Hawthorne on Painting

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: Easily the best book ever written on how to approach painting from life

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: Easily the best book ever written on painting from life. In addition to Hawthorne's excellent commentary on painting, the book contains comments that he made on his students' paintings. These works are not shown (only briefly described) but the notes offer tremendous insight into his teaching philosophy about the importance of color relationships in paintings. No other book I've ever read is as juicy as this one with pure painting common sense. An absolute must for a painter's library. In fact, order a dozen and give them to your artist-friends or students.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: Easily the best book ever written on painting from life. In addition to Hawthorne's excellent commentary on painting, the book contains comments that he made on his students' paintings. These works are not shown (only briefly described) but the notes offer tremendous insight into his teaching philosophy about the importance of color relationships in paintings. No other book I've ever read is as juicy as this one with pure painting common sense. An absolute must for a painter's library. In fact, order a dozen and give them to your artist-friends or students.

Rating:
Summary: Cape Cod Impressionism
Review: Having purchased Louis Griffel's "Painting the Impressionist Landscape," which illustrates Hawthorne's way of "seeing things", I was delighted to find this little gem which compiled Hawthorne's comments on painting. This small volume is packed full of wisdom. One can imagine sitting with Hawthorne as he describes the various paintings, their good and bad points. There are no illustrations in "Hawthorne on Painting" but Griffel's book provides ample opportunity to see what he was saying. The two together provide a wonderful look into Cape Cod Impressionism. Hawthorne models with paint instead of drawing with it on the canvas. Form is achieved through proper color value placed side by side. The book is truly inspiring for any painter.

Rating:
Summary: Cape Cod Impressionism
Review: Having purchased Louis Griffel's "Painting the Impressionist Landscape," which illustrates Hawthorne's way of "seeing things", I was delighted to find this little gem which compiled Hawthorne's comments on painting. This small volume is packed full of wisdom. One can imagine sitting with Hawthorne as he describes the various paintings, their good and bad points. There are no illustrations in "Hawthorne on Painting" but Griffel's book provides ample opportunity to see what he was saying. The two together provide a wonderful look into Cape Cod Impressionism. Hawthorne models with paint instead of drawing with it on the canvas. Form is achieved through proper color value placed side by side. The book is truly inspiring for any painter.

Rating:
Summary: Short & Sweet, tons of stuff to think about
Review: I read the entire book in one sitting and was amazed at the content. I can only imagine what it would have been like to study with Hawthorne. This book has Hawthornes narratives as well as his critiques. I wish they had included pictures of the works being critiqued, that would be so much more useful. but as it stands it's still a great book. It's something you can read over and over. I was suprised how much of his advice applies to life in general, not necessarily painting.

Rating:
Summary: Short & Sweet, tons of stuff to think about
Review: I read the entire book in one sitting and was amazed at the content. I can only imagine what it would have been like to study with Hawthorne. This book has Hawthornes narratives as well as his critiques. I wish they had included pictures of the works being critiqued, that would be so much more useful. but as it stands it's still a great book. It's something you can read over and over. I was suprised how much of his advice applies to life in general, not necessarily painting.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This is a book you just read bits of. It is good with great techniques. It just makes me want to take a class and have a teacher like this. I want more than to just read it, I want to be that student he leans over the shoulder to teach. So, you just have to visualize a bit.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This is a book you just read bits of. It is good with great techniques. It just makes me want to take a class and have a teacher like this. I want more than to just read it, I want to be that student he leans over the shoulder to teach. So, you just have to visualize a bit.

Rating:
Summary: Like having the most fabulous instructor right with you!
Review: This is a collection of notes from students of Charles W. Hawthorne, instructor at the Cape Cod School of Art. The Introduction alone is worth the price! Statements like "Beauty in art is the delicious notes of color one against the other" are strewn throughout. Mr. Hawthorne clearly wanted to teach his students to see more beautifully, to know that subconscious thought counts and that the only way to learn to paint is by painting. He critiques the students' work on subjects of an outdoor model, landscapes, still life, indoor model and watercolors. Although there are no pictures in this book, as an artist, it is not difficult to picture from his description what the student's work looked like. I learned so much from this book. My issue is thoroughly marked up with my own notes. This will surely be one worn-out book by the time I'm through with it! A very useful book, I read it into my tape recorder so I could listen to the wisdom on my way to paint on site. This has become a "bible" for me as a plein air painter.