Nikki Strange brings a modern twist to botanical painting by using the plants you can find in the comfort of your own home as your subjects. Twenty step-by-step projects clearly demonstrate how to paint leafy balms, exotic flowers and succulents, which can then be used as stationery or framed to display. The approach is clean and contemporary and a 25-sheet sketchpad is included with outlines of all the projects pre-printed so you can get started straight away.
* Leisure Painter, February 2019 *
Watercolour Plant Art review... where do I start?! This book is INCREDIBLE! Nikki Strange is an inspirational and extremely talented artist who expertly guides you through her own methods for creating Watercolour Plant Art!
The contents page is clear and accessible - it doesn't feel overwhelming at all! The book has a wide variety of projects which allows you to explore different styles, colours, techniques, and layouts so there is sure to be something that will catch your eye!
Before starting the projects, Nikki guides you through paints, papers, brushes, palettes, colour-theory and different watercolour techniques in an easy-to-follow style which is also really helpful to continue to refer back to as you work your way through the projects!
Each project starts off with a clear photo of the painting along with a list of materials, colours, and colour mixes. As someone who doesn't have a huge variety of paints (I'm very new to watercolour), I found it really helpful when Nikki specifies the colours, what each mix is made up of and also how Nikki uses only a handful of colours to do all of the projects in the book! It makes it easy to follow and really accessible.
The project is broken down into step-by-step actions (colours, what brush to use and what technique to use) so that it doesn't feel overwhelming!
I had so much fun working my way through the projects and playing with different techniques, colour mixes, plants, and projects!
I've never done watercolour before, so it was a real learning curve for me to try these projects, but it didn't feel overwhelming at all. Nikki speaks of letting go of control and letting the water work its magic with the paint and it is such a good mentality because it helped me to get lost in the process rather than worrying about the finesse of the painting!
The book comes with a sketchpad with the outline for each project so that you can watercolour directly onto the outline.
All in all, this is a phenomenal book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in watercolour from those starting out to those who've been painting for much longer! It is clear to follow, understandable, detailed, accessible, inspirational, creative, and utterly beautiful! An absolute 5* book!
-- Naomi Clarke * naomialice.com *
