Advice and demonstrations from Lionel Aggett, Greg Allen, Dagfinn Bakke, Alvaro Castagnet, Domenic DiStefano, Miguel Dominguez, Nita Engle, Phil L. Hobbs, Kiff Holland, Robert Lovett, Boguslaw Mosielski, John Newberry, Tom Nicholas, Juliette Palmer, Herman Pekel, Vivian Ripley, Bob Rudd, Jean Uhl Spicer, Robert Tilling, Marilyn Timms, Bernhard Vogel, Joseph Zbukvic, and Zhong-Yang Huang.
Combining the most popular medium - watercolour - with the most significant element of the landscape - the sky - this spectacular gallery of paintings will appeal to a variety of readers. It includes: 23 start-to-finish, step-by-step demonstrations showcasing a spectrum of methods for painting emotive and moody skies; An eclectic mix of styles from household name artists; Insight into the way each artist's vision is translated onto the paper, for readers seeking to bring their own vision to light; With chapters from artists in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, this book provides the credibility and scope every painter seeks in a painting guide.
Because nature is so expansive and complex, so varied in its range of light, landscape painters often have to look further and more deeply to find form and structure, value patterns, and an organized arrangement of shapes. In Landscape Painting, Mitchell Albala shares his concepts and practices for translating nature's grandeur, complexity, and color dynamics into convincing representations of space and light. Concise, practical, and inspirational, Landscape Painting focuses on the greatest challenges for the landscape artist, such as: • Simplification and Massing: Learn to reduce nature's complexity by looking beneath the surface of a subject to discover the form's basic masses and shapes.• Color and Light: Explore color theory as it specifically applies to the landscape, and learn the various strategies painters use to capture the illusion of natural light.• Selection and Composition: Learn to select wisely from nature's vast panorama. Albala shows you the essential cues to look for and how to find the most promising subject from a world of possibilities. The lessons in Landscape Painting—based on observation rather than imitation and applicable to both plein air and studio practice—are accompanied by painting examples, demonstrations, photographs, and diagrams. Illustrations draw from the work of more than 40 contemporary artists and such masters of landscape painting as John Constable, Sanford Gifford, and Claude Monet. Based on Albala's 25 years of experience and the proven methods taught at his successful plein air workshops, this in-depth guide to all aspects of landscape painting is a must-have for anyone getting started in the genre, as well as more experienced practitioners who want to hone their skills or learn new perspectives.
Banish boring watercolors forever! This guide gives you the "power tools" you need to transform dull, flat landscapes into robust, colorful expressions of your artistic vision. Each chapter focuses on a specific strategy for tackling tough challenges, complete with inspiring examples, hands-on demonstrations and instructional diagrams to make these strategies easy and fun to learn. Following this guide's masterful visual instruction, you'll learn how to: See beyond "what you see" to develop strong foundations in every composition Avoid repainting, overworking and frustration by focusing on a composition's unifying elements Become decisive with your values for heightened interest and impact Quickly and easily mix a huge range of clean, rich colors--including vibrant grays and greens--with no more mud! Put it all together following detailed step-by-step demonstrations of complete paintings from start to finish Whether you're new to watercolor painting or not, this guide will empower you to push shape and color into exciting new territory. Experience the satisfaction of painting with "power tools" and enjoy immediate results in your work.
Harness the power of negative space! Breathe new life into your art through negative painting. Linda Kemp shares her techniques for using the strength of negative space - the areas not occupied by subject matter - to create alluring works of art. Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines is a comprehensive guide to evoking more passion in your paintings. You'll learn how to take hold of the often-overlooked areas of a painting through interactive, easy to follow elements including: • Step-by-step techniques, exercises and projects • Do-it-yourself tests and worksheets • Troubleshooting suggestions and secrets • Straightforward diagrams for color and design Both beginning and advanced artists will benefit from negative painting concepts presented in this guide. Using landscapes, florals, and motifs from nature, you'll gain the skills and knowledge to make your next watercolor your most striking work yet.
"The Landscape Painter's Workbook takes a modern approach to the time-honored techniques and essential elements of landscape painting, from accomplished artist, veteran art instructor, and established author Mitchell Albala"--
Shows how to use texture techniues such as spattering and spritzing to suggest detail and create a variety of moods and effects in watercolor painting.
English landscape watercolor painting, a perfect marriage of genre and medium, entered a lively period of experimentation in style and content during the second half of the nineteenth century, with rich and diverse results. Through all the changes of style and technique and all the debates over the appropriate use of the medium, it was watercolor's ability to convey the timeless truth and reality of the natural world that mattered to artists, critics, and audiences. British watercolors of the Victorian period continued to observe an essential humility before nature; they remain fresh and compellingly immediate because they derived in the first place from the artists' heartfelt communion with the elements of nature. Victorian Landscape Watercolors begins with a consideration of the continuing influence of the great generation who earlier in the century, during the extraordinary parallel rise of watercolor and landscape painting, had established the landscape watercolor as a major British contribution to the arts. The second chapter examines the role of the landscape watercolor in the aesthetic thought of John Ruskin, whose critical voice played a dominant role in shaping that art. The third chapter looks at the place of landscape within the watercolor societies and its development as it appeared in their annual exhibitions. The final chapter deals with the tug of new and old, foreign and native in the later Victorian period. The book also features 126 watercolors, from public and private collections in America and England, all reproduced in full color and accompanied by individual commentaries. Among the 76 artists represented are David Cox, Sr. and Jr., Walter Crane, William HolmanHunt, Edward Lear, Samuel Palmer, James Mallord William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, and Ruskin himself, along with dozens of lesser-known masters of the medium. Victorian Landscape Watercolors is published in conjunction with the first exhibition to survey this period of this particularly British contribution to the arts; the exhibition, organized by the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, will also be seen at the Cleveland Museum of Art and in Birmingham, England.
For artists looking to grow beyond the studio, En Plein Air: Watercolor is the definitive resource for experiencing the rewards and invigoration of watercolor painting on location. En Plein Air: Watercolor introduces beginning artists and fine-art enthusiasts to the core concepts of painting on location. This guide will have you fully prepared for a day of painting outdoors. Inside, you'll find a comprehensive list of what to pack to maximize your time, learn how to choose a subject and interpret it for a composition, discover how to deal with the challenges of shadows and shifting natural light, and hone your watercolor techniques. The collection of step-by-step projects will help you gain new artistic skills as you create unique, dynamic artwork outside the studio. Perfect for artists looking to break outside the norm, En Plein Air: Watercolor is your complete guide to experiencing the unique rewards of painting on location with the invigorating medium of watercolor.