Vibrant Acrylics: A contemporary guide to capturing life with colour and vitality

I'd been waiting a while for this book to be published and was delighted when it popped through my letterbox. Hashim Akib's work is vibrant and full of life and his approach to acrylics is just what I was looking for.All the basics are included such as choice of paints, brushstrokes, composition etc but it isn't a plain old 'how to' book - it's much more than that. His enthusiasm for his art shines through as his demos display how to create paintings full of life and colour. The assorted demos range from animals to abstract, landscapes to crowds with lots of lovely colour photos and easy to understand instructions. As the previous review states, this is a book about juicy,thick acrylics and not about pretending they are oils or watercolours - let's hear it for acrylics!

I saw Hashim Akibs work in the Beecroft Gallery and was so taken by his wonderfully exciting vibrant style I visited it every day for a week!The book iis big and bold. It explains well the materials used and easy to follow exercises in building up skills in technique, light and colour that gives one confidence to 'have a go'.Vibrant Acrylics covers still life, animals, landscapes, portraits, crowds, buildings and abstracts.Its worth getting the dvd too, which gives one an insight into how he 'picks up' and uses the paint on his palette.

I have just received this book and cant wait to get started on some of the exercises. Very exciting. it is indeed vibrant and will hopefully let me relax my painting style.

I wanted a book that would help me to loosen up my paintings and this book has done the trick. The step-by-step exercises are useful, especially as you're given the photo that they're based on. Using a broad, flat brush and not pre-mixing the colours leads to a more vibrant and less photographic painting, with less fiddling with details. I recommend this book.

I had been waiting for this book from Hashim after seeing him demonstrate his methods at the SAA art day in Islington 2011. I was mesmerised at the way mere strokes suddenly become 3D images using imaginative and bold colours. Having read it several times now it has really helped me understand how and why tonal values are far more important than detail in the initial stages and my own art is improving as a result of this. It really makes you think in a different way and Hashim holds your hand through the various projects. Well worth the purchas if you want to improve. Whilst he uses acrylics it works for oils too.

Good Graphics

I new what to expect when I pre-ordered Vibrant Acrylics as I have attended many of Hash's workshops but when it came I was supprised how different it was to other artists books. I am used to seeing the vibrancy of his work and his beautiful brush strokes so was thrilled to see in his book how easy it was to follow. I had completed two of the tuition excersise in the first weekend using his tecnique and my photos. What I also liked was that there were swatches for the ground colour. Can't wait for the next book!!

Good book, very vibrant as expected.

I’m new at painting with acrylics. Really enjoy his paintings. The book gave great insight into how he creates.

Practical and easy to follow. Since then I started my new journey on impasto style

If you're interested in a more spontaneous, free, style of painting, then this book is for you. The author is an experienced and talented professional artist and teacher and really knows his genre. Not just a picture book, this book on painting with acrylics is also a great read with excellent and detailed information about how to approach this style and get great results.*Independent review

Delivered on time, item as described. Recommend.

The media could not be loaded.  I like it very much. I'm trying to loosen up my style and not paint in a too photographic and too realistic way and I think this book gives ideas on how to paint in a more loose and creative style. I think this is for intermediate level, for beginners the paintings may be too difficult.I like better the paintings shown at the beginning of the book that unfortunately don't have the step by step. They are really nice. The ones that have the step by step are the ones that are on the cover of the book and a couple more. I don't like them as much but they are useful to learn the techniques.I am adding photos of paintings of mine I am already copying from the book.I have done a video filming the pages of the book so you can have a better look of the inside of the book.