This particular book is one of the least helpful books around. The reason for this is simple. The book seems more about how "Golden Fluid Acrylics" are better than anything else, and makes several other references about how brand-a is better than -b. While it is true that artist acrylics are better than "student" brands, I've achieved similar results with Liquitex, Grumbacher, and Holbein products. I think it was unneccesary to promote Golden as much as the auther did. I also think he had a lot of nice paintings in the book, but as far as how to achive those results I think you might be better off using one of several other acrylic books listed on this site.