Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner Paperback – August 18, 2009

I retired this year and picked up a new hobby--painting. Unfortunately, I live in a very rural area and can find no classes close by so I ordered this book. Oh my!!! Claire Watson Garcia's book is totally amazing. She is not only a very gifted artist, but she is a gifted teacher, too, and that's extremely important when writing a "how to" book. It covers EVERYTHING a beginner needs to know, especially how to mix the paints to get the correct consistencies and colors, and it just gets better from there. There is a chapter clearly explaining every aspect of what an artist (not just a beginner) needs to know, common mistakes beginners often make, and how to fix all those mistakes. All the chapters feature numerous paintings by beginners showing initial paintings and then explanations of how to fix problems. I have checked out many books from the library and bought many others, but this book covers everything so much better and infinitely more clearly. I have started reading so many books and become frustrated halfway through the exercises because I didn't know what to do to fix the problems, but this book is working for me. In my opinion, this book is the closest thing I can get to actually sitting in a class. It's for absolute beginners, but I'd be willing to bet people who are past the very beginning stages would love this book, too. You can't go wrong with this book. I LOVE it!

Am currently reading this book, but not doing the exercises yet, and absolutely love it. I'm learning so much. Can't wait to begin the exercises but wanted to read through it first. Best book I've read on acrylics yet (and I've purchased a lot). I am an absolute and utter beginner so the title is what drew me to purchase it. So glad I did. There are student examples throughout and the author does take you through really elementary exercises, so if you can paint well, I would probably not buy it. But then again, just go by the title. We are all beginners at something so I want to learn from someone who doesn't skip steps by assuming that I know the most basic of rules, because I don't. That is why this book is working for me. Thank you Claire Garcia! Wish I could take a class with you.

This book is wonderful. I feel like I have the author guiding me through each step. She anticipates your fears and assures you that you can do it! I gave the book a 4 versus a 5, because I'm painting dogs, mostly. There is a section on flesh tones and painting nudes, but nothing on animals. I was also hoping for a section devoted to oceans and skies. But again, there is nothing. The primary focus of the book is painting still life. I also found her pages dedicated to mixing paints and complementary colors and neutrals quite useful. She lets you know what basics you need to get started. I plan to buy her book on drawing as well.

This is a great book for anybody who wants to learn how to paint. It teaches things step by step just as if you were in a painting class and features exercises so you can follow along with your own paints with what is being shown in the book. If you've always wanted to learn how to paint but don't have the time or money to go to painting classes then this is a great book to start with. You can sit down whenever you have some free time and read through a lesson while you paint along. Recommended for anybody who is brand new to painting or even people who have painted in the past but now want to have a refresher on some of the basics.

This is the companion "painting" book to Claire's similarly-named book about "drawing". (I previously reviewed that on Amazon.). This painting book was even more helpful to me than it's wonderful companion. Let me explain why from my perspective.For a beginner (me, at least), painting is much harder to learn than drawing. The same challenges of drawing remain, such as shape accuracy, volume, texture and perspective. But painting requires the additional need for color visualization, paint-mixing skills and brushwork in order to creat, among other things, a proper "value structure". That should meld appropriate colors and spatial illusion to make a painting, not only cohesive, but also able to "pop" off the canvas to suit the artist's intention.Claire's 160-page painting book is extremely well-organized. It proceeds from materials selection to paint-mixing (for both hue and consistency) to brush-handling. Then she combines these and other elements in very-lucid step-by-step lessons for still-lifes, nudes and portraits. (No landscapes.) Throughout, the volume is filled with charts, photos and pictures that make her "plain-English" text readily understandable - andApplicabl

I returned the book because it didn’t give me exactly the information or skill i needed. Good surface info though.

This book attracted me because it's title certainly describes me. I am very pleased that it assumes nothing, gently leading the student through the basics, including how to shop at the art store, info on color and and style and much more. It is in a convenient place is my work area for quick reference. It is a handsome book with clear illustrations and a sturdy binding. I suspect that it will gradually become well worn and a bit stained as I refer back to it time and again. It is just what I needed.

I stumbled on "Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner," which opened a whole new world to me. Now there is "Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner." Claire Watson Garcia has created two books that are perfect for a novice (like me).Her method -- well-explained, gently encouraging step-by-step instruction -- makes learning the basics easy and relatively painless. Seeing other beginners' artwork and comments helps, too.Even if you are insecure about your ability, you'll find that you suddenly are quite amazingly drawing and painting! There couldn't be a better introduction to making art.Dawn D.