Experiments in Modern Art

Sterling Pub. Co. [Published 1968]. Hardcover, 88 pp. Black and white illustrations and some color plates. [From back cover] The premise of this book is that everyone is a born artist and can learn the fundamentals of art by "going at it right." The author, a California artist and teacher, not only tells how to "go at it right," but he convinces you that you can recapture the creative urge of childhood by letting your imagination run free and by reacting spontaneously on canvas to the many things that stimulate your mind and emotions. This book is for amateur and professional alike, for the goal is not expertise but learning to express yourself, something that is in danger experiments in modern art experiments in modern art fection. As an instructor, Mr. Barrio has successfully used his method to teach over a thousand students. An art critic and columnist for two central California newspapers, Mr. Barrio has also contributed many feature articles on art to various national magazines devoted to art and design. Among his most unusual work is a collection of vigorous brush drawings; many are included among the illustrations in this book. Mr. Barrio's aim here is to let the very act of wielding the brush, experimenting with different techniques, become the sought-after experience. He advocates the use of new fast-drying acrylic and polymer paints instead of oils, but his principles are applicable in almost any medium. The main idea is to attack your subject with the vitality inherent in your unleashed urge to create and express inner emotions. Another primary consideration is to see your subject as an entity with forms pulsating and throbbing against one another. Mr. Barrio's ideas should inform, excite and inspire you.