Practice of Oil Painting and Drawing

I bought this book after reading about it on James Gurney's art blog. The book is excellent! I own both Harold Speed's books on drawing and painting, and Solomon's Practice of Oil Painting is a wonderful addition to my small art library. The problem with painting reproductions, as described by another reviewer, has been solved. I own the latest 2012 paperback edition with an introduction by James Gurney. Not only does this book have all the black and white images which were present in the original and are reproduced here in very high quality, it also has a full set of high fidelity classical painting reproductions in the middle of the book. The prints are done in full color on glossy paper and quality of the color inserts is good enough for scanning and doing master copies. I am very happy that this book has been made available and, with so much attention to quality and detail, I'm sure it will soon reach the must-own classic status which it so richly deserves. Thanks to the good people of Dover Publications, I now own this wonderful manual which was all but lost until recently.

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Amazing book full of information. It examines different traditional schools of painting and their approaches to painting as well as beliefs. Very interesting information. Most valuable pages especially for those interested in art history. Definitely recommend this book, a must have for the academic and practical artist, especially oil painters. It includes colorful images to make its point clear and concise, as well as many black and white images throughout the book. All in al, this is a great book that i am very happy to have purchased and found for its information.

Awesome quality!!

* N.B. the one-star previously given by another reviewer in 2010 pertains to a very different, poorly made edition without images, NOT the one issued recently (oct 2012) by Dover books, at which you are most likely looking now. Amazon unfortunately merged the reviews for the other, poorly OCR'd edition with this one. * * * As for this new edition, re-issued by Dover books and with a foreword by James Gurney - it is a gem of a book. A wealth of drawing and painting wisdom awaits within its pages. Victorian master painter Solomon J. Solomon shows you how to start drawing and slowly progress to successful painting. His methods are, it seems to me, logical, easy to understand and his advice and guidelines eye-openers. Solomon gives an overview on how one should practice and progress in drawing and painting (most of which was really eye-opening for me) in the first part of the book, with some practical methods and steps to consider in both drawing and using color. I particularly liked his tried-and-tested method of "drawing by the masses" (in short, measuring form by the negative shapes). This method, which he outlines with practical examples instantly appealed to me. It's very intuitive and it may be one of those things that you were already doing, subconsciously, but now that you're aware of it, can nurture it and develop it into a great skill. The second and largest part of the book is a vast study of some of the greatest paintings by the old masters. He breaks it down, discusses their techniques, colors, etc. - it's a real treat. Recently there have been a few books that have been trying to fill the void of study material for academic or classical atelier painting and drawing. I'm thinking of the books by Juliette Aristides (both Classical Drawing Atelier and Classical Painting Atelier) and for example Figure Drawing by Anthony Ryder. I own all these and think they are good books, filled with useful information and methods. But Solomon's book just stands out for its clarity, logical methods, and concise information. I believe he has managed to say much more with fewer words. Studying Solomon's book feels like really coming close to the very essence of classical atelier training, a tradition that goes back to the Renaissance. To conclude, it's one of the few books out there that are really valuable for professional artists and hobbyists alike. No matter what level you are, there's something in here for you. My only complaint - if any - would be that the size does not accommodate for large images, so that some of the larger paintings reproduced are a bit too small to get all the detail. But that would be criticism towards the publisher, not the author. Still, this doesn't take away anything of the book's content value. I would give this 10 stars if possible. Very recommended.