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Learn to Paint in Acrylics with 50 Small Paintings: Pick up the skills * Put on the paint * Hang up your art
Learn all you need to know about acrylic painting as you create 50 stunning mini paintings. Following an overview of painting fundamentals, illustrated step-by-step instructions accompanied by lessons on specific techniques lead your way.
This unique book is a complete course in acrylic painting , built up from key techniques. As you progress through the sections of the book, the author demonstrates each technique with the creation of a mini painting , measuring 5-inches squared. So by the time you have worked right through to the end, you will have an amazing collection of 50 mini paintings—on board, paper, or canvas—that will be a testament to your skill and creativity.
The subject matter for these squares varies from abstracts and simple color-mixing exercises , through to figurative subjects : a flower, a sunset, a busy street scene—and many more. These can be mounted, exhibited, or simply collected in a portfolio, or given away as gifts for friends to cherish.
If you are coming to acrylics for the first time , or keen to improve your skills and sometimes daunted by the thought of filling a large empty canvas or blank piece of board, this is your ideal guide. Instead, it will free you from creative hang-ups and replace them with an addictive desire to create that next 5-inch square!
This unique book is a complete course in acrylic painting , built up from key techniques. As you progress through the sections of the book, the author demonstrates each technique with the creation of a mini painting , measuring 5-inches squared. So by the time you have worked right through to the end, you will have an amazing collection of 50 mini paintings—on board, paper, or canvas—that will be a testament to your skill and creativity.
The subject matter for these squares varies from abstracts and simple color-mixing exercises , through to figurative subjects : a flower, a sunset, a busy street scene—and many more. These can be mounted, exhibited, or simply collected in a portfolio, or given away as gifts for friends to cherish.
If you are coming to acrylics for the first time , or keen to improve your skills and sometimes daunted by the thought of filling a large empty canvas or blank piece of board, this is your ideal guide. Instead, it will free you from creative hang-ups and replace them with an addictive desire to create that next 5-inch square!
- GenresArtNonfiction
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2015
27 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 20, 2017
I got this book from the library and then opted to purchase it. Even before purchasing, I knew there were problems with this book. The author glosses over a ton of information but leaves a lot of questions, if you are thinking as you read. The first was over the paint "must haves". This is a beginner book. In the introduction, the author lists his must have colors in three variations according to type (student vs artist levels). However, it is not this palette that the painting assignments use. While there are some similarities, if you bought his recommended paints you would have paint you would not use and be missing other paints. Also, there were some paints that were only used once in the assignments.
Realizing that, I listed all the paints used in the paintings and eliminated ones that had a similar hue to another more widely used paint. These are paintings for learning technique so I didn't feel it was necessary to have the exact colors.
Now that I am part way through the paintings, I'm discovering a number of issues. First, the structure of the paintings feel counter-intuitive. Some are quite complicated if you follow the directions exactly when they don't have to be that complicated. I dislike the fact that he asks you to outline in a color that won't be used in the final painting. Using student grade paint makes some of the covering of the outline paint difficult (and I am not investing in artist grade just to play).
The other thing I don't get is that every painting calls for a number 8 round brush. That is a large brush for these paintings - it's difficult and frustrating to get the detail required. I use a number 6 round and find it's too large for some of the work.
If you are a beginning artist, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you have a good mentor to work with. This is far more difficult of a book than a beginner should be using. However, if you want to play with new techniques or have paintings to practice painting, I would recommend this. I know that I am a far more advanced artist than my husband and he quit really early to paint his own paintings and I find that it's really hard to want to continue playing with this book because the instructions leave me frustrated. I often think that if I just look at the finished project and then strive to recreate it instead of doing the step by step project, I'd feel more successful.
Realizing that, I listed all the paints used in the paintings and eliminated ones that had a similar hue to another more widely used paint. These are paintings for learning technique so I didn't feel it was necessary to have the exact colors.
Now that I am part way through the paintings, I'm discovering a number of issues. First, the structure of the paintings feel counter-intuitive. Some are quite complicated if you follow the directions exactly when they don't have to be that complicated. I dislike the fact that he asks you to outline in a color that won't be used in the final painting. Using student grade paint makes some of the covering of the outline paint difficult (and I am not investing in artist grade just to play).
The other thing I don't get is that every painting calls for a number 8 round brush. That is a large brush for these paintings - it's difficult and frustrating to get the detail required. I use a number 6 round and find it's too large for some of the work.
If you are a beginning artist, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you have a good mentor to work with. This is far more difficult of a book than a beginner should be using. However, if you want to play with new techniques or have paintings to practice painting, I would recommend this. I know that I am a far more advanced artist than my husband and he quit really early to paint his own paintings and I find that it's really hard to want to continue playing with this book because the instructions leave me frustrated. I often think that if I just look at the finished project and then strive to recreate it instead of doing the step by step project, I'd feel more successful.
November 8, 2017
Both educational and practical. I'm a big proponent of study, practice, repeat for mastering a skill. Learn to Paint is a fine example of that principle. Each of the 50 projects covers some technical aspect of painting (values, reflections, shadows) or some stylistic aspect (Rothko abstracts, impressionistic, portraits). If you put in the effort, you'll end up with 50 small paintings and increased knowledge of the craft. It's good for both the "artistic minded" who want to improve their skills, and the "craft minded" who just want 50 paintings to hang in their house.
Particular attention was paid to keeping costs low. Nelson even discusses the benefits of cheaper vs. more expensive paints. Hobbies can quickly become expensive, but you can probably spend less than $100 here if you get the least-expensive materials (canvas boards and student paints). It's also not a huge time investment - each painting takes about 30-60 minutes. If you make a daily habit of it, you can have 50 paintings in two months or less (tip: use a fan or a blow dryer to speed up drying paint).
5x5 canvases are strangely more expensive than much larger canvases, so don't be afraid to go "off-script." I improvised my painting surfaces - thrift store plaques, wood panels, old canvases I painted over with gesso. If you go with non-square surfaces, you'll need to adjust the composition. Use the rule of thirds and most will come out fine.
Sometimes (but not frequently) the directions were incomplete, so it pays to look closely at the illustrations and fill in any colors that aren't mentioned.
A lot of the subjects are uninspiring (roosters and clothespins and balls of yarn), but they do take on a striking minimalist appeal in the small format. I'm also not a fan of painting the background last, but it does save time and is a good method for translucent student paints.
My only real complaint is that the book was too practical - only the briefest of mentions is given for why you're using a technique, or how to apply it in your own compositions. After creating 50 paintings, the main thing you've learned is how to create those exact 50 paintings. There are two pages on "design principles," but a little more discussion of composition and ways to experiment further would have been welcome.
I recommend Mastering Composition: Techniques and Principles to Dramatically Improve Your Painting (Mastering for lessons on how to create art from your imagination. Pair those together with a book on drawing, and you have a solid foundation for subject (drawing), technique (Learn to Paint), and composition (Mastering Composition) - your own personal art school.
Particular attention was paid to keeping costs low. Nelson even discusses the benefits of cheaper vs. more expensive paints. Hobbies can quickly become expensive, but you can probably spend less than $100 here if you get the least-expensive materials (canvas boards and student paints). It's also not a huge time investment - each painting takes about 30-60 minutes. If you make a daily habit of it, you can have 50 paintings in two months or less (tip: use a fan or a blow dryer to speed up drying paint).
5x5 canvases are strangely more expensive than much larger canvases, so don't be afraid to go "off-script." I improvised my painting surfaces - thrift store plaques, wood panels, old canvases I painted over with gesso. If you go with non-square surfaces, you'll need to adjust the composition. Use the rule of thirds and most will come out fine.
Sometimes (but not frequently) the directions were incomplete, so it pays to look closely at the illustrations and fill in any colors that aren't mentioned.
A lot of the subjects are uninspiring (roosters and clothespins and balls of yarn), but they do take on a striking minimalist appeal in the small format. I'm also not a fan of painting the background last, but it does save time and is a good method for translucent student paints.
My only real complaint is that the book was too practical - only the briefest of mentions is given for why you're using a technique, or how to apply it in your own compositions. After creating 50 paintings, the main thing you've learned is how to create those exact 50 paintings. There are two pages on "design principles," but a little more discussion of composition and ways to experiment further would have been welcome.
I recommend Mastering Composition: Techniques and Principles to Dramatically Improve Your Painting (Mastering for lessons on how to create art from your imagination. Pair those together with a book on drawing, and you have a solid foundation for subject (drawing), technique (Learn to Paint), and composition (Mastering Composition) - your own personal art school.
August 17, 2021
Wow, this one was really fun!! Borrowed it from the library for some painting inspiration and to learn something new and I wasn’t disappointed. I did the balloon dog, the jar, the light bulb, and the toast (everyone thinks that one is funny, I don’t get it but that’s okay). I was too intimidated to do the bucket and apple and the rooster, but maybe I’ll borrow it again and do those sometime. I had fun and was challenged sufficiently, so mission accomplished!
June 27, 2019
This book is by no means perfect, but it's the best guide I've found for beginning painting . I like how each project is consistently five steps long. It is easy to modify some of the instructions to fit a style you are more comfortable with. So far, I've completed 14 projects....they take anywhere from a half hour to ninety minutes to complete including quick set up and clean up. All my projects have looked similar to the sample painting so far and I've been painting every few days!
January 28, 2019
I wanted to see why the author liked working in small artwork pieces vs. larger scale. He is an art teacher and says why in the foreword , while I understand how he got his start in small paintings; I think it would have been cool to see what he does with them and why.
I like how he lays out materials, shows you what size he starts with and I like how he show the different surfaces that you can work on and his preferred size canvas and the acrylic palettes he mixes while he is painting. I like how he has the projects outlined and puts the color palette underneath. i wanted to know more about why the artist chooses to work small and see his finished projects. I have been painting in a smaller format so it was interesting to see. I do not like to follow others work or "art" recipes so I am not likely to use the book for that part if it but you could easily teach a class and have 50 projects for them to turn in- and I like that a lot. I would recommend this book especially if you want a starting picture, the tricks and techniques to make it and have a project or "gift" when you are finished your work.
I like how he lays out materials, shows you what size he starts with and I like how he show the different surfaces that you can work on and his preferred size canvas and the acrylic palettes he mixes while he is painting. I like how he has the projects outlined and puts the color palette underneath. i wanted to know more about why the artist chooses to work small and see his finished projects. I have been painting in a smaller format so it was interesting to see. I do not like to follow others work or "art" recipes so I am not likely to use the book for that part if it but you could easily teach a class and have 50 projects for them to turn in- and I like that a lot. I would recommend this book especially if you want a starting picture, the tricks and techniques to make it and have a project or "gift" when you are finished your work.
October 29, 2024
My friend and I worked our way through this entire book over the last couple of years (except for a handful of paintings we didn't care for). I loved a lot of things about this book: it makes learning to paint feel doable with step by step instructions, the paintings get more difficult as you go and a lot of the paintings were really nice. However, we were often frustrated by the lack of instructions on certain paintings; sometimes he would just skip over steps that he did and we were left wondering what to do. The easiest paintings and the hardest paintings all have the same amount of steps which doesn't really make sense. We were often wishing for a reference photo of what we were painting since doing an interpretation of his interpretation got tricky at times. Overall, I'm glad we found this book and proud that we made it through and learned a lot.
October 17, 2019
I very much like the small format paintings (3 reasons: a) faster b) uniform size, thus convenient to store [e.g. in a photo-album -am just using acrylic canvas w/o hard backing] c) cheap - less canvas, less paint ). I also very much like the practical 5-step instructions (each 'step' is usually, actually, a multi-part instruction) for each sample painting. But, I find that when using the colors from his instructions, mine still don't come out quite the same as his; am not sure if that is due to the printing process distorting his actual colors, or because I just can't mix properly, or because my paints are student grade rather than professional grade. Also, in some steps - for some of the samples - he forgets an instruction or two - so I cross-check the final (5th) image with the image of the step that I'm on, to be sure there's no missing instruction (and execute per the final image). I also find that more often as not, my end painting does not look as nice as his (aside from the slight color disparity). But that's my problem: I've always been frustrated - using other art instruction books or Youtube instructionals - that my own output looks pathetic vs the author/instructor's; but with this book, although (most of) my paintings don't look as nice as his, they aren't too far off, and in a few cases, look almost as good. My intention, after completing the 50th, is to go back and retry some of the earlier ones that need improving; with this book I feel I have a fighting chance.
September 23, 2022
Studied this book hoping I could psyche myself into taking a painting class. I think it made me more nervous. However, I love the lesson about color theory-- maybe I'll finally start matching my clothes. I enjoyed learning so many detailed tips that might help make future attempts a success.
June 18, 2018
A focus on acrylic skills in non abstract painting. Just not for me.
January 31, 2021
Simple book and easy to follow. The beginning references know student vs professional grade paint are very useful. Great for beginners.
March 28, 2021
Does not explain properly.
June 1, 2021
Idea seemed fantastic, but I did not enjoy doing the paintings. It felt like I was just poorly copying someone else’s painting and not learning much in the process.
August 2, 2021
Very accessible. Great for beginners or those new to acrylics.
August 16, 2021
I've checked this out twice from my library and never have enough time with it so I'll be getting a hard copy.
December 28, 2022
Great introduction to painting with acrylics.
February 14, 2017
This book is excellent. It gives step-by-step instructions on painting 50 very small paintings and each is easily finished in an hour. If you ever wanted to learn to paint, this book should be part of your library.
April 13, 2015
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.
I found this book extremely useful. Chapter one has everything you need to know to include brushes, surfaces and paints. Chapter two starts at the beginning with step by step instructions to achieve each painting. Each chapter then gets more advanced by adding techniques but maintains the step by step instructions. These instructions are especially useful for a beginner like me but the advanced techniques I can see being useful to those that have been painting a while.
I found this book extremely useful. Chapter one has everything you need to know to include brushes, surfaces and paints. Chapter two starts at the beginning with step by step instructions to achieve each painting. Each chapter then gets more advanced by adding techniques but maintains the step by step instructions. These instructions are especially useful for a beginner like me but the advanced techniques I can see being useful to those that have been painting a while.
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May 26, 2023This is a fantastic book to learn some basic techniques and create many different paintings. Great for elementary-school-aged kids and teens as well.
February 2, 2016
I love this book . The beginning chapters are very informative, and the exercises are wonderful. I am working my way through the book.
June 4, 2016
Very useful for me. Bite-sized hands-on is how I prefer to learn
January 18, 2017
Worth buying and keeping this book. Easy to understand and easy to paint projects. Good reference book
February 22, 2016
Great book for a beginner artist, especially if they are trying this medium for the first time.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews