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David spends time setting up the subject, a delft mug with peaches and grapes on a piece of lace. He talks about the perspective of his subject and the reasoning behind the depth of vision he has chosen. Leffel's forte is lighting, motion of the light and the drama created by carefully executed shadows juxtaposed with vibrant color and brilliant highlights. He shares all his secrets with the viewer as he lays in each stroke. The handling of the brush, the texture of the canvas, and his own unique use of thick, rich color, are all important elements of his painting style. Leffel gets into the heart of the painting astonishingly quickly; the fruits, the ripe warm peaches, and the translucent, black-red grapes begin to emerge. The subject of his work carries the light with the rest of the painting considered "background.
(about 124 minutes)
The many secrets of Leffels' painting techniques, including the subtle use of brilliant color and achieving the impasto quality of his highlights. Leffel talks about the setup, blocks in the head, roughs the clothing and facial features. Next, the planes of the face begin to appear, each brush stroke direction creating apparent movement of the muscles around the face. Throughout the demonstration, the painter explains step-by-step exactly what he is doing and affords special insights into his technique.
(about 125 minutes)
This video was added to our catalog on December 08, 2005 in Arts & Crafts::Painting: Oil.
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David Leffel is a wonderful painter. With all his experience as an instructer, I just wonder why he comes across as vague and bewildered on video.
I would say a rating of 3/5 is about right for this video. While David may be a contemporay master, do not expect to learn colors, mixing, or brushes that he uses. This video is more of a philosphy of painting.
This is not for begginers, but it is a delight to see his brush touching the canvas. Not about the individual concept of colors, edges, and values,but a lesson on how to look at an object and how to represent it. For someone with some intermediate skills, this can be of great value.
Disappointing still life video! Some very interesting, useful, even profound ideas, principles and philosophy are espoused by Mr. Leffel, however the demonstartion painting was not completed by the end of the video. Mr. Leffel's almost "signature" approach to still life painting, the "chiaroscurro" style, was not in evidence at the end of the video. His dramatic use of light, the portrayal of it's movement and effect on the focal objects was well-represented and executed by his expertize. But, where was the chiaroscurro? He did not complete the "background" nor the "surrounding" shadows and light. I also found several contradictions in his comments; for example, "There are NO rules", but he showed how to hold a brush, how to apply paint versus "rendering". He also said there is "no blending". Then Mr Leffel "moved" paint of one color/value into another, "mushing" the paint back and forth, creating a "soft edge" or transition which I perceived as blending strokes.
For those fans of David Leffel, any opportunity to watch him paint is a good one. Some people may find his soothing, monotone discourse a little sleep-inducing, and there is no instruction on materials. But if you are interested in seeing a portrait done, alla prima, and hearing some accompanying talk about the art of painting the portrait, - I would recommend it.
In this video David does quite a bit of talking long before he begins painting. If you've seen his other videos or books you already know what he is saying. Also, during the video he gets very distracted and neither paints or talks in his best form. Still, I am always excited to see him paint and that was interesting.
This was a good CD to watch only for how Leffel lays paint down on canvas. He does not go into anything regarding composition, palette choices, or even much of his decision making strategies. He is not able to think and paint at the same time, and so his teaching ability is spotty at best. Still, for the more advanced painter/student it is good to watch a master at work. My sense is that he is more introverted and intuitive and therefore the CD is best watched with a finger poised and ready on fast forward.
Excellent program for advanced artists...if you didn't like it watch it 3 or 4 more times until you get it. His teachings are the next step.
Great, I liked it a lot. It is kind of slow but the information it gives makes it worth it. Maybe not for beginers although they would learn many painting principles here, just be patience with this dvd. David Leffel is amazing.
This is an older video so it has a different look than the newer instruction videos being produced now. David Leffel is a supreme painter and teacher, and it was a thrill to see him work. I don’t believe a beginner would really understand the concepts that David is talking about; this is better for a more advanced painter who would hear what he is saying.
This is a fabulous learning experience. I watched it again and again. He is a master of painting. He shows you how to use the brush to paint, and how to paint. This is a must for a beginner or an advanced painter.
to me, the dvd was very helpful. I am studying his philosophy and the visual is great. Patty Smith
It was a good video, Davids skill as an artist is top of the list. But I always found myself dozing off, David had a lot of good points, but seems to go too long on philosophy of light, values,etc. other than that, I really liked it, but I wish he would have talked more on techniques.
He is a master painter. Very informative. I would recommend this to anyone
I enjoyed watching the artist develop his still life and explain in his lovely voice why he does what he does. I am not even an oil painter, but I learned so much about composition and what painting is all about. I only wish the video had been longer.
