Rating: 
Summary: unique
Review: a unique approach, to say the least. How many other authors dealing with glazing would take the trouble to provide an entire test chart in color for the reader's perusal? In addition, the pages dealing with materials are extremely thorough. Creevy does not just 'catalogue'; he explains and evaluates. As for the comments about his own paintings, that is the man's style. Let the student of painting pursue his or her own style. The technique is what you want. You don't buy a book like this to evaluate the work of the artist. The author is trying to teach you TECHNIQUE. What's the difference if you personally don't care for his style? Go and do otherwise!
Rating:
Summary: unique
Review: a unique approach, to say the least. How many other authors dealing with glazing would take the trouble to provide an entire test chart in color for the reader's perusal? In addition, the pages dealing with materials are extremely thorough. Creevy does not just 'catalogue'; he explains and evaluates. As for the comments about his own paintings, that is the man's style. Let the student of painting pursue his or her own style. The technique is what you want. You don't buy a book like this to evaluate the work of the artist. The author is trying to teach you TECHNIQUE. What's the difference if you personally don't care for his style? Go and do otherwise!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I am an emerging artist from Miami, Florida. I am interested in following in the footsteps of the old masters. I followed the step-by-step instructions on Classic Oil Glazing Technique, pages 118 - 126. The pictures of the paintings in various stages make the written instructions even clearer. Final result, I painted my best still life to date (and my highest selling painting to date!!!). It paid for itself many, many times over.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Glazing
Review: I am an emerging artist from Miami, Florida. I am interested in following in the footsteps of the old masters. I followed the step-by-step instructions on Classic Oil Glazing Technique, pages 118 - 126. The pictures of the paintings in various stages make the written instructions even clearer. Final result, I painted my best still life to date (and my highest selling painting to date!!!). It paid for itself many, many times over.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Winner
Review: I have looked for alot of books on glazing, and wish I had found this one years ago. The book explains very well all aspects of oil painting, materials, tools, mediums, you name it and in great length. The last chapters cover glazing very well. You can't go wrong with this book and doesn't matter what level your experience, you will gain from it. I've been painting for 52 years and wish I had known about this book when I was 12 years old. Well written.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference for the oil painter
Review: I have quite a few oil paintings books, and I consider Bill Creevy's 'The Oil Painting Book' to be one of the best reference books in my collection. It is also an interesting and informative book on oil painting techniques, such as glazing and scumbling (truly excellent on these topics), alla prima, wiping out method, and many more.However, I have found it to be the most useful as a reference book for oil painting materials. Its section on oil paint brands is outstanding - not only are the major brands evaluated, but also the specialty small company brands. Particularly strong is the section on oil painting mediums. To me this is such a challenging area for someone beginning oil painting. This book thoroughly defines and discusses over 18 different mediums, which provides an excellent starting point for someone learning about oil painting. Nothing beats actually experimenting with the mediums yourself, but it helps to read about them beforehand to see what kind of effects they achieve. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Pictures are horrible
Review: I prefer realistic paintings. If you like to paint fruit that looks antiqued and blurred, this is alot of what's in the book and you might like it. He does go over the different types of materials which helped me, since I'm a beginner. Although there is some good information in the book, I wish I hadn't bought it.
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: I was seriously disappointed with this book. So disappointed in fact that I am returning it to Amazon. This will be the first time I've ever returned a book to Amazon. The book does cover materials well, but where it falls short is everything else. He goes straight from materials into painting techniques. He skips color theory all together. No mention of a simple palette for beginners, warm/cold colors, mixing secondary & tertiary colors. I can't imagine a book geared towards beginners that doesn't cover this. This book is definitely not "step-by-step", many styles have no steps whatsoever. For example in Alla Prima he just shows several different paintings, and the reader has no idea how he did it. Other styles just have a few steps. None of the steps are adequate to attempt a similar painting. As one other reviewer said, his paintings are a little on the blurry side. I picked up "Oils (Step-by-Step Art School)" by Patricia Seligman and it is simply wonderful. It has less info on materials (most of which aren't useful for a beginner anyway) and more much emphasis on color theory and detailed step-by-step examples of various styles. The color theory section is absolutely fantastic. If you just want to read about materials and see a few paintings done in various styles, this Creevy's book is for you. But if you want to learn how to actually do these different styles, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: I was seriously disappointed with this book. So disappointed in fact that I am returning it to Amazon. This will be the first time I've ever returned a book to Amazon. The book does cover materials well, but where it falls short is everything else. He goes straight from materials into painting techniques. He skips color theory all together. No mention of a simple palette for beginners, warm/cold colors, mixing secondary & tertiary colors. I can't imagine a book geared towards beginners that doesn't cover this. This book is definitely not "step-by-step", many styles have no steps whatsoever. For example in Alla Prima he just shows several different paintings, and the reader has no idea how he did it. Other styles just have a few steps. None of the steps are adequate to attempt a similar painting. As one other reviewer said, his paintings are a little on the blurry side. I picked up "Oils (Step-by-Step Art School)" by Patricia Seligman and it is simply wonderful. It has less info on materials (most of which aren't useful for a beginner anyway) and more much emphasis on color theory and detailed step-by-step examples of various styles. The color theory section is absolutely fantastic. If you just want to read about materials and see a few paintings done in various styles, this Creevy's book is for you. But if you want to learn how to actually do these different styles, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: a library must
Review: I've read or worked thru almost twenty books on oil painting while I'm waiting for my first painting class to start. This was the first one to cover modern materials - the stuff available today - and to cover glazing. The demos are step-by-step and fully explained in Alla Prima, knife techniques, rub-out painting, glazing, and even oil sticks and water miscible oils. Just an awesome text ... period. The reviewer who earlier diss'd the author for his painting style evidently doesn't have much experience creating or viewing art of any kind - not that appreciating this style requires training. On the contrary, the paintings are done in gorgeous, warm, and 'buttery' colors and the style is somewhere between realist and impressionist. I love the art and I love the book. I'm buying his pastel text, as well. This book is worth...[the money] just for the chapters on glazing alone!
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