"50 More Mini Acrylic Painting Projects" is a practical art book written by Mark Daniel Nelson that offers 50 new acrylic paint projects to help you perfect your skills and expand your portfolio of small jobs.
This book explains a variety of painting techniques, including the creation of complex scenes, variety of brushes, negative space, representation of multiple planes, metal reflections, and the use of color. Each fun project teaches a different technique and adds another piece of art to your own collection of thumbnails.
The projects range from abstract works and simple color mixing exercises, to figurative subjects such as flowers, sunsets, and congested urban scenes.
"50 More Mini Acrylic Painting Projects" is an invaluable resource for artists of different levels, whether beginners or experts. Each project is explained clearly and accurately, with illustrated step-by-step instructions that guide you through every step of the creation process.

"Learn to Paint in Acrylics" by Mark Daniel Nelson is a fantastic resource for budding artists. With a hands-on approach and 50 engaging exercises, Nelson helps readers grasp the fundamentals of acrylic painting. The step-by-step guidance is clear and encouraging, making it accessible for beginners. The inclusion of small paintings allows for manageable practice and gradual skill-building. Whether you're new to acrylics or looking to refine your technique, this book is a valuable addition to any artist's toolkit.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pretty much just like the title says. This is a second volume, and I hadn't read the first, but it was not necessary. The author clears up some frequently asked questions that arose from the first volume. The paintings' subject matter ranges from pretty standard (e.g., flowers) to kinda kitschy (takeout carton). But once you start understanding how to combine colors and make shadows, you can take your knowledge and apply it to your own subject matter.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

REALLY USEFUL - enjoyed the book. Took me a while to figure out how to view it using this system but thought it was insightful and useful.

A fantastic sequel to the first book. Love how the projects are broken down and the loose style of the art. Great for beginners and established artists looking to learn a new style.

Super workbook with many different styles, great for newbies or for anyone wanting to expand their skills.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the book
this is the first time have got an art book and it was really helpful during the hours in quarantine

I’m in love with this book. It went beyond my expectations. First of all, it is super friendly for beginners. What I usually expect from art teaching books is a list of tools and materials with descriptions…and that’s it. However, I got wonderful explanations, examples and images of the different types of brushes, paints and acrylic mediums! (I actually bought one and used it like a top coat but now I know what it is truly meant for).

Specially liked that it explains the different acrylic paint options you might see at the store and suggests what color set to buy as a beginner. That’s the kind of help you need when you are just starting and see tons of colors at the art store and have no idea if you should buy titanium white or zinc white or… oof! it can get overwhelming really fast. Anyway, I appreciate that this book considers the real struggles of a beginner and makes the process more enjoyable and with pictures.

It contains 50 step-by-step tutorials for creating small paintings like the ones you see on the cover, but here’s the catch: you are not just painting random images, each tutorial teaches you a mini art lesson. The best part? you don’t even feel like you are struggling to learn something new.

For example, the first project is a simple red door. It helps you get familiar with your brush and how to apply your paint. Second lesson makes you practice tints and shades (how one single color behaves when you add white or black and how it changes depending on the ratio). Third one is opaque layering, and so on. From basic techniques to art and design principles, by the end of the book you will have 50 gorgeous paintings. The cherry on the top is that each project takes only one spread (2 pages) and it shows you other paintings from the book that can work well together for displaying on your wall as a group.

If you like projects that are fast to complete and look good, this is a great option for you. It’s very satisfying to learn something new and have something fully finished that you can display on your wall right away. I wish more books had this format, it makes learning more enjoyable. It starts with the very basics, but I would also suggest it for intermediate artists to sharpen up or gain new skills and for anyone who wants to relax painting these small projects.

It's interesting that this is the 2nd book because this appears to be a great starter painting book, covering many of the things a person who knows little about painting would want to know with - and each lesson includes a simple painting to follow along with to apply what has been learned. In the beginning of the book, the author talks about student paints vs artist-grade, palettes, and brushes as many art books do-- I really enjoyed this section, which gave very clear reasons and pros/cons on different items -- it was great to see a book that actually works to teach why and how to tell the difference is yourself compared to many art books (which are often extremely specific, sending the budding artist out on a hunt to find the exact materials named by the artist). I would say the only real downside IMO is that the pictures themselves are mostly not all that compelling and the author apparently expects you would like them all well enough to hang upon your wall. The simple paintings at the beginning make sense given what is trying to be taught, and it appears the lessons build upon each other so you should try all the paintings but I think I would try them out on simple paper first.

Super useful and easy for beginners.

Some art books act like you should already know what you are doing, even when they proclaim they are beginner friendly. This one really is.

The paintings are simple. Made with basic shapes. Does painting a stack of pancakes seem obvious to you? An ice cream cone? Probably seem simple if you have not had to paint them from scratch. This tells you how to shade them, how to add in the little details that you maybe wouldn’t think of.

Each project tells you what brushes and paints were used. And if you like the project, it also suggests others in the book that may help you.

Learn to paint in acrylics with fifty small painting challenges to enhance you techniques and guide you along the way to better acrylic expressional painting.

I love the simple concept of learning to create small pieces of art in a short period of time (The author suggests one hour). Chapter 1 is all about Materials, tools and techniques. In chapters 2, 3 and 4 there are fifty projects to choose from. Each project page includes a list of materials, a colour palette list, and six ordered illustrations with instructions to guide you while you produce your picture.
This is an inspiring way to get started with acrylics. Thank you to Mark Daniel Nelson, Net Galley and Quarto Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a complete beginner to painting in acrylics and painting in general, I found that this book was very user friendly and presented in a straightforward manner. The background information to help one get started was easy to follow and explained in such a way that did not seem as if it was going "over my head." I liked how various products, such as student vs professional grade, was compared to provide an overview of various resources.

The paintings had ample background information with very well-laid out steps for each time a new color or technique was built upon the previous step. The steps were very clear and thoroughly explained. I like how there are even suggestions of other paintings to try in the bottom left corner.

Children and adults of all ages will enjoy painting through this book or just skipping to one of personal interest. This is a valuable resource that should belong on every shelf!

Thank you to Mark Daniel Nelson, Quarto Publishing Group, and NetGalley for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fantastic book for beginners hoping to improve on their craft or take it up as a hobby. Each project is broken down into six parts with images to show how the painting is built up and layered upon to give you the outcome. The paintings are small enough to keep you engaged and as they progress the difficulty level increases. I have found that rather than buying the materials immediately I have been sketching a few of the pictures and just shading them with a pencil. I know this does not give me the same outcome as the books but it is a great way to practice. Perfect for beginners.

Mark Daniel Nelson allows everyone to create fun small paintings easily in this book. With more than 50 designs, and tutorials that are detailed yet understandable, there's a project in here for everyone.

One of the best ways to learn to do something is to do it regularly. To create a routine around it. This book is a fantastic way to do that. It has all that you need to know to get started. It explains paint, brushes, surfaces, basic color theory and design principles. And then there are 50 paintings. You could do one a day, one a week, or even one a month. They are each simple and yet look great. I especially loved the chess piece, the wrapped candy, and the pretzel. These are simple and fun and great way to start your journey into acrylic.

with gratitude to netgalley and Quarry Books for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Learn to Paint in Acrylics with 50 More Small Paintings is a new tutorial and style guide for portfolio and skill building in acrylic painting. Due out 9th June 2020 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is the second book by the author with a similar format. A gallery table of contents contains a thumbnail of each of the tutorial paintings with page numbers. The following chapters progress thematically: a chapter on materials, tools, and supplies is followed directly by the tutorials. Each of them includes some technique or lesson on applying paint, using materials, preparing ground, painting different surfaces, reflections, color contrast, intricate details and more.

Each of the individual tutorials contains a materials list in a bullet point sidebar, a short introduction and information on the lesson takeaway, and detailed step by step process photos. The photos are very well rendered and clear. Many of the photos show the position of the brush and hands for clarity.

The author has also included an abbreviated glossary and index as well as some online supplies links. Worth noting, the tutorials in the book utilize a palette which includes only the standard "basic 8" colors.

This is a worthwhile skill (and portfolio) building guide full of tutorials with accessible digestible short projects. Five stars. This would make a superlative choice for all ages, especially bundled with the basic supplies.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A good book to learn acrylic painting skills. There are ideas such as technique, shadow, colours, etc for painting 50 small canvases.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC

Good, fun and easy way to learn about acrylic painting on a small scale. Firstly the book starts with an overview of painting, especially with acrylics, covering color equipment and others. Next is the projects and learning aspects of these 50 small paintings - putting on paint, light and shadow and interpretive approach. Each technique is shown on one page with other practice designs in similar style depicted. Each painting teaches a new effect with acrylics.
A fun book .

Wow, I think it's a perfect book for beginners in acrylic painting! There is everything you might need to start, basic materials, principles, minimal color theory and so many mini tutorials (2 pages each, with material and color list, related exercises, easy steps, illustrated as needed). The paintings are tiny (5x5 inch), surely not intimidating, every tutorial makes you learn something new about techniques, from the very first lesson on how applicate the paint to gradually more complex tasks, so while executing them you actually learn to paint, at least the essential know-how. No more procastination, lack of ideas or self confidence, fear of the white canvas, etc., you'll enjoy the journey. I appreciated also the clean and joyful layout.