Controlled Painting by Frank Covino (1982, Paperback, Illustrated)

Frank Covino is a classical painter using the science of painting as the old masters did when they made their masterpieces. First drawing your picture on the canvas with charcoal, then using ink in the dark areas, then doing a tonal painting over the ink using mars black with Raw umber, raw sienna and ocher and flake white or lead white paint. Using only colors that do not absorb oil. Essentially this will look like a black in white painting when it is done, or brown and white, or green and white. It is the underpainting.

Once the underpainting is done then glazes of color that are premixed into tones from dark to light are laid under the gray line of paint. Gray goes into all colors that you put on the canvas. All of the colors purple, blue, red, yellow, green are mixed into 9 values that coorespond to the gray line so that you can mix gray into each color that you put on to the painting. Layer upon layer is glazed on to the the canvas. Each layers of colors are chosen according to their oil content as well. Fat over lean is stressed. He does use medium. He uses the same method as Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Rubins, Ingres, Michealangelo, Whistler, Sargent, Manet, and the list goes on. All of these artist were trained in the classical manner of painting and composition. They used the ratio of Pi and they used a controlled palette where colors are pre mixed into nine values before going to the canvas. There is no guess work to making a painting. It is the Munsell color system on steroids. It is very good.

I tried it and I liked it. I have been painting for over 40 years. This is simple and fool proof. It changed a lot of how I paint in the short time that I have had the book about 2 weeks. I purchased the book after I bought a video by Covino on line and I liked it. I've been painting for over 40 years. This book is good for both the beginner and the advanced artist.

The book I purchased was called a 'copy' version. The book has been out of print for a long time. Even this poor quality of a 'copy' of a book was worth every cent. The information in this book is sought after by artists who can not find it. Here it is. Buy it, you will never be sorry. Read it. It has the basics on how to make a painting. After you read and practice this then go make your wild paintings. I wish that I could say more here but it is only a book review. If you are serious about fine art you would not be disappointed if you bought this book. It starts people back to on the basics, THE BASICS YOU NEVER LEARNED IN ART SCHOOL.