It took eight years for Gloria
Foss to write and illustrate How to Paint: A Course in the Art of Oil Painting. In
addition to writing the text and captions, she drew or painted most of the illustrations,
except for the meticulous perspective drawings by John Kobelansky in Chapter 2. A
special feature of the book is the many pairs of Correct and Incorrect still life and
landscape subjects (Click on Book Excerpts to see examples). The many step-by-step
still life paintings in the book were photographed by Rebekah Luke. Except for
the timely expertise of Linda Fisher, who converted the printed book to a CD-Rom, this
book would have faded into obscurity.
How to Paint: A Course in the
Art of Oil Painting, has become a collectible book on Amazon.com, e-Bay, and Barnes
& Noble Internet sites, selling for three or four times its original cost. Here is what readers who initially found the book
in their public library, or later found it on the Internet, have to say about How to
Paint:
I have just
started oil painting and found your book delightful!
As a teacher of 40 years, I have rarely seen a book both so accessible,
clear, concise, well written and comprehensive, and so elegantly and artfully illustrated. I have read and reread the first few chapters and was delighted to find that I can order it on a
CD from your web site. Dr. Ned
Gaylin, Chevy Chase, MD.
I
wanted to learn more about painting, so I checked out some books at the public library. The first book I read was How to Paint by
Gloria Foss. You explained drawing and
painting in such a clear, understandable, and methodical way that I was able to improve
[my work] dramatically. I truly believe if
your book had not been the first book I read, I would have given up on oil painting soon
after I began. After reading your book, I
painted two pictures, one of which won Best of Show at our county fair and got accepted in
our local juried art show. Cathy Glass,
Oak Ridge, TN.
Danica Chames
of Prague, Czech Republic said on Amazon.com, “[How to Paint] is very well
structured, clear, very detailed, covers everything that seemed so confusing to me before. It gave me so much confidence that I feel like I
can be a teacher of art now. It’s
expensive but it’s the only book you need. The
chapter on design gave me more information than a course in interior design that I
took.”
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