North Light's "First Step" series is designed for the absolute beginner. This colorful, illustrted book clearly introduces the versatile medium of acrylics. Lord's simple and effective features, like "Composition Dos and Don'ts," help make this an extremely well-done manual.

For students starting in acrylic painting, this book provides everything needed to get off to a strong start - from what supplies to buy to how to make the most of acrylic's bright colors. Easy-to-follow exercises show young artists how to paint flowers, trees, bricks, skies, fur and other simple subjects, while teaching a variety of application techniques. Step-by-step demonstrations help apply what's learned to make original paintings. There's plenty of specific instructions-color suggestions, what size brushes to use, even which direction to make brush strokes for different effects.