Oil Painting Secrets from a Master

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - Not for Beginners though
Review: I am always skeptical of books which are meant to teach you to paint. I myself am an artist and I've learned the only way to paint is to do it and do it often. But his book is excellent because it helps you learn to "see" things you might otherwise miss. It is not for beginners but for those with some painting experience. This is one of the only books on painting I would recommend, besides perhaps, Gregg Kreutz's Problem Solving for Oil Painting, another excellent book, very similar to this one. Coincidently, Leffle [sic?], whose paintings are the ones featured in this book, was a teacher of Kreutz at the Art Students League of New York.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - Not for Beginners though
Review: I am always skeptical of books which are meant to teach you to paint. I myself am an artist and I've learned the only way to paint is to do it and do it often. But his book is excellent because it helps you learn to "see" things you might otherwise miss. It is not for beginners but for those with some painting experience. This is one of the only books on painting I would recommend, besides perhaps, Gregg Kreutz's Problem Solving for Oil Painting, another excellent book, very similar to this one. Coincidently, Leffle [sic?], whose paintings are the ones featured in this book, was a teacher of Kreutz at the Art Students League of New York.

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. The quality of the paintings that are reproduced in this book are so poor. I have an entire library of painting books, and I have never seen one that is such poor quality. Part of the way that I learn from a painting book is by examining the artwork after reading the copy. As with many artists, I tend to learn much better visually then from straight text. If you learn that way as well, then this is not the book for you. I can't even begin to describe how poor these reproductions look. They are blurry with poor color and very distant. What a shame. This appears to be a great artist, and I can't understand how he could have allowed such a poor quality book such as this to represent his work. I was also disappointed by the way that the book frequently will refer to a painting that the artist critiqued in a class, but then never show the painting. I am such a visual learner, that this did not work for me. I think that this book is best for artists that can learn easily from text and are not bothered by the lack of quality visual aids.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent overview of oil painting by a master
Review: I would rate this book right up there with Gregg Kreutz' book on realistic oil painting for advanced/intermediate students. It is based on notes taken by the author at a class taught by David Leffel at Art Student's League. The book is illustrated by Leffel's paintings with no intrusion by the author.

Rating:
Summary: My secrets of how to read "Oil painting secrets from a maste
Review: OK, so the title of this review got cut off. It should read: "My secrets of how to read 'Oil painting secrets from a master.'"

Anyway, how in the world that a book could get excellent reviews in some comments, yet was claimed to be a disappointment in others? Here is the truth, as I see it.

THIS IS A BOOK ON OIL PAINTING TO OWN; and I say this based on my experience reading a considerable number of art books (see my "about you area" for your info), as well as my own oil painting experience.

To keep it as short as possible, the following are facts and my opinions.

1) The artist: David A. Leffel is a realist artist, his style will certainly reminds the readers of Rembrandt's, you know, "the Old Master".

2) To oil painting beginners: This book is NOT meant for beginners. Instead of giving this book a poor review, readers may be better of keeping it for future reference, when their painting skills up to par.

3) To others: This is what are covered in the book in extended bullet point format:
- Artistic thinking: on seeing, the concept
- Painting process: materials, brushstroke techniques, chiaroscuro (light/dark), massing, painting procedures, planes
- Basic advice: light and shadow, values, edges, color, painting still lifes, painting portraits, painting backgrounds
- General observations: comments on painting, attitudes that can hold you back.
For the demos, close-ups (from final painting) are shown to express points in case.

Here are my additional view:
- Mr. Leffel is one of the great names in contemporary American art (read my other reviews should you wonder what other great names may be). His open-minded and humble attitude towards painting and the learning process is very easy to connect, in my opinion, to individuals who love painting for the love of it. These individuals include those who go through painstaking efforts to ever improve their skills.

- This book is very enjoyable and profound. Advice and "secrets" (for those who love "shortcuts", or as I see them, "how an experienced, professional artist would do it - there are NO secrets, THEY ARE JUST GOOD SOLUTIONS THAT FIT YOUR STYLES AND SKILLS) like those in this book are valuable tricks of the trade.

My hat off to the artist (although I rarely wear one), and above all, let's get one thing straight: this book is a FIVE-STAR!

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

Rating:
Summary: A Dissenting Review
Review: The previous reviewers have been so glowing in their evaluations of this book that I feel compelled to dissent. I returned my copy after a few days because it fell way short of my expectations. I was first struck by the very poor quality of the reproducions: many are blurry to the point of distraction. And despite the opinion of one reviewer, I would caution a beginner to stay away from this book. Rather than an instructional, it is a series of notes culled from classes given by "the master", and it reads that way. Admittedly, much of the information contained in this book is valuable. But it is much more a collection of bon mots on oil painting than a systemmatic guide. If you are expecting that, you may enjoy it as much as some of the other reviewers. (Just don't expect great reproductions).

Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: This book focusses intially on the process of thinking that should be adopted while painting and during composition, which is quite helpful. The rest of the book are filled with tips on brushstroke, color, chiaroscuro, etc which are also occasionally educational. However, the tips are sometimes confusing and not very clearly articulated. The drawback of the book is that the quality of the prints are nor esp good and the tips, though sometimes helpful, are neither thorough nor are they put down in a very orderly manner. Some of the tips do not focus on the "why" of the same, but just that they should be adopted. If a person is looking for an in-depth technique book, this is not it. Intermediate painters, rather than beginners, would find this book to be of some help. But neither does this book contain any great inputs for artists who have already attained some degee of expertise.

Rating:
Summary: A very inspirational "how-to begin" guide to oil painting
Review: This book is highly recommended for someone who has never had a painting instructor or been part of a painting class. Like "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" it is as much about how to SEE as how to paint. The tips and techniques are applicable even if your painting style differs greatly from the featured artist.

Rating:
Summary: I love this book
Review: This book should have been titled "My Method Of Painting". David Leffel is famous american painter who makes no secret of his admiration for Rembrandt and Chardin. His thoughts, hints and pieces of advice collected here are helpful and valuable, particulary to those beginners and intermediate painters who want to paint in the manner of Van Rijn. Or Leffel.
If one prefer style of some other great painter - say Titian, Vermeer, Bouguerau..., he might be somewhat dissapointed.
I admit that I expected elaborate account on the basics of the painting technique: recipes for mediums, ground and varnishes, the way the pigments behave in mixtures, how to achieve certain effects, what is recommendable and what should be avoided in painting - that sort of thing.
For the truth sake, it should be emphasized that due to the fact that this book was not written by Mr. Leffel himself, no wonder it isn't as systematic and comprehensive as one might expect from such a prominent painter.
Yet, what may confound an aspiring artist even more are contradictory pieces of advice like this:
"Make your light strong so the viewer doesn't look at the shadow" vs. "Make the shadow on your objects more vivid"
Or:
"To make something look darker, make the light next to it look lighter" vs. "If something looks dark and you want to lighten it, see how much light you can put in an adjacent area."
(Of course, these quotations were not culled from the same page)
In addition, most of the reproductions here are out of focus. In a painting technique book, high quality illustrations are essential. Whoever photographed Mr. Leffel's paintings should have visited ophtalmologist first.
In a nutshell - by purchasing this book an art student can't go wrong, but there are better ones; for instance Vernon Blake's "Creative Color For The Oil Painter".

Rating:
Summary: Notes On Oil Painting Techniques
Review: While I highly recommend this book it is not a text so much as a compilation of notes. In many ways, it is like reading the written comments of a talented painting instructor compiled and organized into chapters. Thus, there are some gaps and apparent contradictions just as you might expect in any compilation of the oral comments of an instructor simply expressing his views as he lectures and critiques students.