Watercolour Tips & Techniques

This richly illustrated, highly informative compilation of four of the successful Watercolour Tips & Techniques books explores the versatility and beauty of watercolours in depth. With 20 detailed step-by-step demonstrations and a wealth of information, the authors cover every aspect of this exciting medium in an easy-to-follow, inspirational way. Using his vibrant and colourful palette, Arnold Lowrey starts off with expert advice on all the techniques needed for creating interesting pictures, from laying initial washes to adding interest and detail. Wendy Jelbert follows on, showing how to transform sketches into finished paintings, with advice on capturing special moments, creating light and shade and recording happy memories. Perspective is an important part of the painting process and Geoff Kersey shows how to create an impression of depth and distance using dramatic skies and elements in the landscape. Finally, Barry Herniman explores the effects of sunlight, shadows, mist and stormy skies on a range of popular subjects. This book is an invaluable addition to any artist's library, with the authors revealing the secrets and delights of capturing many different subjects from early morning landscapes to rural buildings, seascapes and more.

Table of Contents:
Starting to Paint From Sketch to Painting Perspective, Depth & Distance Painting Mood & Atmosphere

About the Author :
Wendy Jelbert is a teacher and award-winning professional artist who works in pastels, oils, acrylics, inks and watercolours. She is a member of the Society of Women Artists and the Society of Floral Painters, and has exhibited in many prestigious galleries throughout the UK. She has written over 40 books, has featured in 13 art DVDs and writes articles for Leisure Painter magazine. Wendy has taught for over 30 years at various locations, including WI Denman College near Oxford. Wendy lives in Hampshire, UK. Arnold Lowrey has been painting in a variety of media for over25 years. He exhibits his paintings in Wales and London. Arnold holds regular weekend workshops and weekly painting courses, residential watercolour courses and demonstrations for Art Societies. For more information visit www.lowrey.co.uk. 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 best-selling watercolour books. He now runs highly successful online tutorials via his website www.watercolourlandscapes.co.uk

Review :
Oct 07 This substantial tome packs an enormous amount of information into its 376 pages and covers basic techniques, sketching, perspective and mood & atmosphere. As such, it’s a sound course which will admirably suit those who are at an early stage in learning to paint and provides pretty much all the information they will need in order to progress. It also takes a lot of the head-scratching out of deciding which books to buy and an investment of twenty quid here is not only a solid one, but should also save money in the long run. If you’re already a committed book buyer, though, have a careful look at the contents because this is not new material, but rather a bind-up of 4 titles which have already appeared in the similarly-named Search Press series. If you’ve already got some of these, be careful you aren’t duplicating. At twenty pounds for four books that, separately, would cost you ten pounds each, though, you can’t fault it for value. Quite a lot of though has gone into the selection of material and the ordering of it, beginning with Arnold Lowrey’s excellent beginner’s guide (Starting to Paint) that covers all of the basics and goes on to look at techniques for capturing a variety of subjects including landscapes, seascapes, buildings and figures. Wendy Jelbert then covers the use of a sketchbook to make notes for later studio work, Geoff Kersey looks at the tricky subject of perspective and makes it easy to understand. Finally, Barry Herniman handles mood and atmosphere and shows you how to interpret your subject and use colour and brushwork to portray it in two dimensions. If you want an introduction to painting, either for yourself or as a gift, you won’t go far wrong with this. Nov 07 Here is a huge compendium volume containing the texts of four other books, giving an in-depth look at most aspects of watercolor painting. With twenty staged projects to work through and the sagacious advice of four professional artists, even the most inexperienced beginner ought to be able to produce some impressive results. Each of the four books deals with a separate aspect of watercolor painting. These are how to begin, working from sketch to picture, perspective and the technical parts and creating mood and atmosphere. There is some repetition as each artist gives their own slant on what to buy and color mixing etc, but then you would also get that if you went to a class with more than one tutor, and a variety of viewpoints is a great way to see the versatility of a subject. This is very much a book about painting landscapes and seascapes, not still life, portraits or any other type of painting. The cover gives the clue to this, but having it in the title might be even better for anybody ordering online. But this minor gripe aside, beginners and improvers are in the best hands when they open this book and I recommend it to anybody who wants to learn how to paint watercolor landscapes.