Practice of Oil Painting and Drawing (Dover Art Instruction) Paperback – Illustrated, 26 Oct. 2012

* 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.

I bought this book to replace my rather old and disheveled 1910 version I bought many years ago from a second hand book shop. This new version from Dover is an improvement in that it has colour plates for some of the Old masters paintings which were only monochrome in the original. My only very minor criticism is that the reproductions of some of the illustrations are not as good as the 1910 original and makes it difficult to understand what S.J.S is teaching. Only by referring to my original 1910 book was I able to make total sense of some of his explanations, this is most notable in plates I and II (Horse, Vase) where the dark lines are lost into the dark backgrounds. Any one interested in this excellent book and in a more traditional properly taught art education will probably learn a lot from reading Harold Speed's brilliant 2 books on drawing and painting.

If you want a book that lays out a good solid technical approach using techniques of the masters, this is a good start. It isn't as great as a tutorial where you actually see how the artist does it, but as far as written instruction goes, it's pretty good, full of valuable insights.

The size of a paperback novel. Writing style a bit archaic as you would expect. The author is highly opinionated. Some interesting historical stuff but not a very accessible book. More of a curiosity rather than useful instructional text. Save your money.

It is old fashioned and far to technical. I bought Two copies and am really disappointed.

This is essentially a download of an out of print book which has been bound in paperback could probably be found free elsewhere. There is no typesetting or even differentiation in paragraphs, and the illustrations only exist on a website to which the book refers you. The information contained in the text is probably very good, but I haven't had a chance to wade through this very cumbersome mess of a book. Don't part with your £14.