Vibrant Acrylics Book & DVD Set with Hashim Akib

This exciting book from first-time author Hashim Akib, 2009 SAA Artist of the Year, is much more about the process of painting than it is about the mechanics of applying paint. As Hashim says, "The best tool for learning to paint is to paint", and his colourful and fluent artworks can't fail to encourage you to do just that.

The book is filled with tips and demonstrations, but also with light, colour and urgency that all fully justify the use of Vibrant in the title. Hashim paints in a heavy impasto style that creates a sense of movement and vitality to subjects that include landscapes, portraits, buildings and animals. Intriguingly, he also works from a coloured ground that sets off the overpainting that follows, bringing everything forward as a result and giving real depth to light and shade.

In the DVD he focuses on three contrasting subjects - a landscape: 'Woodland Light', a portrait: 'Hard Life', and an urban-scape: 'Rush Hour'.

In the portrait project, Hashim describes the importance of acclimatising to the scene by creating colour layers, giving depth and texture. His urban-scape project is a great example of how to break a complex scene down into simple, manageable shapes.

The DVD also includes a special feature showing you how to use negative space and shape to create a background, full of tips and techniques to encourage and inspire you.

Book & DVD: Search Press . Paperback. 128 pages. Colour throughout . 75 mins

Please note that while this is a Region 0 DVD, it is PAL formatted and therefore unlikely to play in North America, Japan, South Korea and some of the Pacific Islands.

However, all DVDs will play on personal computers and laptops.