My Top 3 Art Instruction Books - No. 1

Light - How To See It, How To Paint It. I discovered this book in the 80s and upon reading it I truly had one of those 'Aha!' moments. Up until that point I don't think I'd properly comprehended what painting was all about. Lucy Willis, a gifted and accomplished artist herself, has written a brilliantly detailed and informative book, covering every possible aspect of how to see and paint different aspects of light and shadow. The beauty of sunshine and shadow are what give paintings what I call 'soul' or in other words, they can conjure up a particular strong mood, atmosphere or feeling. This book, illustrated throughout with examples from some fabulous painters, made me see painting in a whole new way, and made me want to immediately go out and paint some light-filled canvases of my own. All this time later I don't think I've got anywhere near being able to do it as light conditions are so fugitive and difficult to pin down and I'm such a slow painter! Nevertheless I will keep trying!

A Painting Journey

My name is Angie Wood and I live on a narrowboat on the beautiful Oxford canal. And I’ve got to that stage in life where I know what I really love to do. And what I really love to do is to paint. I think it started from childhood when I was given my first set of ‘painting by numbers’, and that’s also the reason why I’ve always loved oil paints in particular… the smell, the buttery texture of the paint, the vividness of the colours. I’ve always sketched a lot, and in the past few years have done a fair few ‘pet portraits’ as commissions, but generally found working from photos a bit tedious because I couldn’t say I was really learning much about painting. So then I decided to have a go a doing a ‘painting a day’ from life instead of photos. (Look this phrase up on google – you’ll find there are lots of people doing it). I would do an onion, or an apple, or a lemon. This was fun, but I wanted to go a bit further with the paintings, so I’m currently doing a ‘painting a week’ and hopefully making something a bit more resolved. So at the moment I’m painting and painting, trying to learn as much as I can, because however much you learn, you never really get there! You’re welcome to join me on my journey!