Oct 10
A super book, really useful for anyone beginning in watercolours. It's spiral bound, something I find very useful when painting as this allows the book to lie flat, instead of having to be propped open and then folding in just when you've got paint covered hands ( most of the while if you're like me!) Geoff begins with a brief overview of the basics needed to get the student started. This is very useful when pursuing a new medium as one can spend far too much money on materials that may never get used. He explains about papers and how to stretch them, brushes, paints and a few other useful items to have. As Geoff says one of the things the student has the main problem with is just How to get Started - something I remember well..and in this book he has put together a selection of simple tips and techniques designed to answer that question.
Geoff's tips cover basics such as wet in wet, wet on dry and dry brush - all useful watercolour basics that help achieve the vision the student has. Further tips follow such as bricks, weathered wood and shadows by way of simple easy to understand explanations accompanied by simple sketches showing what he means. Shadows are one of my favourites to bring a painting to life and Geoff's illustrations show exactly how dramatic they can be with a few well placed lines. The book contains more simple steps to compiling scenic painting such as trees, water and buildings along with boats and coastal vignettes which can be put together to create wonderful landscapes.
Geoff is one of my favourite watercolour landscape artists, creating wonderful natural landscapes. This is an excellent book full of useful advice for all artists wanting to begin watercolours.
* JeannieZelos.com *
Issue 100
This brilliant book & DVD set covers a whole host of wonderful subjects - including: how to paint skies, trees, water, buildings, coastal scenes & so much more... in fact, all you need to compose the perfect watercolour painting.
* SAA *