Painting: Acrylic Basics

Painting: Acrylic Basics is a tutorial guide to acrylic technique. Anticipated release 7th May 2019 from Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 40 pages and will be available in paperback format. This is one of a series of technical painting and drawing manuals from Foster which cover specific media, graphite, acrylic, watercolor, etc.

The introduction covers materials, some very basic color theory, and leads into the first of five tutorial projects. These cover technical subjects such as tonal (monochromatic) painting, underpainting, nature, mood, etc.

These are simple booklets, but absolutely packed full of information. The lessons and tutorials are clearly and well illustrated in the lessons and are not too advanced for a keen beginner to incorporate into their own works. They're information dense and classic.

Four stars.

Painting: Acrylic Basics maybe a small book, but it is packed full of information and techniques. A wonderful book that artists should buy.

A perfect step by step guide to the art of acrylic painting. From the equipment, process and tricks of the trade this contains everything you need to use acrylics effectively.

Painting: Acrylic Basics by Janice Robertson is everything that it advertised itself to be. All of the basics that I would expect were included in here, and then some. What really made this guide stand out was Janice Robertson's writing and art styles.
Robertson covers everything from tools and materials, color basics, different painting styles and techniques, and moods. The guide is extremely detailed and useful, while not being overwhelming. Robertson's writing style keeps things clear, so it's never confusing when she moves on to a new technique.
Personally, what I really enjoyed about this was her art style. A lot of guides will cover the same how to's again and again. Robertson took a different direction, teaching on completed works that were both unique and interesting. It was a refreshing change of pace.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of Janice Robertson comes out with more guides, as I really enjoyed the way she described everything.

I would love to be able to paint and upon reading this book, has made me even more determined. Plenty of information, the colour basics, styles and techniques. Seems that everything is covered in this book and am sure it will be useful for anyone interested in acrylic painting.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers. This is my honest review, freely given.

This book covers a small area of techniques to achieve different effects with the use of acrylic paints. Firstly there is the use of monochrome painting and how to achieve a cohesive painting with depth. This is followed by underpainting, using artistic license, capturing nature and moods. All chapters explains and build on the techniques on the use of acrylic with tips on additive, brushstrokes and the application of colour.
I like this book, it doesn't overwhelm with trying to do too much, but at the same time gives a good grounding for acrylic painting.

4 Stars!! This is a really informative book! I’m new to acrylic painting & I found this book to be pretty helpful!! It has pretty much everything you need to know to get started! I never knew how much went into acrylic painting! It’s not as easy as it seems. I tried bits of the 5 painting projects in the book but I couldn’t really get it! I did feel like this books instructions and tips made painting feel more difficult than it should be. Monochromatic painting, underpainting & artistic license? What!? I just want to know how to paint a pretty picture! I’m so confused!! If you’re just looking to learn so you can mess around for fun, this book might be too much for you. If you are really wanting to be an artist, this might be a good place to start.
*I received this book to read and review at no charge from the publisher and I gave my honest opinion.*

I feel like the author knew what she wanted to do with this book, I just don't know if she knows she missed the mark. Anything that says "Basics" in a title, particularly when it's an art book, should do a little more step-by-step work. The color information and materials information was all super useful, but the rest of the book is aimed more toward advanced beginners and on up.

This book will be great for anyone looking to practice acrylic paintings with specific step-by-step projects. There are 5 projects with clear instructions and detailed images, conveying different principles and with useful tips. A good guide to get anyone started and the concepts can be expanded beyond the specific projects,

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm grateful to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for releasing to me an advanced digital copy. This review is given voluntarily.

This is an excellent resource for beginners, intermediates, or experienced painters of other mediums to brush up (har har) on the skills specific to acrylic painting. The author thoroughly and succinctly explains some of the key principles of color theory and value. I appreciated the explanations about necessary materials, so much that I'm filling my Amazon basket after I write this review.

The tutorial portions of the book are well structured and help beginners and intermediates understand more deeply about how their choices with their paintbrush and palette effect the final product.

This is a well-thought-out tutorial that delivers on its promises. I look forward to reading it again with brush in hand.

I specifically selected this book via Netgalley as I am quite interested to give painting with acrylics a try. I thought the book was extremely well laid out with easy to follow instructions/tips on how to get started and what materials/tools you need. I thought the book was beautifully laid out as well and have decided that I need to own this book in hardcopy and not just try to follow it with an e-edition. The E-edition is fine, but I think as a beginner that I want to own the book and be able to study the pages with the vibrant colors, tips and instructions. I'm honestly itching to carve out time to sit down with a canvas and follow the book to see if I can do better than I have in the past when I have just been muddling through and dabbing colors to attempt to create a masterpiece! While I personally will most likely never excel as an artist, I think in the right hands this book could definitely give a beginner the right boost to become quite proficient and move on to more difficult projects. In the meantime, the book is on my "must buy" list and I look forward to seeing if I can recreate some of the ideas the book gave me.

As with any painting book, the author begins with an explanation of supplies and color theory. I found this information to be typical of what other artists provide. I liked that this section was brief.

The monochromatic paint is what set this painting book apart from others that I have read. The monochromatic style is different from the way I typically paint. However, it was fun to try something new and many of the principals apply to any style.

Janice typically starts a painting by thinning a color and covering the whole canvas. After it is dry she uses chalk to outline the subject. I could not find an explanation for her choice of a base color. It made sense when blue was used to underpin a water scene. But I didn’t understand using quinacridone nickel ago gold (red/orange) for a landscape with rocks, dark trees, and blue sky.

I liked that the color formulas were provided in the step by step instructions. However, when she used obscure colors like quinacridone nickel ago gold, it was not as helpful.

I received this galley from NetGalley.