Artists without knowledge of good composition, wondering about how to create well balanced and visually appealing art can start their journey with this book. As it is mentioned in this title, “composition is a broad subject”, so it’s best to digest in small chunks.

This book introduces readers to the principles of design and other basic principles in a practical way. Concepts are explained with words but also shown visually (most of the book consists of watercolor, acrylic or oil paintings analyzed). This approach is very suitable for beginners, it makes it easier to understand and put into practice.

Composition analysis with advice and tips is provided for landscapes, portraits, still life and florals. There’s a chapter, almost at the end, that focuses on how to use photographs to create paintings with good composition. With only 128 pages, this book is easy to read and holds a lot of information to get you started creating more appealing paintings.

Great for anyone trying to learn to paint!  I've recently taken up painting, after a lifetime of inking and pencil, and this helped me tremendously.

This is a very well designed book with valuable technical information for artists who work in different media. This book covers the techniques needed for creating well-composed works of art in acrylic, watercolor, and oil painting. It is very well written and details planning, how to choose subjects and how to work from photographs. This also covers aids such as the use of grids and projectors, lighting, and taking into consideration different contrast, understanding the differences difference between positive and negative space, and more.

Very thorough and great for new artists and those wanting more advanced ideas on how to improve the paintings they create.

I really enjoyed this book use and learned a great deal. I recieved the book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Most painting books start with a list of supplies and explanation for color theory.  Kim also had great tips on how to be sure you have the right proportions for your drawing before you start painting.  When she discussed value she showed a photo of the value finder she uses.  It would be better if she provided a link on where to purchase one.  

I like the good, better, best technique she used to explain how you choose a composition.  Showing three examples of the same subject and explaining why the composition was best, helped me understand what to look for in my own paintings.

I enjoyed the instructional painting book and would recommend it for both beginner and advanced painters.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

Some nice techniques looked at and images to show what is being talked about - not a long explanation. some step by step at the end of a few techniques. Nice that it is for those who use acrylic, watercolour, and oil and not just saying it is for just one.

Portfolio: Beginning Composition by Kimberly Adams
Tips and techniques for creating well-composed works of art in acrylic, watercolor, and oil

Colorful well written book that details the basics of composition, planning, how to choose subjects and how to work from photographs. From the use of grids and projectors to light, design, contrast, value, difference between positive and negative space, use of sketchbooks, motion, perspective and more this book will provide newbie artists and those more advanced ideas on how to improve the paintings they create. I enjoyed the use of color in the paintings and the section on use of background to make the subject pop. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing-Walter Foster for the ARC – This is my honest review

4 Stars

Portfolio: Beginning Composition is a tutorial and theory handbook by Kimberly Adams. Released 5th Nov 2019 by Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 128 pages and available in paperback format.

This is a beautifully designed and accessible book with a lot of valuable technical information for artists and draftsmen who work in different media. The introduction (~15% of the page content) covers studio setup and space, working conditions, tips and advice, tools and supplies, and -very- general tips (one page) on techniques of practice, sketching, and thumbnails.

The following chapters cover composition, planning a design, choosing subjects, and using reference photos for paintings. Throughout the book, the illustrations utilize several different artists' paintings and compositions to illustrate the lessons. (References to the artists' online presence are contained in a links list at the back of the book for further research).

There is a lot of theory and complex composition contained here and the author does a good job of making it accessible to the reader. The composition chapter, for example, contains a good discussion of contrast, value, positive and negative space, and perspective. The lessons are well illustrated without being overly complex or off-putting.

This would make a good addition to the artist's personal library or a support text for a classroom unit on art history, composition, and similar studies.

Five stars.

I found this book very practical and had a lot of basic and advanced information on composition for a painting. I was particularly interested in perspective, as I find I struggle a bit with this. The other areas covered were negative space, positive space, contrast and value and  colour.  The book also covers aspects of design and how to had movement to your painting. This does not only cover landscapes but also florals, still live and portraiture. Well written and easy to understand this book is full of examples and information to try out.

This was a good summary of how to tackle and think about your own compositions of your paintings with lots of examples and explanations.

A really help in the composition of your own artwork
After the introduction Kimberly Adams turns her book "Portfolio: Beginning Compositions. Tips and techniques for creating well-composed works of art in acrylic, watercolor, and oil", published by Quarry Publishing Group - Walter, into five main chapters: 1) Getting Started, 2) Composition, 3) Planning a Design, 4) Subjects of a Design, and 5) Turning Photos Into Extraordinary Paintings. She underlines the importance of the right place, the right mood, and the right frame of mind for the artists to create their works of art. She explains what composition is and shows with examples the difference between - good - better - best. Tips and comments that accompany the presented artwork are a valuable help for the readers to understand the author's instructions.
The book presents itself with a great design and marvelous photos and illustrations. It really can be an inspirational tool for artist who work with watercolor, acrylics, or oils and makes also a great gift. The step-by-step instructions are also valuable and a help when the artist wants to reproduce the presented pictures. It can be highly recommended although the very complex examples might be too difficult for beginners.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#PortfolioBeginningComposition	#NetGalley

Superspeed readers like me can read 150 - 200+ pages/hour, so yes, I have read the book … and many more today. LOL			
			
I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.  			
			
From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.			
			
Learn to create eye-catching, well-composed works of art using acrylic, oil, and watercolour paints. Beginning Composition features quick exercises for getting started in art, primers on the principles of composition and the Rule of Thirds, what to look for when composing artwork, examples of successful (and unsuccessful) compositions from a selection of artists, and customizable painting projects.

The Portfolio series covers essential art techniques, core concepts, and media with an approach and format that’s perfect for aspiring, beginning, and intermediate artists. From this concept- and technique-driven series comes Beginning Composition, which details how to compose a work of art so that it draws in—and then holds—the viewer’s attention.

Written and illustrated by Kimberly Adams, an experienced author and professional artist with years of experience in creating versatile, stunning works of art, Beginning Composition teaches you how to create successful compositions in acrylic, oil, and watercolour paints. After an introduction to the essentials of composition and some examples of composition in action, you are then invited to create your own artwork on a range of subjects, including landscapes, florals, animals, and more. The painting projects encourage personalization and creativity. Other topics covered include conveying mood and emotion through composition, the Golden Ratio, focal points, and more.

With Portfolio: Beginning Composition, artists of all skill levels can learn to create engaging compositions in a range of art media.

This is an interesting book for artists of every medium in search of help with the composition of their artworks. I can paint but always have a problem with finding a focal point so I learned a lot from this book and wrote down a million or so ideas. The photographs and examples are beautiful and the book covers the gamut from landscapes to still life: I think any artist would get something out of reading this book and enjoying it as much as I did. 

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I love emojis (outside of their incessant use by "Social Influencer Millennials" on Instagram and Twitter) so let's give it 🎨🎨🎨🎨

This book does exactly what its title promises: it provides a solid overview of the basics of composition. Approachable and well-explained, I think it will be very useful for the artists looking for prompts to jump-start a new composition. The images chosen clearly exemplify the concepts being conveyed, but I do wish there were a greater variety of images. Overall, a good, practical guide!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A really useful books for any beginner or aspiring artist.  It gives so man techniques and tips for creating better pictures,  The illustrations in the book are clear, vibrant and beautiful and really help you understand want the author is teaching.  So many angles and methods are tackled that it is really a book worth reading.  It will encourage you to put lost of thought into how you compose your art pieces. A great resource and reference book for any artist to add to their library.

A fantastic book that thoughtfully and comprehensively explains how to think about composition.
Images are clear and so useful to see exactly what the author means.
Well planned and presented and a fabulous guide for beginners

I really loved this book. The photography is truly stunning, creative and inspirational. It covers everything from getting started with composition in your creative work (grids, value finders, techniques), composition in detail (examples, values and contrasts, negative and positive space, perspective), planning your designs and composition (including landscapes, portraits, still lifes, florals), turning photos into paintings (which is particular relevant in today's age when so many people use their phones to captures inspirational images) and much, much more. It is jam packed with ideas, inspirations, top tips, guides, examples, images and suggestions. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is creative.