Landscape Painting Inside and Out by Kevin Macpherson

The purpose of the blog is to help other lovers of books on art to hear and share news on what are the nicest new books in the market and which books are a bit ho-hum. So in the end, he supports both representational imagery and the hard earned skills of hand to eye coordination.Įarlier this week I started a blog that provides reviews of recently published artbooks ( ). And, yet, he feels that art that does not have an image which is recognizable, is not capable of making us have that intense emotional connection. Interestingly, he feels that much of 20th century art is a rejection of the photographic image, because of the perceived ease of painting with the photo or device. Artistic skills will never be realized if one only paints from the photo. Form is not understood, and there is no feeling of actuality. Working just from the photograph does not give you a painting with depth, color or vitality that working for live can give. He still finds merit in working from life, as I must concur. He only suggests that by using devices like the concave lens, camera lucida and camera obscura some artists were able to get a rough map of their subject, thus enabling them to paint more quickly. Hockney does not devalue the drawing and painting skills of the masters.

But this is a book that should be read carefully by serious artists. When I ask people if they have actually read the book, the usual reply is 'no'.

I am always astounded as to the amount of intense negativity directed toward this book. One of my many favorites is David Hockney's Secret Knowledge.

Landscape Painting Inside and Out by Kevin Macpherson