Alla Prima from Schmid: How Good is it?

[Adrian Wilkins]

Well I just ordered it over Amazon.
Probably I should have asked this before but well...

so tell me about your expriences with this book.
Is it worth the money?

[dpaint]

IMO the best book out there on the subject, by a master painter. All the info you need to take your work to the next level.

[DavePalumbo]

yeah, great for anyone interested in making images, but probably the best book on painting with oils I've ever seen.

[dpaint]

I agree with Dave, if you are looking for an oil painting how to book this is not the book for you. But if you know the basic mechanics of painting and want to get insights into the process for getting better and good picture making this is a great book.

[JeffX99]

Doesn't get any better so you made a wise choice. It is somewhat advanced is all I would say - he goes so deep into things. The only book you really need on a desert island though. Depends on what particular subject you might be interested in though...let us know and maybe we can recommend some other books to get started with.

[Maidith]

The sub-title of the book is "Everything I know about painting", and when I read the book I get the impression he really wrote everything he knew about painting. And that is a darn many things!

It is one of my favorite art books

[Adrian Wilkins]

wow thanks guys! appreciating the love haha...

well maybe take a look at my sketchbook, I'm a digital painter and I also do pencil drawings. I really want to get into illustration of any kind of genre.

since this is not a "how to paint this and that book" can it be applied for acrylics or gouache? atleast to a certain point? just curious

[JeffX99]

Checked out your sketchbook Adrian - you're off to a great start. Not sure Alla Prima is the right book but it may give you some insight. It really is more on oils - there are just things you can do with oils you can't do with other media. Anyway, I would recommend Deborah Rockman's book, "Drawing Essentials" as probably the best book to take you to the next level with your drawing. Also Jim Gurney's book "Imaginitive Realism" for a great bunch of tools, ideas and approach to illustration. Good luck!

[DavePalumbo]

since this is not a "how to paint this and that book" can it be applied for acrylics or gouache? atleast to a certain point? just curious

as has been said, the info in this book is dense. I mean that in the sense that it's one of those rare magical books that you can read again and again and find new knowledge every time. While the main focus is to oils when he discusses medium, that's far from the limit of what he's teaching. The way that he breaks down the mechanics of a well executed painting should be applicable to every medium, simply because it's not teaching technique so much as philosophy. Which is also probably why there are so many layers to the info: you absorb different things depending on your level of experience. I feel certain things register with me now which flew right over my head on my first reading.

[JeffX99]

That's a really good summary of that book, Dave. At the same time don't you think a lot of what he's talking about is pretty specific to oils and oil techniques? His portrait sketches in particular? IDK - I just can't imagine using goache or acrylics and approaching painting the same way - just my bias toward oils I suppose. The philosophy and ideas are worth so much though.

[Noah Bradley]

I read a lot of art books, and Alla Prima is without a doubt one of the best I've ever read. No matter what you want to do with art, you owe it to yourself to read it.

Though I'm fairly anxious to see how good his new Landscapes book is.

[Line]

I just wanna add my vote in favor of this book so others who are looking and are
thinking of getting it can make up their minds and get it. It's a book you will not regret
buying and you will read again and again.

[Lamp]

So is this book worth it for someone who paints almost exclusively digitally and has done relatively little traditional painting, and especially little with oils? Does the insight translate across mediums? Or is it essentially just a book for oil painters? I'm sort of interested now but I'm seeing some rather mixed responses in this thread so far.

[Adrian Wilkins]

thanks to everyone!

@ Lamp: good question!

okay, beside of my freelance work I will only do self portraits and still lifes digitally
other than that I will start to paint with oils which will also include alot of stills, self portraits and alot of other stuff - so quite focused on that.

[Noah Bradley]

So is this book worth it for someone who paints almost exclusively digitally and has done relatively little traditional painting, and especially little with oils? Does the insight translate across mediums?

Yes and yes.

And where exactly are you seeing these "mixed responses"? I just see glowing reviews.

[Irishdrunk]

Did you read the amazon review?

Looks like you can get it much cheaper from Richard's own site:
http://richardschmid.com/alla_prima_book_info.htm

I might pick up this book, too. Later than sooner.

[Lamp]

Yes and yes.

And where exactly are you seeing these "mixed responses"? I just see glowing reviews.

I spose I meant mixed replies about the subjects tackled in the book, and what one might learn from it. I'm thus far quite assured of the quality of its content.

With that said, this book just officially made it onto my short Christmas list

[JeffX99]

OK - my fault - I didn't intend my thoughts to be miscontrued as anything but my highest recommendation for "Alla Prima". Realistically I don't think there is a better book out there - Schmid shares insights, phiolosophy, process and approach gleaned from an entire lifetime of thoughtful painting and teaching. The information definitely translates across all mediums - he mainly discusses observation, philosophy and approach to picture making.

That being said...I still feel it depends on where your particular interests lie and what mediums appeal to you. If you like goache I think you study Syd Mead - if you are interested in digital concept art you study Craig Mullins and try to understand how he works - digital matte painting you try to understand Dylan Cole, etc. This is not to say that Schmid's book isn't valuable across all those disciplines - all three of those guys are good because they ultimately fall in line with everything Schmid discusses.

I'm just saying if you are interested in digital "X" design, Alla Prima isn't likely to offer you much (except insight into much deeper truths about painting) - sort of like trying to learn to play the guitar from Neil Peart.

But hey - you definitely have to update this thread after you get your copy - mine has eight post-it bookmarks in it right now!

[Adrian Wilkins]

wow thanks to all!

jeddX99: I'll definately keep you guys up-to-date! will create a sketchbook where I'll upload my stuff

well let me share this with you guys. I never planed to upload it anywhere but for the sake of this since I liked how the thread develope and you can probably tell me if the book applies to my current style and will prbalby help me to change it. so I'll still upluad it. the more I look at the image the more I dislike it..I have a hard time getting out of this stage.its neitherspecial nor uniqe or anything else...and the background totally fregged the shit out of me and at that point I noticed: okay you're finally at a point where if you go on you'll just swim helplessly in a mess of colors not knowing what to do...this is just at my limit. I somehow cant go further because I don't know more... I'd also like to get rid of this comic style I love daves style for example, mix that with a bit of justin sweet and wang wei (blizzard illustrator from china)..damn thats what I'm looking for..
haha... so I really wanna get things right before its to late for me

so here is the latest illu I canceled and which give me that push to get to that next level

[JeffX99]

Yeah - you're going to get a lot out of Schmid's book - you're ready for it. Thanks for sharing the piece - it is great that you can realize you're at your limit - that alone sets you apart from most of your peers. If you really want to get to that next level break out the oils - study the fundamentals of color in oils - the fundamentals of value in charcoal. That is what is going to open up that next level for you - even when doing digital.

[Sascha Thau]

Hm, if you're stuck just try something totally different. Paint a picture with a large brush and don't allow yourself to fall back into your habits. Only use 3 colors etc. Limitation is often times forcing us to be *really* creative.

Do master studies from Sweet, Wei, Schmid and whomever you like. You'll quickly learn exactly what you love about them and what not. Take from them what you like and go further.