Reviewer: millie w.

I enjoyed the DVD very much. Both the video and audio were good.

I intend to order from you often as I feel I can learn better from your DVD s than taking a class.

Reviewer: marc l.

Let me start by saying that this video may well be exactly what you are looking for as well as explaining why it may not be ideal for you:

If you are a beginner who wants to make a decent portrait (without investing much work or time to gain basic painting experience) and you have strong drawing skills (or even a projector), this video will show you how to put a picture together using what I call the ''coloring book method'': Make a detailed charcoal pencil drawing, fix the drawing and prepare a limited selection of colors. Now, pick the correct 'crayon' for a given shape and fill it with that color. Repeat the last step until the ''patchwork of colors'' (his words) is finished.

An additional warning for beginners: Consider learning to sketch with paint rather than being sidetracked into building a new, separate skill such as drawing - unless you want to. I should also say that this is probably not a video which will take you up a notch in skill, not that there's anything wrong with that; Bill Alexander and Bob Ross have gotten many, many people started, after all. However, the video stops short of teaching beginners automatic identification of areas where color and value changes can be anticipated, how to implement those nuances in paint, as well as many other basic portrait skills

For an advanced beginner or intermediate painter, given the above, this video will probably not help you advance in skill either, as the method (''trick'' is probably more accurate than ''technique'') demonstrated is simply too formulaic (take a look at the photo and tell me your opinion of how well this ''technique'' works)

What this video does, it does well: if you need to make an oil portrait and have no time to waste learning how to make informed color choices or develop sketching skills with oils and brush, this sure-fire method is perfect. Otherwise, you should be reminded that bad habits are easy to pick up and difficult, if not impossible, to break later.

At least now you know how to decide if this video is worth your time.

Reviewer: Victoria C.

This was so cheesy. Just look at the stiff painting in the photo -- do you really want your paintings to look like that??

Reviewer: Arlene M.

I liked it. I learned something. However, I rented it to show my homeschooled kids how to paint in oil. My 8 yr. old daughter didn't like it. She expected a kid-friendly version of how to paint in oil. The whole idea of a face painted with so many shadow colors appalled her. Her reaction was funny. I understand. I wish I had another choice to show her.

The only thing I would change about the video, not the painter himself, is the lack of variety of angles at which the painting was made. It would have been nice to see more close-up version of it as if you're there painting it alongside the painter. It was shot from 1 or 2 angles the whole time some distance away, with few zoom-ins. I felt like I was standing right behind the painter, instead of right beside him.

Overall, I learned a few techniques and that was good enough. I would recommend it to grown ups who have never quite learned how to paint formally and would not mind the technicalities of the video.