Most of my painting has been with watercolors with a focus on traditional themes. I purchased artist/author Patti Brady's "Rethinking Acrylic" along with "Acrylic . . . for Dummies" in order to learn more about the physical properties, benefits, limitations, and current uses of acrylic paint in art works. Ms. Brady's book primarily uses her own work to illustrate the flexibility of acrylic paints. Her works are far from the traditional themes I focus on, but her works have encouraged me to try new directions in WC as well as to play more with acrylics. Persons who need info on basic techniques of acrylic painting might find her book a little intimidating, but persons who feel comfortable with their efforts in other drawing and painting media probably will enjoy seeing how versatile acrylics are and, like me, probably will be encouraged to try some new things with their regular media while trying out acrylics. So, don't feel intimidated; just step on in.

This book is VERY informative with topics that I haven't seen in print prior to this. As a seasoned artist, I found it a wonderful reference book and one that has given me an even wider vision. Good job, Patti!!!!

This book is an excellent source for ideas on using acrylic mediums in a wide variety of ways. Great step-by-step tutorials with good photos give you all the inspiration you need to push your use of paint further. One thing to note it that the demonstrations exclusively use Golden products (Brady represents them), although this is not really a limitation because (in my opinion) Golden has by far the most complete and best-documented line of acrylic of any manufacturer. I have been painting and experimenting with Golden mediums for at least 10 years, and I found many, many new ideas to play with here. Highly recommended.

"Rethinking Acrylic" is a very good book for its price. Patti Brady, the author, defines acrylic in great detail and shows step-by-step how to use acrylic paints in a many different ways.

Please note, this book is not for the beginner painter, as it goes beyond painting by showing how to create forms with acrylics with many different methods that Patti shows throughout the book.

If you wish to complete a painting in a day, then this book is not for you because the methods of this painting are time consuming.

This book is for the more experience painter who has lots of time, space, and money to buy the supplies needed to create this type of art work.

In addition, the process of creating a painting, as Patti has done, takes lots of time, patience, and like stated before, space.

If you like challenges, then this book is for you.

If you bored with just applying several layers to your canvas and want lots more, then this book is for you.

I suggest this book because like stated before, Patti goes beyond painting and creating works of arts that will last many lifetimes.

Personally, I have created layered works like Patti; however, I have yet gone where Patti has gone. For her works are advance pieces, and it takes a person, similar to a jeweler, to create the masterpieces that she has created in her book, "Rethinking Acrylics".

Sincerely, Pamela Carvajal Drapala

Patti Brady's "Rethinking Acrylics" has proved to be even better than my (previously reviewed) favourite, Nancy Reyner's "Acrylic Revolution, and that's saying a lot. As an artist, I have changed from pastel work to painting abstracts in acrylics, and I could not have developed the unique textural and reflective effects I wanted without the help of Patti Brady's book.

One comment claims that most artists use only acrylic pigments and water. Maybe hobby artists do, but to create finishes that professionally replicate the beautiful effects of traditional mediums like oils and encaustics, it is necessary to go further than pigment and water alone. For example, there are artists like myself who do not have the correct ventilation for using encaustics. Patty Brady demonstrates an exciting "faux encaustic" using acrylic pigments and mediums that solves the problem and looks very like the real thing.

Another challenge is in creating vibrancy and light. It is not possible to use ten to twenty glazes to achieve light refraction and depth without using the unique effects of acrylic mediums. And if you want to "float" objects in successive transparent layers, the use of an acrylic medium is essential. Brady covers all these techniques and more.

Regardless of whether you like Patti Brady's style of art or not, she has the use of acrylic mediums down to a fine art. If you want to learn to exploit acrylics to the full, this is definitely the book. And it does show work in progress from other artists who demonstrate creative uses of acrylic pigments and mediums in very different styles.

While the book does focus exclusively on Golden Artists Colours, it is possible to adapt the techniques to other quality brands. The emphasis is on quality. It is impossible to achieve the same effects (as Brady does) by using cheap substitutes. I have also found Golden Paints much more user friendly than other brands in regard to toxicity. Despite initial price, they are economical because they have a high chroma and so go a long way. No, it does not cost $50 dollars to complete a painting with Golden Paints" as one commenter claims. My most recent work was 39 inches x 45 inches and the Golden Products I used would have cost me less than $15 (and some were specialty products.)

There are no "cheap gimmicks" in this book as one critic has claimed. It is the ability to achieve the visual statement you want that determines choice of paint medium. "Rethinking Acrylics" has helped me achieve results well beyond what I had initially hoped.