Take Three Colours: Watercolour Seascapes: Start to Paint with 3 Colours, 3 Brushes and 9 Easy Projects(Take Three Colours)

Even if you have never picked up a paintbrush before, Geoff Kersey shows you how to paint convincing seascapes in watercolour using just three brushes, three colours, a plastic palette and a watercolour pad. Only students’ range watercolour paints are used, yet from these Geoff shows you how to paint nine realistic watercolour scenes. There is no off-putting colour theory or long-winded mixing information, but a practical absolute beginner’s course that shows the three colours in action. You need only three affordable brushes: no. 10, no. 4 and no. 2 rounds in a synthetic range, to achieve all of the paintings shown. Let Geoff Kersey build your skills through nine easy exercises, starting from the simplest of scenes, resulting in seascapes you'll be proud of. With clear advice, step-by-step photographs showing simple techniques, how to trace and transfer a drawing, and finished paintings shown full size in the book for guidance, you will have everything you need to get painting.   Colours used: ultramarine, candium yellow pale and light red. Brushes used: Round brushes no. 10 (Large), no.4 (Medium), and a no.2 (Small)

About the Author :
Geoff Kersey is an experienced watercolourist and is much in demand as a teacher and demonstrator. He lives and works in Derbyshire, where he has a studio, and he exhibits extensively. He has made many watercolour DVDs, contributes to various art publications and has written many bestselling watercolour books. Check Geoff out at www.geoffkersey.co.uk

Review :
This is the second outing for a promising new series that breaks popular subjects down into manageable form. The idea of using just three colours (red, blue and yellow) is that there’s a minimum of fussing about with mixing. What’s impressive, though, is the range of tints and hues that Geoff manages to achieve and there’s no hint of the extremely limited palette. These books are, as you might have guessed, aimed at the beginner and the instruction and hand-holding are comprehensive; you’re never left feeling that something has been missed out, that there was another stage in there somewhere. Handy jargon busters deal with any technical terms that may be unfamiliar. The pictures you’ll work on are not complex images, but that’s not what you’d want. The tone and detail are nicely judged. Last year I reviewed this author’s first Take Three Colors book on Watercolor Landscapes (also reviewed on this site) and was impressed with it.  Now here is a second book on seascapes and like the first one is aimed squarely at the total beginner who wants to give painting a go but doesn’t want to buy up the art shop. The caption below the title on the cover reads “start to paint with 3 colors, 3 brushes and 9 easy projects”.  Add in some paper and a cheap plastic palette plus a few other household basics (cocktail stick, ruler, pencil etc) and you are good to go.  This author has not forgotten what it is like to be a beginner with a budget, or just anybody who does not want to buy a lot of materials only to find that art is not for them.  You get started with the painting fairly immediately too after a very brief and essential introduction explaining about mixing colors, adding water and using brushes.  There are nine projects in here each of which teaches a basic watercolor skill and these are listed under the title with each project.  Each of these is illustrated with plenty of good-sized photographic steps together with short helpful captions and “Jargon Buster” points explaining terms.  There are handy tips and a nice touch is the photo of a palette showing the mixed colors so you can get the shades right.  The pictures get more complex as you progress, from very basic beginnings showing boats with reflections through to scenes of dunes, two lighthouses, an estuary, Bamburgh Castle and.  At the back is a page about transferring the outlines of the full sized paintings using tracing paper, or you can draw them freehand plus how to add a boat to one of the scenes.  I have reviewed a lot of books on painting for beginners but this series is the best to date.  Very highly recommended for anybody who wants to learn watercolor painting. Always wanted to work with watercolours but don't know how to begin? This book shows you how to achieve good results with just three colours and three brushes. In this way it limits what you have to spend on materials and concentrates on getting you painting. It shows how to mix paints and has step-by-step guides throughout covering those popular features of landscape painting such as skies, water, woodland and mountains. There are nine easy projects to build your skills. In just a few simple steps, you will feel like a painter. A confidence-building book for anyone interested in watercolour.