This modern painting guide is a sourcebook for study, teaching, professional practice, and personal enrichment written and edited by league instructor and artist James L. McElhinney in cooperation with the Art Students League of New York, America's signature art school, run by artists for artists. Founded in 1875, the Art Students League of New York has nurtured students like Jackson Pollack and Georgia O'Keefe. Today, more than 2,500 students of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels study at the League each month. This book invites the reader into the studio classrooms of some of the League's most acclaimed and beloved instructors-including Sharon Sprung, Mary Beth McKenzie, and Henry Finkelstein - for lessons on a variety of fundamental topics and approaches in painting. Richly illustrated with artwork from the League's considerable archives, its instructors, and its students, the book will be a source of inspiration and enrichment for painters of all levels.