The best paintings are made when artists are inspired by an event, a situation, or a moment in nature, and want to capture this feeling in their art. This book shows you how to plan for and create a painting that has strong emotional impact rather than one that simply illustrates. This is a workshop book in which the emphasis is on the painting process, on the manipulation of such tangible tools as photographs and sketches to attain a specific painting goal. Here you learn how to make the leap from the ordinary to the inspired. Through a series of lessons, Don Rankin traces the development of successful, evocative paintings. He begins by thoroughly analyzing his working methods, and demonstrates taking, making, and assembling photographs and sketches to create a finished work that has real impact. Following the basic working procedure, Rankin builds on his analysis of the painting in progress with lessons on exploring negative and positive shapes, looking for a strong composition, working with available light, making the transition from value to colour, planning whites in your work, freezing the action, and balancing light, color, and texture. In the final section of the book Rankin looks at the unique and elusive role played by the artist's imagination. Among the concerns he deals with are: using colour in a personal way; imagining the past; ways to enhance reality with imaginative effects; translating the inspirational moment into paint; and the importance and practical development of memory and feeling.