For Jenny Aitken, teaching painting is an absolute passion – her main aim is for students to be encouraged, informed and creatively enthused. She began tutoring and demonstrating ten years ago, and now runs online courses and art holidays around the UK and in Italy and France.Since graduating in Art & Art History from seaside university Aberystwyth, she has exhibited all over the UK and won many awards. She was elected an associate member of the RSMA in 2021, and won the Topbond Marine Award in 2022. She is currently represented by several UK galleries, including The Harbour Gallery in Cornwall and Peter Barker Gallery in Rutland. You can also view and purchase daily studies, paintings, prints, calendars and cards from her own online gallery on www.jennyaitken.co.ukJenny is a regular contributor to The Artist Magazine, and an online tutor, with a series of 25+ modules on painting in oils and acrylics. She also produces shorter painting videos on YouTube.Her first book, Painting into the Light, has sold more than 9,000 copies since publication in 2024.Jenny lives in Derbyshire, UK, not far from the beautiful Peak District.

Books on oils have never completely gone away but, with watercolour being the predominant medium, they have always been something of an undercurrent.When I first became involved with art books, those on oils were desperately worthy and tended to concentrate on the medium as an end in itself. I even had a voice I used for those people who said “I only paint in oils” as if it was some kind of holy pursuit. More recently we’ve started to think of the medium as just that: a way of creating images and of doing so in the contemporary way – looser brushwork and often quite bright colours. A lot of the sombre approach of older times was down to the Old Master paintings displayed in galleries and simply in need of a clean. People led much brighter lives in The Old Days™ than we’re sometimes led to believe.This new guide is immediately attractive for all the reasons I’ve outlined above. Jenny gives us eight projects that work with flowers, landscapes, seascapes, buildings, clouds and woodlands, with movement and snow also thrown in. It’s a nicely varied selection that will allow you to work with your favourite subjects.This is nicely done all round and presented with a confidence that betokens an author comfortable in their work.

• IntroductionHow to use this bookTools and materialsTaking the plungeGetting startedProjectsFlowersColour and mixing; Composition; SimplificationCloudsPremixing colour for speed; Greys and colourLandscapeForeground and distance painting; Depth and light; Moving subjectsSeascapeWindy weather; small preparation study on-siteMovementMovement and change; Brushwork and direction; Looking for patternsWoodlandFocus and editing; Brushwork and texture; Studio finishBuildingsAccuracy without drawing; Editing the viewSnowPerspective; Pushing colourConclusionIndex

For Jenny Aitken, teaching painting is an absolute passion – her main aim is for students to be encouraged, informed and creatively enthused. She began tutoring and demonstrating ten years ago, and now runs online courses and art holidays around the UK and in Italy and France.Since graduating in Art & Art History from seaside university Aberystwyth, she has exhibited all over the UK and won many awards. She was elected an associate member of the RSMA in 2021, and won the Topbond Marine Award in 2022. She is currently represented by several UK galleries, including The Harbour Gallery in Cornwall and Peter Barker Gallery in Rutland. You can also view and purchase daily studies, paintings, prints, calendars and cards from her own online gallery on www.jennyaitken.co.ukJenny is a regular contributor to The Artist Magazine, and an online tutor, with a series of 25+ modules on painting in oils and acrylics. She also produces shorter painting videos on YouTube.Her first book, Painting into the Light, has sold more than 9,000 copies since publication in 2024.Jenny lives in Derbyshire, UK, not far from the beautiful Peak District.

Books on oils have never completely gone away but, with watercolour being the predominant medium, they have always been something of an undercurrent.When I first became involved with art books, those on oils were desperately worthy and tended to concentrate on the medium as an end in itself. I even had a voice I used for those people who said “I only paint in oils” as if it was some kind of holy pursuit. More recently we’ve started to think of the medium as just that: a way of creating images and of doing so in the contemporary way – looser brushwork and often quite bright colours. A lot of the sombre approach of older times was down to the Old Master paintings displayed in galleries and simply in need of a clean. People led much brighter lives in The Old Days™ than we’re sometimes led to believe.This new guide is immediately attractive for all the reasons I’ve outlined above. Jenny gives us eight projects that work with flowers, landscapes, seascapes, buildings, clouds and woodlands, with movement and snow also thrown in. It’s a nicely varied selection that will allow you to work with your favourite subjects.This is nicely done all round and presented with a confidence that betokens an author comfortable in their work.

• IntroductionHow to use this bookTools and materialsTaking the plungeGetting startedProjectsFlowersColour and mixing; Composition; SimplificationCloudsPremixing colour for speed; Greys and colourLandscapeForeground and distance painting; Depth and light; Moving subjectsSeascapeWindy weather; small preparation study on-siteMovementMovement and change; Brushwork and direction; Looking for patternsWoodlandFocus and editing; Brushwork and texture; Studio finishBuildingsAccuracy without drawing; Editing the viewSnowPerspective; Pushing colourConclusionIndex