50 Ways to Break the Rules and Kill Your Oil Painting

Stop following the rules and start writing your own.

Packed with 50 rule-breaking practical hacks and painting techniques to unlock your creativity, this is the maverick's guide to creating truly innovative art.

We've all heard the conventional wisdom: 'don't use black', 'you mustn't lead the eye out of the painting', and, 'for goodness' sake, don't put your subject slap-bang in the middle!'.

But as Picasso put it: 'learn the rules like a pro so that you can break them like an artist.'

• Paint outside the box: for each of the 50 'rules' discover Haidee-Jo's approach to breaking it, along with an inspiring finished painting, and practical techniques and handy tips
• Reinvigorate your painting practice: the practical exercises are worked in oils, but the principles apply across different artistic mediums. Either dip in and out if you find a rule you want to challenge, or work through them in order
• Lose the fear of getting it wrong! This is the ultimate anti-procrastination book: learn to reconnect with your creativity, develop an eye for innovation, and never feel afraid of a blank canvas again

This book, from best-selling and award-winning author Haidee-Jo Summers, is the perfect gift for artists of all abilities. It contains 50 fresh, lively exercises, each of which challenges conventional artistic wisdom, and proves that you can create something really, really right, even when you do everything wrong!