Ready to Paint: Orchids: In Watercolour(Ready to Paint)

The Ready to Paint series provides six tracings for readers to pull out and transfer on to watercolour paper. There is one for each of the five step-by-step demonstrations, plus a bonus tracing of the inspirational painting in the introduction section, and full instructions on how to transfer the images. People who want to learn to paint orchids without relying on their drawing skills have everything they need in this book. The orchid family is a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with colourful and fragrant blooms. It is also one of the two largest families of flowering plants, and therefore there are a lot of beautiful flowers to take inspiration from. In this book, Ann Mortimer has chosen to paint a pink miltonia, backlit phalaenopsis, slipper orchid, miltonia orchid and an orchid in a bowl. The tracings and clear step-by-step photographs explain the painting process in great depth and make it easy for readers to reproduce all of these projects.

Table of Contents:
• The book focuses on the orchid, allowing the reader a detailed insight in to how to paint one of nature’s most beautiful flowers • There are six tracings to pull out so that readers do not need to rely on their drawing skills – one for each of the five demonstrations and one bonus tracing • Simple instructions and clear step-by-step photographs show readers how to emulate Ann’s techniques

About the Author :
Ann Mortimer is a professional artist and watercolour tutor. She received no formal art training after A level Art at school, and instead studied for a degree in European Studies at UEA. After completing a PGCE at Southampton university, she became a French teacher. Later, she retrained to do infant teaching and so her students have ranged from age 5 to 85. In 1990 she was able to rekindle a lifelong love of painting and drawing. She became fascinated by the medium of watercolour and was soon exhibiting and selling her work. She has had work commissioned for greetings cards and mug wraps. Ann is a member of the Society of Floral Painters with whom she exhibits regularly. In 2008 she was awarded the Popular Choice Salver at the SFP annual exhibition at Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire. Ann now runs watercolour workshops in her Garden Studio at home and is a popular teacher for art societies around the country. She has written several articles for Leisure Painter magazine. Ann lives in Nottinghamshire with her husband. She has three grown up children and loves gardening and all things French.

Review :
Jan 13 There’s a good variety of material here and it’s very well executed. Ann has taken the Ready to Paint format well beyond the basic fill-in-the-outlines approach and uses tints and shading to give depth and substance to her subjects. Orchids are, as she says, “exotic, sensual and mysterious” and they offer plenty of challenges and opportunities as a subject. As an exercise in flower painting in general, on top of its specific subject, this is an excellent guide. Jan 13 Whenever the excellent Ready to Paint series starts getting specific, I wonder whether it's taken a step too far. With flowers, however, I'm always relieved that my worries are misplaced. Flowers are a perennially popular subject and there are so many varieties, all with their own challenges, that there's always something new to try. So, do you want to paint orchids? Well, if they're as "exotic, sensual and mysterious" as Ann says they are, why would you not? Not all the varieties, of course, are those of legend, the ones collectors used to risk their lives to bring back – and even those can be readily found in domestic collections these days. More than any other flower type, orchids offer a huge variety of shapes, colours and challenges and Ann demonstrates five different varieties and settings, including the Miltonia and the Slipper, each accompanied by an outline tracing and a detailed step-by-step demonstration. She also offers helpful advice on colour and shading to give your result presence and depth. As well as exploring a rewarding subject, this is also an excellent way to develop your general flower painting skills. Feb 13 Orchids are one of the most exotic, mysterious and fascinating of flowers. Difficult to grow and maintain, they symbolize nature at its most glamorous and fragile. Capture their beauty for yourself with this book on how to paint them. As with all Ready To Paint books this is an excellent place for beginners to start. It doesn’t matter if you cannot draw, the tracings in this book take that part in hand and you can get on with painting. Small wonder this groundbreaking series has won awards – this one gets my vote for not getting tyro artists to invest too much money before they know whether they want to take it up as a hobby or not. There are six tracings and five step-by-step projects, each in many photographic stages for a foolproof painting experience. Each one teaches you a bit more about watercolor technique, from painting washes to working with masking fluid, lighting effects to capturing the flowers’ elusive qualities. The sixth tracing has no instructions; you are on your own to work it all out with the aid of a large picture of the finished work. The best way I know of for beginners to learn how to paint without a good tutor on hand. February 2015 Orchids are the most varied of all the flower species, with an almost infinite variety of colours and shapes to tempt and challenge the artist. Ann describes them in her introduction as exotic, sensual and mysterious and this perfectly sums up their appeal. Ann demonstrates several varieties including the Miltonia and the Slipper. Each is, as usual with the Ready to Paint series, accompanied by an outline tracing and up to 30 individual steps showing you how to build up the painting and to place and blend the colour and get the shading just right. This is a beautifully illustrated and easy to follow guide to an intriguing subject that will also help you develop your general flower painting skills in an enjoyable way.