Featuring essential techniques, warm-up exercises, and inspiring projects, this book is perfect for those wanting to learn to paint withwatercolors. A fresh approach to learning watercolor skills Practical instruction with step-by-step projects warm-up exercises encourage experimentation Highlights the techniques and materials used by professional artists Simple steps to success
Overcome "creative block" and break out of your norm! Every artist struggles with creativity at one time or another. Creative Watercolor Workshop will help you, the watercolor artist, explore your creativity and stretch your boundaries while still making the realistic and semi-realistic art that you love to paint. This book is chock-full of hands-on projects, techniques and strategies to get you thinking beyond your self-imposed creative boundaries. Mark Mehaffey, an experienced, friendly teacher, begins with the basic of designing a strong painting with shape, value and color. Once you've mastered these keys to any successful painting - regardless of style - you will have the confidence to be more creative! Mehaffey will show you practical techniques and lead you in experiments with color, composition, painting surfaces, methods of applying paint, and more. This book offers creative exercises for every skill level and comfort level, as well as demonstrations, painting critiques, weak/strong comparisons and examples by Mehaffey and a variety of other accomplished artists. With this book in your studio, you'll be encouraged to have fun while creating wonderful art. In no time, you will have a variety of tools for jump-starting your creativity and painting with confidence!
Watercolor is a magical and often challenging medium. Once mastered, it will reward you with the pleasure of creating striking works of art of infinite variety. This book is a culmination of many years of teaching. Through it, I set out to clear up widespread misconceptions about painting with watercolors. These common confusions hold watercolor artists back from achieving their full potential. Full of practical advice and techniques, my aim is to simplify watercolor painting to assist you in your personal watercolor adventure. Enjoy the journey!
An inspirational and practical art manual, packed with step-by-step projects. Artist Ann Blockley is renowned for her innovative approach to watercolour painting. Her highly anticipated new book provides a series of workshops demonstrating how to push the boundaries of watercolour, using key techniques to develop your own work and take your paintings to the next level. Ann's easy-to-follow, step-by-step projects demonstrate how some of her most dramatic paintings are created. She describes in detail some of the key techniques used and how you can experiment with alternative methods to create your own interpretations. Finally, her beautiful and inspirational artworks demonstrate how different interpretations of a subject might take an unexpected or unusual direction, and how to make the most of these opportunities. The book moves, with progressively challenging projects, from loose wildflower meadows, textured woodland and rustic rambling walls to atmospheric or semi-abstract landscape corners, all rendered in Ann's adventurous signature style. Loose, expressive mark-making and unusual techniques include combining water-based paint and ink with granulation medium for dramatic texture, drawing with twigs, using gesso and collage to create unique effects; manipulating paint with materials such as plastic wrap (clingfilm); developing printed marks made using found materials. Following the huge demand for more practical guidance in experimental painting, the book provides plenty of techniques and instruction. Ann's personal commentary also gives a unique insight into the mind of the artist – ways of looking at your subject, how to explore and experiment – to unlock the potential of your watercolour painting.
Practice the Art of Watercolor with this Beginner’s Guide to Picturesque Mountains, Lakes, Sunrises and More From a striking Desert Sunset Silhouette to a majestic Icelandic Waterfall to an eye-catching Magical Snowy Forest, watercolor artist Kolbie Blume’s wilderness scenes are the perfect introduction to watercolor painting. Kolbie’s step-by-step instructions make it easy to paint stunning landscapes featuring all of the key elements of wilderness painting and teach you beginner-friendly techniques for colorful skies, mountains, trees, wildflowers, oceans, lakes, and more. Each chapter teaches progressively more advanced elements, allowing you to build upon your skills as you work through the projects. And the final chapter combines all of the elements in breathtaking scenes—like a Glassy Milky Way and an Aurora Glacier Lagoon—that you’ll be proud to hang on your wall or gift to a friend or family member. With all the tips, tricks, and techniques you need to master the basics of watercolor painting and instructions on how to paint every element of nature, this collection of wilderness landscapes is the go-to guide for both beginner painters and more experienced artists looking for new subjects to paint.
A comprehensive and practical guide to watercolor painting from sought-after instructor and acclaimed artist Leslie Frontz that answers the two most common questions students at all levels want to know: What am I doing wrong? and How do I decide what to do instead? In the tradition of the eminently practical, top-selling guides such as How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself, The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted, and Problem Solving for Oil Painters, this straightforward handbook offers a fresh approach to watercolor mastery that bridges the gap between theory and practice. Through thoughtful discussion, expert instruction, and in-depth step-by-step demonstrations, Leslie Frontz shows readers how to eliminate common barriers to achieve beautiful, captivating watercolor paintings. Beginning with teaching readers how to see with an artist's eye, Frontz then establishes how watercolor painters build on this skill by making timely decisions throughout the creation process.
The aim of this book is to inspire amateur artists to create beautiful flower paintings in watercolour by developing their own style right from the start. With this in mind, the book contains plenty of instruction on essential watercolour techniques and methods, and includes the following key features: projects - practical projects, with a system of self-assessment to monitor progress; demonstrations - developing a painting step-by-step; exercises - additional exercises to put theory into practice; ideas - flowers with still life, in garden settings, close-up compositions, flowers in the landscape, flower portraits and studies; and inspiration - a wide selection of flower paintings to show different styles and techniques. The book features paintings by the author and a number of other well-known contemporary artists, including John Lidzey, Shirley Trevena and Ann Blockley. It adopts a workshop approach, with practical projects, exercises and step-by-step demos.
'If you want to learn about gouache, this should keep you satisfied for a very long time.' Artbookreview.net If you love painting with watercolour and are ready to experiment with something different, then the versatile medium of gouache could be just the thing for you. Gouache is water-based, quick-drying and, can be painted light over dark as well as dark over light. Ideal for the beginner, it can be used thinly in a watercolour style, or more thickly as with oils or acrylics. This guide covers all the materials and tools required and has a comprehensive techniques section that includes overlaying colours, colour blending and troubleshooting. Experienced author Jeremy Ford takes you through three simple, step-by-step projects, each showcasing a unique style of painting with gouache. Numerous finished paintings are included to demonstrate the range of subjects, styles and techniques that you can achieve, and encourage you to develop your own style of painting using this exciting medium.
