains.
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