Book excerpt: Charles Reid says you don't have to be a botanist to paint flowers beautifully. Rather than produce anatomical paintings, it's far more important to capture the quality, the feeling, and the spirit of the flowers. In this book, Reid turns his skillful eye and clear, helpful teaching methods to painting flowers in oil paints. Beginning with a detailed discussion of materials and palettes, you will go on to learn a bit about flowers and flower parts in general, as well as brush techniques like drybrushing, scumbling, and pointillism. Then, with plenty of examples and guided assignments, you will learn to paint a wide variety of leaf forms before moving on to specific flower types and arrangements. As the chapters progress, you'll learn to properly mix values and colors for specific effects; compositional lessons about boundaries, lessons on subject placement and horizons; and how to uses edges, lighting, and patterns to bring your flower paintings to life. From formal still-life arrangements to wildflower landscapes, this book has everything you need to know about painting flowers. Accessible to students of all skill levels, Flower Painting in Oil is ideal for intermediate or advanced students who are interested in studying the forms, colors, and textures of flowers. By learning to truly "see" flowers, you'll learn to paint them like never before. Readers interested in related titles from Charles Reid will also want to see: Painting by Design (ISBN: 9781626543218), Painting What (You Want) to See (ISBN: 9781626543782), Pulling Your Paintings Together (ISBN: 9781626543843), The Natural Way to Paint (ISBN: 9781626543829).