I'm not so sure if this is a blog-post or a service announcement - anyway; some may remember that for a while now I've been musing about creating an e-book for the beginner oil painter: I hope to include things that aren't covered well elsewhere, or at least not all in one place - the things I wanted to know when I started out, given much of the instructional material I've seen in recent years assumes a basis of knowledge on the part of the painter which they don't necessarily possess at all, including surfaces to paint on, brushes to choose, colours to buy, mediums to mix with them. Well, this is obviously going to take me a bit of time and effort: to really cover what I think raw beginners need to know is going to take some work and research to explain. If I'm to do this, and fill what I think is a bit of a gap in the elementary section of the market, I've decided I really ought to make a nominal charge for it - and again, this will need to be within the reach of just about everyone, or it's just another way to part the hard-pressed from their money. But I thought I'd let you know, anyone who's interested, so that if you feel that making a bit of cash out of this venture is taking the mickey, you can let me know. I'd also like to ask you to tell me if you think there's anything I should cover - it's a while since I've been a beginner myself and there may just be something that everyone wants to know but can't find explained anywhere. So tip me the wink if anything particular occurs to you: obviously I can't hope to cover every single thing in what is only intended to be a fairly short guide, but I'd like to go over most of the pressing questions. And by the way, if you're looking for one of the best guides to the true beginner in the meantime, see if you can lay hands on Fred Johnson's book, published a good many years ago - I think the title was Oil Painting for the Beginner; but look up F C Johnson: (he was the editor of Leisure Painter). The book is out of print, which is a pity: it was one of the most useful available. _________________________________________________________________ And on the subject of media, though this time in acrylic - on the Painting and Drawing Channel at the moment (I think) is a useful three-part demonstration by Wendy Jelbert, Wendy's Top Tips in Acrylic. I recommend the third part particularly. The first two parts gave me pause for thought - Wendy demonstrates a number of techniques which, she says, are very popular with her students: they include the use of additives to the paint, and a section on masking fluid with acrylic (and, with reference to a recent thread, one of the best bits of equipment to apply it with, the Ruling Pen): I'm not at all keen on masking fluid with watercolour, but hadn't really considered it as an acrylic medium - it made me think, anyway, and if you haven't taken a look, then do. I was less convinced, as I always have been, by the use of other additives: for instance, texture paste or gel; broken eggshells to be incorporated into the paint; clingfilm spread on top of wet acrylic to provide texture and removed when the paint dries; sand, or mica, mixed with the paint. I can entirely see that these things would be very interesting to use, particularly with abstract painting; it's when they're used to represent natural objects, in conventional painting, that I get restive... To me, crushed eggshells don't look like boulders or pebbles: they look like - well, crushed eggshells. Cling film does provide a texture - but so do brushes, colour shapers, finger-nails, old combs, and much else. Texture paste provides (obviously) texture: but then so does strong brush-work, or painting knives, and thick paint. I was all the more puzzled, I suppose, by the use of these media in the hands of Wendy Jelbert who, it seems to me, can create any texture she wants to just with brush and paint. Not only did she not need these bits of shell and smears of gel, her work without them looks better to me - as in, much better. Dunno what anyone else thinks - but would be interested to find out.