Contents
A Selection of the Best
Watercolor Books Available
Watercolor
This practical and inspirational watercolor book guide, in a handy sketchbook format, is aimed at the practiced beginner and shows how to achieve successful watercolors in just 30 minutes – ideal for the busy amateur artist who doesn’t have too much time to paint. Many people think they don’t have enough time to paint, but in this attractive guide Fiona Peart encourages quick and simple learning. By working with just a few materials and focusing on just the key techniques it is possible to achieve successful paintings in no more than half an hour. And for those artists who already have a little painting experience, learning to work more quickly enables them to free up their style and paint more spontaneously. All the main topics are covered, from choosing the right equipment, learning about brush strokes and the key techniques to using color, emphasizing tone, direct painting and deciding on a subject. There are practical projects and step-by-step demonstrations as well as helpful tips and checklists. Subjects covered in this watercolor book includes still life, boats, water, flowers, landscapes, people, animals and buildings.
Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner
This popular watercolor book provides all the information you need to get started in watercolor painting. Full of clear, simple advice and more than 70 step-by-step demonstrations, Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner will teach even the least confident of beginners the skills and techniques needed to start painting. In this easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide, three professional artists explain all the basic watercolor techniques. Top TV artist Alwyn Crawshaw demonstrates the basic techniques including brushstrokes, color mixing and depicting distance and foreground to get you started in watercolor. Lecturer and Artist Sharon Finmark explains how you can paint realistic figures, covering scale and proportion, mixing convincing skin colors and portraying movement and light effectively. Artist and teacher Trevor Waugh demonstrates techniques for painting animals – domestic, farmyard and wild. Starting with simple animal shapes, Trevor takes you through the rudiments of 3D shapes, tone and color and the tricks of using foreshortening in your work.
10-Minute Watercolors: Techniques and Tips for Quick Watercolors
This handy, practical and inspirational little watercolor book is perfect for the pocket or art bag. It shows watercolor painters of all levels how to loosen up their paintings and maintain spontaneity by painting simple watercolor studies in no more than 10 minutes. Written by popular artist Hazel Soan, the book is arranged in three parts: the first section explains all about the equipment you will need; the second section covers techniques and shows what can be achieved with watercolor in a short time span; the third section looks at various subjects that are ideal for painting quickly. All the essential techniques are covered, focusing particularly on maximizing brushstrokes and exploring colors, and there is useful advice on deciding what to include and what to leave out. With helpful chapters on painting a wide range of subjects – people, landscapes, seascapes, buildings, gardens, flowers and still life – this little guide is ideal for quick reference when working in the studio or out in the field.
Paint Watercolors That Dance with Light: Step-by-step Techniques for Crisp Colors and Glowing Highlights
Simple step-by-step demonstrations guide the artist to create incredible paintings using bright watercolors. By following a selection of basic techniques, suitable for any artist, the reader can discover how to use watercolors to create loose and realistic paintings. Elizabeth’s incredibly effective techniques use masking fluid and layers of paint to create crisp edges and stunning colors.
Taking Risks with Watercolor
A practical, stimulating and superbly illustrated book for intermediate watercolorists who are looking for greater challenges in their work and who are prepared to experiment with this popular medium. Shirley Trevena’s watercolors are visually inspiring, vibrant with color and strong in composition. This book shows what stunning results she achieves and how she does it by taking risks with watercolor. Although watercolor can be a difficult medium to handle, Shirley maintains that you get the best results if you have no sense of fear and just let yourself enjoy watercolor’s fascinating versatility. Taking you through her paintings from the first concept to the finished watercolor, Shirley explains and illustrates her prize-winning techniques for producing luminous and colorful watercolors. She covers a wide range of topics, encouraging the reader to experiment with vibrant color, dynamic composition, tone, and bold textures and patterns to produce exciting still life, landscape and flower paintings. She also explains what to do if things go wrong, and how to develop your paintings successfully and move on in your work.
