Bump It Up!
Make 'Good Paintings' Even Better.
If you're no longer interested in creating merely 'pleasant' paintings...if you want to create stronger works of 'soaring visual poetry,' this book is for you. In 7 Keys to Great Paintings, Jane passes on core information and feedback gathered in her nearly 30 years of teaching and painting.

We can all look at a painting and know that it moves us ... in this book, you'll learn WHY it moves you and HOW you can achieve the same effect on your viewers. In her lighthearted, down-to-earth teaching style, Jane hones in on seven steps used by great painters throughout the centuries to make their paintings sing. Her clear and friendly teaching style combines with her breathtaking art to make this a book not to be missed'

You Can Do This!
Jane presents the 7 keys in a way that makes the whole process--getting started, finding a focal point, choosing colors--a whole lot easier and more manageable. Her extensive workshop-teaching background is evident: each concept is broken down into memorable, bite-size pieces...put into action with practical, work-along guidelines...and illustrated with wonderfully inspiring example paintings, alive with atmosphere. You'll find lots of 'right' and 'wrong' examples, common problems and their solutions, and exciting new approaches to try--like line extension (for moving the eye in an interesting, abstracted way) and color searching (to charge your paintings with beautiful and intricate color shifts).

The 7 Keys
Key 1: Pattern: The Best Paintings Have Exciting Shapes
Key 2: Passage: Please the Eye
Key 3: Focal Area: Create Impact
Key 4: Color: Make a Connection
Key 5: Design: Gain Artistic Freedom
Key 6: The Golden Mean: Attract the Eye
Key 7: Emotional Depth: Paint What's In Your Heart

It All Adds Up to 'WOW!'
Step-by-step demonstrations take on a range of painting challenges, from florals to landscapes, showing how to pull the seven keys together in a powerful, eye-pleasing way. Each chapter ends with a summary page--an excellent way to review now and refresh your memory down the road.

Throughout, you'll find clever ideas for making the 7 keys even easier to apply to your everyday painting life. For example, Jane suggests pre-painting value patterns on watercolor paper to use as underpaintings in your studio or on your travels. ('When painting on location, I love to reach into my portfolio for one such pattern and match it to my subject matter or the mood. Having the first part of the painting already done speeds up the whole process.')

See inside this Book