I have been reading "Oil Painting for the serious beginner" by Steve Allrich. This book is comprehensive and really breaks down into good sized chunks the fundamental basics behind painting with oils. What I specifically liked about Steve's book was the amount of depth he goes into to explain concepts in a way you can easily understand. I paint with oils myself but still found the book interesting, so much so I read it cover to cover. I fully recommend this book to anyone who has not painted in oils before. Many books that I read when I first started out were so vague in their explanations of concepts that I was often left frustrated with the Author as to why they didn't just explain what they meant in detail. Steve does just that and his step by step pictures that accompany the descriptions of some techniques give you a visual reference that nails down the points. Nice one Steve, I just wish I'd found you sooner