Composition of Outdoor Painting,   ISBN:9780939370115

Customer Rating: 

Edgar Payne, one of the "California Impressionists" was 'the one to emulate and learn from' according to my high school art teacher. Several of his paintings were in her home and studio. Now my daughter is a member of the "Plein Aire Painters of America" and developing her technique, I was delighted to find this 'tutorial' for her. Page after page of composition examples and challenges.
I do wish it had more color pages--judging from the price I expected it to be a 'coffee table book' rather than a 'how-to handbook'.

Customer Rating: 

"Composiiton of Outdoor Painting" by Edgar Payne was first published in 1941 and uses illustrations that go back further than that. But Payne was one of the great landscape masters of the early 20th Century and has plenty of useful advice to give contemporary painters. Taste and harmony were two basic tenets that Payne swore by, and these elements are stressed over and over again in his book. His language here is on the academic, even literary side, but his principles and suggestions are clear enough once you wade a bit through the formalized verbiage.


"Composition..." is well illustrated with drawings and paintings by the author and other painters of the time. Definitely a valuable addition to any art library, and certainly useful for anyone interested in oil painting as a hobby or profession.

Customer Rating: 

Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne is an essential tool for any serious artist, particularly those who paint plein air. Payne's approach is based on the classical foundational elements of painting which he brings to light through his wonderfully practical discussion and examples. I highly recommend it.

Customer Rating: 

As a painter in all mediums, and a teacher, I find this edition a complete aid in the construction of a painting...one keeper for the library.

Customer Rating: 

This book has certainly seen better days. It is hard to read with a modern understanding and one must dissect the language from the actual content to extract the juice out of it. And some of the contents are just as valid today as they were fifty years ago. It is a shame that few authors , Kevin McPhearson, comes to mind, have tried to address the issues of composition and the nature of art created outdoors or landscape themed as thoroughly and carefully as Edgar Payne. He was a better painter than writer but the attempt to creating a method to his art is nevertheless productive. His wife's artwork is included in the book as a gesture of love but it sorely lacks the quality of his own pieces.