Now is the time to pursue creative fulfillment! Annie O'Brien Gonzales felt a passion for art from an early age. But not until 30 years later--after raising a family and working "a real job"--did she get serious about painting. Along the way, she experienced the pleasures and the pitfalls of learning to paint. In these pages, she channels it all to help others discover (or re-discover) The Joy of Acrylic Painting. This guide offers an engaging, streamlined approach for any beginner, but especially those who--due to life detours or lack of time--had previously postponed their artistic aspirations. In a fun, instantly gratifying style, Gonzales combines the forgiveness of acrylics with the approachability of expressive painting. With special emphasis on the elements of color, pattern and texture, these lessons give you a jump-start on painting with feeling. If now is your time to pursue creative fulfillment, then this is the book to ease your way. • Strategies for gathering resonant ideas and inspiration • Practical advice, such as when to splurge and where to save on painting supplies • Mixed-media techniques for creating character in your paintings • Inspiration from Expressionist masters, including ways to use their work as a jumping-off point for your own original paintings • PLUS 8 fabulous start-to-finish painting projects--landscapes, still life, figures and abstracts

Here's all the information you need to begin painting with acrylics--the most exciting, versatile medium available. The basic techniques are easy--stippling, blending, glazing, masking, and wet-in-wet. Over a dozen mini-demos illustrate how to paint flowers, clouds, shadows, water and more! You'll soon be creating some extraordinary paintings. Author Jacqueline Penney will show you how, with a relaxed, informative style that transports you from the shores of a dune-swept beach to a tropical lagoon. Try all five of her complete, step-by-step demonstrations, including a flower-covered mountainside, sand dunes and sailboats, a forest of spruce trees and ferns, a tranquil island hideaway and a mist-shrouded ocean. You'll find that painting with acrylics is easy--and extraordinary!

Discover abstract painting with acrylics! "If you approach your art with a playful attitude you will be more apt to keep making art, and the more art you make, the better your art will be." --pg. 10 Like a diving board for creativity, Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting will help you plunge joyfully into artmaking. With the belief that an attitude of playfulness is key to artistic growth, award-winning acrylic artist Jo Toye leads you on an engaging workshop-style adventure filled with innovative techniques, inventive approaches and breakthrough results. • Work Small. Start by discovering how working on a small canvas yields big payoffs. When you don't have anything to lose but a few minutes and a little piece of paper, you'll find that you paint more fearlessly, absorb new concepts faster and enjoy yourself more. • Step-by-Step Instruction. Learn what tools Toye finds most useful in making art, along with 17 step-by-step demonstrations showing how to use them to best effect. • Start-to-Finish Painting Projects. At the heart of the book, 8 start-to-finish painting projects put it all together. Discover fresh takes on stenciling, sponging, making and working with gesso. Use razor blades and applicator bottles to create distinctive linework. Achieve wonderfully original patterns using resist pens, mouth atomizers and India ink. Experiment with Clear Tar Gel, pour paint with pipettes, work over top a "failed" painting...all yielding brilliantly original results. Heavily illustrated and filled with exciting ideas you won't find anywhere else, Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting will inspire you to paint, experiment, play...and come away with some of your best work yet!

Fresh new ways to create fabulous paintings with mixed media techniques! Acrylic Solutions provides the "hows" behind a multitude of effects you've admired in other artists' works--and then some! Based on the popular online teaching collaboration of Chris Cozen and Julie Prichard, this book illustrates a wealth of layering methods and techniques. Mix and match to achieve countless variations, building layer upon layer to create unique and wonderfully complex abstract art. • Learn more than 30 step-by-step techniques for developing texture and visual interest, including collage, monoprinting, carving, color blocking, paint skins, raised stencils, glazing and so much more. • Chapters explore the phases of a multi-layered painting, from surface preparation through adding structure, developing complexity and adding finishing touches. • Follow the development of two paintings as each layer adds to the finished result, with tons of additional artwork throughout. • Gain insight on how to make paints, mediums and grounds work for you. Embracing a spirit of freedom and spontaneity, Acrylic Solutions is a stimulating guide for contemporary artists of any skill level. Beginners will learn how to make visually compelling paintings from start to finish, while more experienced artists will find the tools and inspiration to take their work to the next level.

Now is the time to pursue creative fulfillment! Annie O'Brien Gonzales felt a passion for art from an early age. But not until 30 years later--after raising a family and working "a real job"--did she get serious about painting. Along the way, she experienced the pleasures and the pitfalls of learning to paint. In these pages, she channels it all to help others discover (or re-discover) The Joy of Acrylic Painting. This guide offers an engaging, streamlined approach for any beginner, but especially those who--due to life detours or lack of time--had previously postponed their artistic aspirations. In a fun, instantly gratifying style, Gonzales combines the forgiveness of acrylics with the approachability of expressive painting. With special emphasis on the elements of color, pattern and texture, these lessons give you a jump-start on painting with feeling. If now is your time to pursue creative fulfillment, then this is the book to ease your way. • Strategies for gathering resonant ideas and inspiration • Practical advice, such as when to splurge and where to save on painting supplies • Mixed-media techniques for creating character in your paintings • Inspiration from Expressionist masters, including ways to use their work as a jumping-off point for your own original paintings • PLUS 8 fabulous start-to-finish painting projects--landscapes, still life, figures and abstracts

A celebration of the life and work of the pop-culture icon who gently encouraged millions to explore their creativity. Known for incorporating “happy little” clouds, mountains, and trees in paintings he would create in just twenty-six television minutes, Bob Ross had an encouraging and soothing demeanor that made his instructional television shows the most recognized and watched in television history. Ross created nearly 30,000 paintings in his lifetime, most using the wet-on-wet method employed by Caravaggio, Cézanne, and Monet. This fully authorized collection of more than 300 pieces of his art features his most famous quotes about painting and life, including “And success with painting leads to success with many things. It carries over into every part of your life” as well as techniques that will inspire readers to create their own art. Originally airing in 1982 on PBS in the United States and various outlets throughout Canada, Latin America, and Europe, the more than 400 episodes of Bob Ross’s two series, The Joy of Painting and Beauty Is Everywhere are now available on YouTube and Netflix. He is a figure beloved by multiple generations and is seen as an icon rivaling, if not surpassing, any other modern-day painter in terms of the scope of his work, societal influence, and popularity.

Following the success of his first book, The Best of the Joy of Painting, Bob Ross gathered sixty more of his favorite paintings to create More Joy of Painting. Now available in paperback, More Joy of Painting presents each painting in full color, followed by detailed instructions and a series of black-and-white photos to walk you, step-by-step, through the process of creating a Bob Ross original. So, whether you want a landscape of snowcapped mountains or a serene fall day, with More Joy of Painting you can create a beautiful work of art with the same ease and grace as Bob Ross.