Painting: Land & Sea by Vernon Kerr

Painting: Land & Sea by Vernon Kerr ISBN-13: 9781633227774 Paperback: 40 pages Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing Released: May 7, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Featuring the artwork of Vernon Kerr, Oil & Acrylic: Land and Sea includes a variety of easy-to-follow, step-by-step projects that are approachable for the beginning artist, including dynamic landscapes and seascapes. Aspiring artists will discover the basics of oil painting through useful artist tips.

Artist Vernon Kerr shows you his step-by-step process for painting seascapes and landscapes in oil. He demonstrates how to capture the beauty of nature in all its seasons and at different times of the day, as well as the importance of making small color studies. You’ll also discover tips for using color effectively, with additional helpful information on composition, perspective, texture, and contrast. And along the way, you’ll learn special techniques for creating dramatic skies, luminous waves, and lush landscapes.


My Review:
Painting: Land & Sea is a short art instruction book providing tips on how to paint seascapes and landscapes with oil paints. The book briefly talked about tools, oil painting techniques, and color theory before moving on to the studies and demonstrations. While the author did show three steps and then the finished painting, the brief instructions were often tips about creating specific effects with oil paint rather than on how to paint. Which means I got some interesting tips out of it, and so will a beginner, but this might not be what a complete "tell me every move" beginner is looking for.

There were a lot of good tips on how to use certain color combinations and contrasts to create certain visual effects. He also talked about things to consider when painting and why you should do things in a certain order and why. The author's method is to paint in the basic shapes and tones using a neutral color, then add colors and details on top of that base layer. There were several studies (sky, wave, rock, snow) along with tips on painting those elements. The 11 demonstrations covered several sea waves against rocks or cliffs, sunset and shorelines, trees in fields, and forest scenes as well as a mountain scene, sand dunes, and fall leaves on a forest floor. Overall, I'd recommend this book to those interested in color tips and learning to paint sea and landscapes, but I wouldn't recommend it to complete beginners.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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