Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often To Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist

Someone recommended this book and I got a sample on kindle first. I liked the informal style at the beginning of the first chapter so bought it.And that was about it- after that point I was disappointed. The informal style became borderline childish.It got repetitive. I found the author just waffled on quite a bit.The suggestion and advice on composition is not too helpful either. The author uses language in a way which can be discouraging to an amateur artist. For example they may think if you don't follow the 'rules' the author has written and emphasised, they will never be able to get their art/painting right, which is not true.The reader needs to make that decision themselves and not forced to believe it. They may never try to develop their own style if they are following her every step and 'rule'. There are no rules in art.Secondly, this book was written about 10 years ago, hence for 2020+ it is an outdated book- from social media perspective. For someone who is planning to sell online there is no mention of Instagram or Pinterest- that's not the authors fault obviously but I wanted to make this important point that it is not so relevant as far as social media is concerned if that's what the reader is hoping to do. Things have moved on a lot from when this was written.Thirdly, this is about oil painting but again it may not be relevant to some as the tips you pick up can be used in Acrylics or other media.Fourthly, there is alot of input from other artists which is fine but in my opinion, it doesn't really add any value to it.Lastly the print is quite small for a book like this. There is so much empty space on one page- the font could have been bigger and more appealing. I did struggle with it and I do have perfect eyesight (for now!)The good thing about the book is that there are some lovely paintings which I admired a lot.All in all I would say reading this book is more like reading the authors own diary than a book to be inspired with. Quite disappointing.

This book contains good sound help for those like me who are like me trying to really improve on my efforts. The idea to paint small but more often has been an excellent way of practice without slogging away at a bigger work with a sinking feeling that I get that I have not produced something which gives me pleasure. The author points out the common mistakes students make and fresh new ways of improving. For me it gives me a lot of the things I would like a tutor to say to me which they don't usually tell you! I like art books but some are just a vehicle to show off the author's work and none of the down to earth nitty gritty. This book has got lots of "improvers" nitty gritty. I have done many courses for older adults and found none have me this grade of teaching like you find in the book.

This book has really helped me. Inspired by an artist I follow on social media who posted a photo of this book I took the leap and ordered it for myself. I wanted to learn to paint and needed something to challenge me in order to keep me interested. Although this book really seems to focus on using oils, I have been doing the same exercises with my Acrylic paints. Really happy with the results and really happy to have this book show me some good techniques that are easy to follow and pick up.

Love this book. Even though I've been painting for years I've always been terribly inconsistent with my painting practice. Together with getting up early, it's given me a boot up the backside to do all that painting I want to do, but never have time for. I leave it out on my desk so that when I come in from my waitressing job tired/frustrated/bored, I can sit down with a cup of tea and flick through it. It inspires me to pick up the brush and play. Even though I have been painting for at least a decade I found the technical advice helpful and concise, most concepts being on a single double page spread, allowing me to refresh my memory in an instant.

This is not a how-to-paint book for beginners, but is very inspirational for artists who are seeking new ways to overcome personal confidence problems with their work. Carol uses her own experiences to show how she also struggled at various times to push her work forward. Getting involved with the daily painting mindset made a big difference and she now paints pretty much every day. Carol and her husband David are behind the DailyPaintWorks website, a hugely popular online gallery where artwork can be sold "straight" or by auction. The book itself gives insights as to how Carol approaches her pictures, many of which are just six inches square. There are many useful tips for getting into the daily painting routine; choosing subjects; arranging still life; choosing colour for impact, and more. Other artists also contribute their stories with many examples of their creativity. I have painted for years and also am a member on this gallery; having adopted several of Carol's approaches to planning and painting, I can say that I have found the book very enlightening.