Learn a basic approach to controlling tonal values at the start of your painting.

In this book, readers will discover an array of special, easy-to-follow tips and techniques for wielding colors and values in a variety of mediums with confidence. They'll begin by learning to master the application of tonal values--the foundation of lights and darks upon which colors depend. Next they'll find clear, concise guidelines for imbuing their work with color--everything from hue, intensity and shadow to color temperature and "broken colors." Finally, they'll learn how to use value and color together to create evocative moods and stunning special effects, such as time of day, the seasons, weather, fog, mist and clouds. Step-by-step demonstrations make learning easy and fun, no matter what the artist's skill level!Rachel Rubin Wolf is a freelance writer, editor and artist. She is the author of more than 20 books including the Acrylic Painter's Book of Styles and Techniques, the Best of Flower Painting and Art from the Parks. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Create art that's more attractive, interesting and eye-catching! Even if your perspective is accurate, your subject realistic and colors vibrant, a weak composition - predictable, repetitious or monotonous - means a weak painting. The Simple Secret to Better Painting ensures that your compositions work every time. It's an insightful artistic philosophy that boils down the many technical principles of composition into a single master rule that's easy to remember and apply: Never make any two intervals the same. You can make every painting more interesting, dynamic and technically sound by varying intervals of distance, length and space, as well as intervals of value and color. The rule also applies to balance, shape and the location of your painting's focal point. Greg Albert illustrates these lessons with eye-opening examples from both beginning and professional artists, including Frank Webb, Tony Couch, Kevin Macpherson, Charles Reid, Tony Van Hasselt and more. You'll discover that the ONE RULE is the only rule of composition you need to immediately improve your work - the moment your brush touches the canvas.

Whether you are a beginner or a professional, composition is one of the greatest and most fundamental challenges an artist faces. Start your painting with a strong composition and odds are high your painting will sing. But lessons learned from The Simple Secret to Better Painting don't stop at basic composition; they also apply to color, shapes, and tonal values. In this concise, comprehensive work, author, artist, and educator Greg Albert reveals the simple keys to unlock the door to better paintings. In his own words, "applied consistently, one rule of composition will eliminate all the most subtle design flaws. The ONE RULE is: Never make any two intervals the same." These intervals may include distance between lines, gradation of color, tonal value, and shapes.

Stresses the importance of recognizing and using tonal values, discusses color, light, form, depth, mood, and composition, and shares examples by twenty artists

Dust jacket notes: "Vibrant, fresh, immediate! The direct oil painting technique is an intense reaction to nature, a race with time to capture the color, the light and shadow, the design and the spirit of a subject in a few short hours. And now, Emile Gruppe - master of the direct oil painting technique - shows how you can use the broad strokes and lively colors of this spontaneous approach to infuse your own paintings with vitality, vigor, and on-the-spot freshness. A firm believer in using the best materials for the best results, Gruppe begins with a quick review of his favorite brushes, colors, easels, and painting surfaces. Next, he covers the basics of good design, what to look for and how to orchestrate what you see: masses, lines, values, and relationships. Turning to color, a fundamental element of his painting technique, Gruppe discusses complements, color harmony, color vibration, local color, reflected color, and using color to create atmospheric perspective. He explains how color appears on various kinds of days - foggy, clear, cloudy - and under different lighting conditions - front lighting, backlighting, sidelighting. In subsequent chapters, the author focuses on composing seascapes and landscapes; he explains how to paint rocks, ocean, lighthouses, boats, piers, pilings, roads, trees, streams, snow, mountains, valleys. Then, in full-color step-by-step demonstrations, the author shows how he captures a subject in his unique, exuberant, on-the-spot style.