Because of the versatility of oils, painters can effectively express their personal approach in limitless ways. Anyone attempting to paint with oils will find in this book valuable insight into the different methods in which twenty painters have used the medium to advantage. Interviewed at the studio, each artist discusses how he or she develops an idea; paints in the studio or on the spot; works from photographs, sketches, or memory; and selects materials and tools. Richly illustrated with recent examples of the artist's work, each chapter explains many ways that an artist can define a problem and then resolve it with oils.

These in-depth profiles reveal a vast array of possibilities offered by oils! Hahn Vidal and Mark Daily execute their paintings with a rich buildup of oil pigments; Duane Wakeham prefers to apply thin layers of oils to retain the texture of the canvas; Aaron Bohrod creates precise details to achieve his almost frighteningly real trompe l’oeil still lifes; and Jay Hannah discusses why he eliminates details to emphasize the intensity of feeling in his still lifes.

The artists here come from many regions and different traditions of painting: Douglas Allen was most influenced by the Brandywine School – Howard Pyle and his students - while Paul Wiesenfeld attributes his fascination with interior light and detail to the work of Jan Vermeer. In contrast, Jane Wilson describes her absorption with Abstract Expressionism in New York. Gabriel Laderman and John Moore have intensely intellectual approaches to painting, and their methods are dictated by their concern for pictorial space and composition. In contrast, Forrest Moses regards his painting as more recreational than intellectual and explains why.

A variety of procedures is also presented, from those of Antonio Cirino and Carl Peters, who work on location in the tradition of the Impressionists, to those of Edward Fitzgerald, who records the simple details of the view from his New York apartment, or Joseph Solman, whose forty-year career is a story of changing procedures. How is oil painting related to drawing? While Frank Metz feels they are completely linked in his work, David Smith is more concerned with the paint itself, his paintings evolving on the surface of the canvas. The artist is not presented here in isolation, however. Both Ted Goerschner and Henry Hensche discuss their teaching methods, and Robert Lavin describes how he combines his love for industrial subjects with an unusual career.

20 Oil Painters and How They Work presents a panorama of ideas about technique, color, design, and other vital concerns of the professional artist student teacher, and serious amateur. These twenty profiles were adapted from the pages of American Artist, the most widely read art magazine in America, by its editor, Susan E. Meyer.