Inventing the Landscape: From Plein Air Study to Studio Painting

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for any landscape painter
Review: I am a Virginia landscape painter and have kept this book close at hand in my studio for many years. While I do not paint like Richard, I nonetheless pull this book out out several times a month, for inspiration or information or just to look at how he has handled various problems of light and color. As noted in another review, this is not a step-by-step book, but rather a beautiful record of the process of one dedicated painter that will inspire and encourage.

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for any landscape painter
Review: I am a Virginia landscape painter and have kept this book close at hand in my studio for many years. While I do not paint like Richard, I nonetheless pull this book out out several times a month, for inspiration or information or just to look at how he has handled various problems of light and color. As noted in another review, this is not a step-by-step book, but rather a beautiful record of the process of one dedicated painter that will inspire and encourage.

Rating:
Summary: A serious book for serious painters.
Review: This book really isn't for "Sunday painters" or beginners. There's very little on technique and not a single trick for churning out cute landscapes. What it offers is image after image of suberbly crafted landscapes, images worth studying again and again. His handling of values, and the subtle variations of hue, temperature, and intensity within each value shape, are absolutely masterful. Clearly, he practices what he preaches: landscapes which blend artistic invention with an acute observation of what exists in the landscape. There's not a lot of text in this book, but like his landscapes, what he writes is succinct, intelligent, and well worth taking to heart. As I become a better painter, this book offers more valuable instruction, not less.

Rating:
Summary: A serious book for serious painters.
Review: This book really isn't for "Sunday painters" or beginners. There's very little on technique and not a single trick for churning out cute landscapes. What it offers is image after image of suberbly crafted landscapes, images worth studying again and again. His handling of values, and the subtle variations of hue, temperature, and intensity within each value shape, are absolutely masterful. Clearly, he practices what he preaches: landscapes which blend artistic invention with an acute observation of what exists in the landscape. There's not a lot of text in this book, but like his landscapes, what he writes is succinct, intelligent, and well worth taking to heart. As I become a better painter, this book offers more valuable instruction, not less.