Product Description

The practical exercises in this book demonstrate how to see colour and observe light with accuracy. Together they provide a complete painting programme.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #266626 in Books
• Published on: 1994-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Customer Reviews

Great instruction for the impressionistic painter
Griffel's book has opened up a new world of painting for me. Returning from a trip to Paris I was inspired by the works of the great French impressionists and wanted to learn the basics of their style of painting. This book is a two part course in painting - the first section covers basic color theory and the second walks you through step-by-step excersises to learn to apply the techniques. My landscapes have taken on a whole new look and I'm looking forward to a workshop with Griffel in the coming year.

Formulaic, but much useful stuff for many artists, not just Impressionists
This book pushes the particular painting method taught at The Cape Cod School Of Art, with an almost religious zeal.

I had mixed feelings reading the book. Lois initially struck me as narrow-minded - "Artists paint because they want to share their love of nature" - but by the end of the book she had engaged me enough to think of her as over-enthusiastic instead.

There are plenty of nuggets of information in the book that many artists can apply to their own work, outside the framework in which they are presented. For instance, the idea that a shadow half-tone can be represented by a distinct intense colour, rather than by blending the dark and light parts, excited me. Such ideas are applicable to almost all types of art, for instance to Pop Art and to computer-created art.

Lois presents a very clear series of exercises to illustrate The Method. She also includes many examples of paintings that use this method, so I feel that I got a good idea of what it is intended to achieve, and how to achieve it if I so wanted.

The book concludes with the sentence "If this book has excited your interest in colour and light, then I have succeeded". For me, she succeeded. But I can't help feeling that she would disapprove of what I did with it.

painting impressionist landscapes
I have both of Kevin Mcpherson's books which I can strongly recommend but this one I am not so sure.Lois Griffel's paintings are very colourful and some are really beautiful,but I doubt a beginner would find it easy to follow.Lois uses around 20 colours which is a large number to have on your palette especially for the beginner.I think this book is more about "seeing" than actual technique.