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| Richard Schmid, sketched while he did a demo |
In his book Alla Prima: Everything I Know about Painting, Richard Schmid offers the reader a wealth of helpful tips, including the reminder to practice a variety of methods of painting.
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| Painting by Richard Schmid |
He says: "Cultivate as many working methods as you can so that you can respond to the demands of painting different subjects. Don't expect that an effective way of painting a landscape will work as well for a child's portrait. Learn to paint thickly, thinly, loosely, tightly, quickly, slowly, and so on, according to the requirements of your subjects. Strive to expand your repertoire. For no other reason, work in different ways just for the satisfaction of confounding art critics."
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His books are expensive (my copy cost more than $100), but they're worth it:
Excellent likeness of Richard!
ReplyDeleteThere's also: Richard Schmid Paints Landscapes (which I have) and Richard Schmid Paints the Figure (I wish I had)
ReplyDeleteI've desired Richard Schmid's books for quite some time, but I can't justify the price. I wonder why they're so expensive? Does anyone know? Are they published privately or by a small house? The time I saw one in the flesh it was impressive, but still...It just seems to be a shame that they aren't more accessible.
ReplyDeleteI put off buying a copy because of the price, then took the plunge. I'm glad I did, there is a wealth of knowledge I haven't come across in 35 years of painting.
DeleteI feel your pain, Tom. I bought the Alla Prima book and then they came out with the expanded edition. I'd like to have it but geez.
ReplyDelete+Tom Hart, they are privately published and gorgeously printed. Worth the money. Find a way to justify the purchase if you've desired them for so long.
ReplyDeletecongrats for the drawings ! So few lines and so much likeness ! I wish I could pin people as well as this !
ReplyDeleteAs far as the books are concerned, we never know what struggles are indeed behind the editing aspects. There could be a lots of reasons why they are so expensive. But trully, I never regret my investment. I could almost find in every single page something that is worth re-writting in my studio to remember. I love them...
The reason Schmid's books are so expensive is that people are willing to pay the price. Many people who buy books by artists do so for investment and the privilege to say that they own one. Richard obviously did his homework beforehand.
ReplyDeleteJames, what is your opinion on Richard Schmid's advice to use lead ground as the only reliable oil paint's ground ? I am concerned with the health and envionmental's issues about lead and would like to have another Master's point of view on this technical aspect. Thanks for all the valuable infos and inspirations in your blog, videos and awesome books.
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