Her book starts with her own personal history with art in a suburban childhood, and continues with a discussion of materials to choose from when painting landscape on canvas, contrasting the many types of oils with acrylic paints; and discussing types of brushes, canvas and other necessities. 

The following chapters touch on planning and composing a painting - with ideas to get your creative juices flowing in sketchbooks or through your own reference photo photography. Extensive discussion and illustration of how to make your sketches and photos into a good composition is included. A chapter discussing painting process is next, with questions about using an easel vs. painting flat, a discussion of direct "alla prima" painting vs. layered painting, and a breakdown of the topic: how do you address problems in your painting? How do you analyze your painting? How do you know when you're done?
Chapters on painting with a sense of depth and with dramatic lighting feature wide ranging discussions of issues that come up in painting as artists  try to convince their viewers of the way it was to be in a particular place.  Susan's illustrations from the last two decades of her painting experience show the viewer how to approach backgrounds to convey a sense of space; how to introduce light which may not have been present at the time, and how to highlight your subject when you paint.  
The last section of the book is devoted to walking the reader through the construction of five realistic landscapes from her own body of work: a mountain hillside, a forest stream, a snowy Pennsylvania farm, a Georgia sunset and a southern river scene all are broken down into step-by-step photos of Susan's work process.