Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice Hardcover – November 17, 2009

One of the best books on painting. Not just landscape painting, although that is all this book is about. You can tell this is a book written by an educator with 20+ years of experience, he is able to distill fairly complex ideas into understandable concepts. Chapter One sets the tone for the book. Simplification of Massing. Selection and Composition. Light and Color. This chapter gives a brief overview of where he is going. For those of you who are intermediate to advanced painters, you will find yourself alternately confirming long held unspoken thoughts and finding practical solutions to the unique problems presented by painting the landscape subject. For beginners, this is a book you will read many times and continue to gain insight as you gain experience. For painting is, in essence, an experiential process that needs an anchor of clear thought. This book is not only a how to (step one, step two, etc.) but a why do. How to books are easy to write as an artist, just photograph your work as you produce it. The why is much harder to write. For one thing it requires a lot more literary effort. ie. you need to have read a fair amount. There is no question that he he has been influenced by Carlson, Payne, etc. The book is filled with quotes from Hofmann, Monet, Maisel,...great example: "All color is no color"-Kenneth Clark. That is a perfect example of how this book is written for the intermediate to advanced painter. There is no way that would have made any sense to me as a beginner. It is only understanding composition and how color can be manipulated to move others through a painting. Know the importance of graying colors with complements to accentuate other colors. And the primary importance of value over color. (It took me ten years to learn that!!) You get the idea. Physically the book is beautiful. In an act of humility, his examples in the book are mostly from 36 other artist, many of whom are new to me. (I look forward to finding out more about some of these artist.) We see Chatham and Shils, a couple of modern day masters as well as Payne and Pinkham. Fantastic selection. We also get a nice selection of Mitchell's paintings, which are wonderful. The reproductions are top notch. This book is physically quite similar to Classical Painting Atelier by Aristides. Well thought out and well presented. It has been quite a while since I have seen such a book full of so much. Maybe Richard Schmid's was the last I found of such strong material.Addendum: It has been mentioned that this is a book for beginners. That being the case, if one were to understand and implement successful all that is in this book, you would be well beyond a beginner.

It's not very often that I come across a book on painting which is both well written and well illustrated. Most painters aren't writers, which isn't surprising but whch makes their prose about the art of painting wooden and awkward. Not so with Mitchell Albala's book, Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice He writes fluidly and interestingly about the techniques of painting, and while his focus is on oils and acrylics, there is still much in his book for a watercolorist like me.The book is a valuable addition to your art book library, whether you are just starting out or have been painting for years. Albala understands his craft and has thought his way through his presentation. His chapters flow smoothly from one to the next, if you are following his train of thought, or you can pull individual chapters out for a quick refresher, on say, "Simplification and Massing" (Chapter 5) where he looks at the key concept of composition, and how to simplify your work to make it stronger, or "Light and Color" (Chapter 8) where he focuses on the difference between real light and painter's light, and how painters go about achieving the illusion of real light.The illustration he uses from his own work and the work of many other artists, are fine examples of his points. I am often pulled into his descriptions by the illustrations, as I flip through the book looking for an idea or a way into a particular landscape.Lastly, I really like the sidebars he includes in each chapter, with apt quotations from other artists and focusing text on an artistic element which adds depth and intensity to each chapter's focusing discussion.Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practiceis a keeper.

I read this book in two days over the weekend and could not put it down. I absolutely love it. It’s a must-own for any level landscape artist or anyone just curious about plein air painting. I think I’d even enjoy reading it if I were only curious about painting in general, but as a practicing artist, this book will remain close by as a go-to reference along with Suzanne Brooker’s The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting and Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima II, which I also highly recommend.It’s a pleasure to read and provides thoughtful and timeless information on materials, values, composition, light and color, start-to-finish breakdowns, and so much more.There are a few stand-out paintings featured in the book, John McCormick’s “Western Wind” (p.100), Larry Gray’s ”2:00 at Saco Pass”(p.128), and Robert Marchessault’s “Kumada”(p.177) that literally made my jaw drop. I have rarely fallen into the beauty of printed images like I did with more than a few examples in this book. It is a work of Art in itself, full of so much useful information, exquisitely presented and explained.

I like this book and it covers much of the information I was looking for. I just wish the font was bigger as it’s tiring to read and I’m about to pull out a magnifying glass.

Absolutely love how he explains and describes painting concepts. He uses wonderful examples to back up his descriptions on what makes a good verses great painting. An easy read, however it’s a lot to take in all at once. I’ve enjoyed reading a few chapters and then implementing what I’ve read in my own work, then going back for more. What he says works and I love seeing how it has improved my own work. I’ve been painting for years and it goes to show that you can teach an old dog new tricks. I highly recommend this book.