The Oil Painter's Ultimate Flower & Portrait Companion

Rating:
Summary: a must have for the floral painter
Review: I love this book- Patricia Moran is an incredibly talented painter. The paintings are sumptuous and detailed, with lots of useful instruction. I also recommend Joyce Pike's books on floral painting along with this one, as the most useful ones I've found.

Rating:
Summary: a must have for the floral painter
Review: I love this book- Patricia Moran is an incredibly talented painter. The paintings are sumptuous and detailed, with lots of useful instruction. I also recommend Joyce Pike's books on floral painting along with this one, as the most useful ones I've found.

Rating:
Summary: For those who want to paint, but cannot draw
Review: Pat Moran takes a very painterly approach to her art. As she explains and illustrates, painting is about presenting to the viewer ranges of hues and contrasts. Our eyes and brain will make the picture if presented with the right information, it is not necessary to (or even preferable) to spell it out with a detailed drawing. Nevertheless, she also provides the standard proportions for the face or torso so the portrait you're doing will look "correct." I found this book helpful in developing the art of seeing and translating that onto the canvas. Her flower paintings are quite evocative, and provide an excellent model. Although not covered in this book, her approach will work with landscapes. In fact, the upside down exercise should convince you that if you get the tonal range, contrast, and proportions correct, the painting will emerge in the eye of the beholder.

Rating:
Summary: For those who want to paint, but cannot draw
Review: Pat Moran takes a very painterly approach to her art. As she explains and illustrates, painting is about presenting to the viewer ranges of hues and contrasts. Our eyes and brain will make the picture if presented with the right information, it is not necessary to (or even preferable) to spell it out with a detailed drawing. Nevertheless, she also provides the standard proportions for the face or torso so the portrait you're doing will look "correct." I found this book helpful in developing the art of seeing and translating that onto the canvas. Her flower paintings are quite evocative, and provide an excellent model. Although not covered in this book, her approach will work with landscapes. In fact, the upside down exercise should convince you that if you get the tonal range, contrast, and proportions correct, the painting will emerge in the eye of the beholder.