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Painting is not only a wonderful way to hone your creativity but also to express your feelings—whether joy, stress, sadness, excitement, or a combination—onto a canvas.
In this list, try your hand at a range of mediums, including acrylic, watercolor, pastel, and abstract, as well as ideas for subjects to bring into focus. From the vibrancy of a mountain landscape to the face of a loved one, there is much beauty to be found in the world and harnessed into art.
So, set aside any feelings of how a painting should look, and instead embrace how it should feel. These eight books will help you find your style, perhaps even a favorite form, and look at the fun side of making art that resonates.
Acrylics for the Absolute Beginner
Although acrylics are a versatile and popular medium for painting, it can be difficult to know where to start.
In this extensive yet easy-to-follow course, author Charles Evans offers a range of attainable techniques to help you pick up the paintbrush.
From composition to light and shading, there are six painting projects for you to test out your new skills—whether a setting sky or a snowy landscape.
How to Paint: Oils
Oils are a daunting medium, but also incredibly rewarding, as they offer more opportunities for blending and detail.
In this useful guide to any painter’s tool kit, artist Stephen J. Rose offers accessible instructions and descriptions for developing methods for working with oil paints.
Colour & Light in Watercolour
Building on her bestselling series, How to Paint, Jean Haines turns her attention to watercolors in this edition.
Using her own, award-winning paintings as examples, Jean delivers ideas for projects, expert advice, and step-by-step demos.
With a range of subjects, whether landscapes or birds, Jean will teach you how to find and refine your own style, with the objective of making painting exciting.
Painting in Abstract
The abstract form can be incredibly freeing when the intent is to express feelings or experiences that are not easily conveyed through realistic or typical representations.
Artist Carole Robson’s objective is to inspire her students, offering strategies to develop ideas while also teaching them to follow their impulses.
In Painting in Abstract, she offers a range of subjects, whether the close-up details of a flower or the distant perspective of a blooming meadow, for beginners and experts alike.
David Bellamy's Mountains & Moorlands in Watercolour
In nature, there is no lack of inspiration for painting—especially when, in the winter, the land is blanketed in snow.
With this in mind, watercolorist David Bellany shares his passion for painting mountains and moorlands, teaching you to find subjects in trees, water, rocks, and ultimately the beauty of a natural landscape.
Found and Ground
Nature is not only a source of creativity but can also provide materials for natural paints.
As put by Publishers Weekly, Found and Ground is a fascinating guide “to forag[ing] colorful materials in a variety of locales [...] an enjoyable take on how artists can get in touch with the natural world.”
Suitable for beginners but also those with experience in making art, author Caroline Ross shows you where to look for raw materials, and also how to hone them into pigments.
Painting Portraits in Oils
Drawing on over 40 years of experience as an oil portraitist, Rob Wareing instructs you on how to best capture a person's character through tools such as shading and lighting.
Learn from an expert as he instructs you on what materials to reach for, as well as how to prep both the canvas and the subject posing for the work.
Start to Paint with Pastels
An exciting and informative introduction to painting with soft pastels, Jenny Keal introduces you to new materials and methods to help you better understand the medium.
With five projects to test out, there is a range of subjects to choose from and build your skills, from creating atmosphere and perspective to strengthening tone and color.
Featured image: Mount Photography / Canva
