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Marvin, you raise a good point. Even I have to admit that I got most of my basics from an actual teacher, not from a book, and once I understood the basics, what I could learn from a book went up considerably.
In my case, the teachers have been other artists who have generously taken time away from their painting to teach me. My first teacher was an illustrator named David Martin. From him I learned the absolute basics of drawing, painting, color, value, etc. I then went on to Frank Covino who taught me more about painting, value, color and so much more. My latest teacher has been Bill Whitaker who has helped me see alternatives that will help me improve and really helped me refine my work. Bill has also provided some basics that I never got like painting from life under natural light.
So while it may not be optimal, I believe that it is possible for an adult artist to get good training and learn the basics over a spread out period of time.
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