February 2015
Popular tutor Charles Evans, needs no introduction to Leisure Painter readers. With many years' experience, he has built up a reputation for his easy painting style and proven results in teaching people to paint. His latest book, Boats & Harbours in Acrylics, provides a wealth of information on painting this appealing, yet often difficult subject. Each painting is accompanied by a list of colours used and helpful tips and techniques along the way. There are 24 paintings in total and for each of them, Charles has provided free outlines with full instructions on how to transfer the images so you can get straight on with the painting, knowing that your drawing is taken care of. Subjects include the beautiful Cornish fishing village of Polperro, a racing yacht, a Mediterranean port, and a river pageant on the Thames at Tower Bridge.
* Leisure Painter, The *
February 2015
Charles Evans is always good value and has an excellent eye (or should that be nose?) for what the budding painter needs. There's a splendid variety of subjects here from Polperro to a Greek boatyard and small craft to an icebreaker and a galleon in full sail. Seas are rough, choppy and calm and there are plenty of different weather and lighting conditions.
* Artbookreview.net *
March 2015
The What to Paint series is the big brother of Ready to Paint. The larger outlines give you more of an image to develop and the instructions are less detailed, appealing to those who have picked up the basic skills but still need a degree of hand-holding when it comes to composition, perspective and drawing. Because the images are printed on normal book paper and need to be assembled, it's worth investing in some Tracedown paper to make the transfer process easy. Each book contains 24 paintings and, as well as the outlines, you also get the finished result as the author painted it, some basic instructions, palette information and break outs of some of the important details. The idea is not to copy (thought you can do that if you want), but to create your own interpretation from a starting point a little way on from the blank page. Charles Evans provides a well-chosen range of subjects that includes all conditions, from a narrowboat in the calm of a canal to tall ships in full sail in heavy seas, as well as rural and harbourside settings and locations around the world. If you need to practise painting boats, you'll find them riding both high and low in the water as well as out of it. Charles is an accomplished demonstrator and the examples he's chosen will help you develop a wide variety of skills.
May 2015
Readers can travel the world's scenic seaports vicariously as they paint along with the author of this guide. Evans (Landscapes in Acrylics) focuses entirely upon the forgiving and user-friendly medium of acrylics, which shares some of the best aspects of oils and watercolors while leaving behind some of the more temperamental qualities of those media. Two dozen projects focus on boats and waterways around the globe, and as is customary for titles in the series, entries consist of finished paintings, a color palette list for each, and schematic line drawings that readers can photocopy and trace to use as a starting point for their own projects. Readers may practice their skills by reproducing the author's paintings as faithfully as they please or altering the compositions and color palettes as creatively as they wish. VERDICT This painting how-to will be appreciated most by beginning and intermediate artists.
* Library Journal, USA *
