Thanks, Dana. Life is full of challenges…..sigh!

I agree, Hal. I’m surprised Wet Canvas doesn’t have a channel to handle things like products and books and videos. Those subjects seem to be handled within the individual channels. Or maybe we just don’t know where to look? Dana?

I just went into that Product Review area and there is a click-button for Category Suggestions. However, when I clicked, it has an error read on it, so I reported it as a bug. I’m sure it’s among the many that are occurring with the changes taking place. I clicked on other product review subcategories and it seems to be patterned after Amazon’s–rate by clicking on a star, then leave specific comments. Books and videos definitely belong there. I’ll try to remember to check in occasionally and make the suggestion as soon as it’s up and running.

Different strokes for different folks … that’s what makes the world go around. My grandmother always used to say (although she was talking about men) that it is a good thing we don’t all want the same thing or there wouldn’t be enough to go around.

A book/video review section would be good for that very reason. To take an arbitrary example … even a good book on color might not fit the needs of a tonal painter. But, reviews would steer us toward the book we do need.

I have not seen the Lilledahl video, so cannot speak to it. I have taken David Leffel’s workshops a number of times … and the book about him, “Painting Secrets from a Master” by Linda Cateura is on my very short list of recommended books for my oil painting class. Obviously, I consider him worth returning to for repeated visits.

Granted, he does like to philosophize and take esoteric rambles as he paints. I sometimes have to process for awhile before I find the connection. I have found that upon reflection and growth, his comments were not as random as I originally thought. I was given his new book, “An Artist Teaches”, as a gift. It is certainly not an easily accessible book, but I am finding it worth the time it takes to digest. It is good to keep in mind that we grow in levels, and what may at one point in time seem obtuse and useless, can later become enlightening and the very fact we are looking for. Yet, the source hasn’t changed. We have.

(As an aside, I also recommend “Problem Solving for Oil Painters” by Gregg Kreutz who was David Leffel’s student. It covers much of Leffel’s ground in a Q&A format and in a very approachable and clear manner.)

As to the Lilledahl response, I find it odd for a business to not have the goal of making a customer happy … or at least to make an attempt to get to the root of the unhappiness. In his workshops, David is always kind and thoughtful to every question. He is high on my list of workshops I have taken, and in part because of his personality.

I am glad that you have come to a good personal resolution of your feelings about the tape.

“Just because we do not hear, does not mean that they did not say … atelier_m”

I agree with all of your points. Well said. Coming from a business background, I learned that when complaining about something, be specific about exactly what it is that you found wrong. I did just that and they chose to take it personally as my holding them responsible for what it was that was wrong; hence, their best defense was a strong offense. My complaint was not about their service or their organization, it was about Leffel’s video. Puzzling, I agree, for people in business.

I sent them a separate email that I was unable to find a contact link for Leffel, but they have not responded.

They must be making a small fortune off Leffel’s video. They state that they have sold “thousands” since it’s taping in 2000. Not knowing exactly how MANY thousands they are aluding to, just averaging 1,000 every six months for 8 years would bring in $1,760,000. And frankly, they belong in the Guiness World Book for never having even ONE bad review on it. The odds are staggering and totally unheard of in business. If they truly have never received any criticism, then people are simply not telling them, because you can’t sell thousands of ANYTHING and not have a certain percentage of discontent, no matter WHAT the product:confused: .

All of this aside, I’m so sure that their other video instructors do not have the same style (what are the odds), that I have gone ahead and ordered Sherrie McGraw’s video “Still Life with Onions”. On a good note, Liliedahl does good video work. That quality was excellent.

I need to stop. No more on this subject. I can go on WAY longer than patience can last, so…….Thanks for the book recommendations.

On another related note, I discovered an online source where one can rent instructional art videos: http://www.art-video.com. I have ordered a rental of one of Gregg Kreutz’s. If it’s good enough, I’ll purchase it. I’ll let everyone here know the outcome of that experience–rental process as well as quality of rental DVD (they also have VHS, and in alot of cases, ONLY VHS–only okay if you still have a VHS player, which we do; but I have a DVD player that I prefer to use in the studio, so this would mean I’d have to view it in the living room. Oh well).

Thanks for your input. Happy painting!

I’ve reviewed Gregg’s video and now I’ll go back and take notes. I will definitely share what I’m learning from it.

Also, yesterday, I received Sherrie McGraw’s “Still Life with Onions” video. She’s slower in her presentation than Kreutz’s crisp approach, but definitely has something to offer, as far as the brief skipping review I’ve done. She’s very contemplative (which causes more lag than I like) but keeps her verbal focus on the painting, which I do like. When she answers students’ questions, she stops painting and directs her full attention to the answer :thumbsup: .

As with the Leffel video (both videos follow the same format), the palette is laid out in the beginning with each color identified; but after that, she dips into the paints without identifying the colors (as does Leffel), so one needs to sketch out the palette and identify the colors on a separate piece of paper to follow along with the color combinations.

In this video, she masses the dark areas, (with more contemplation than I can stand–I want to reach out, take her hand, and say “just put the damn brush on the canvas” ), then immediately sets in the highest highlight on the pot; she then lays in the surrounding colors. She says she sometimes works this way, but not all the time. In this case, she thought it advantageous (but I don’t remember why, if she gave a reason, because I was only skimming the video). Again, I’ll be going through this 4-hour video and taking notes which I’ll share.

All in all, both videos are good, but for the price I’d recommend the $79 Kreutz video over the $150 McGraw video, if one were to select only one in this genre (classicial still lifes) to buy. The seriously budget conscious could just rent the Kreutz video for $12 ($45 annual membership in order to rent as many of their videos as you want during the 12-months the fee covers) for the 7 viewing days they allow before it needs to be returned to them (or pay another $12 for another week of viewing).

Well, that’s all for now. And like I said, I will share my notes from both videos.