Popular author, Terry Harrison, shows how to paint seas and skies using simple watercolour techniques.

May 07

Terry Harrison's rather excellent little series on the various elements of landscape painting is beginning to resemble a partwork and you can't help wondering when the publisher is going to stick them all together in one volume and call it Terry Harrison's Complete Guide to Landscape Painting. I know I would. That said, there's no reason to hold off and not buy the individual volumes as they appear and if they appeal. If any one of the subjects isn't for you, well then, that's 48 pages you haven't bought unnecessarily.

Truth to tell, Terry probably isn't the greatest painter in the world and I don't think it's likely that, in a hundred years' time, galleries will be competing to buy examples of his work. That, however, isn't to belittle him in any way, because it's not what he sets out to be. Terry is, in very many ways, a born teacher (and the people whose work will be on those gallery walls will probably have taught you nothing during the lifetimes) and he's also a very generous one, holding back very little from the reader. Like his other books, this one is filled with step-by-step demonstrations that show you exactly how to paint rocks, boats, waves, clouds and more in all the detail you could possibly want. If you have trouble painting boats that look as though they actually sit in the water and aren't floating health-hazards, this book is worth it's modest cover price for that alone.

I intimated that Terry has his drawbacks and there are one or two completed paintings where, frankly, I think the perspective is a bit suspect. I'm not sure that the publisher should have let him get away with a whole page illustration where the sea is running downhill towards the shore. Maybe it's a minor niggle, because the demonstration itself is fully up to standard and has all the usual helpful details. It's just that, if it grates, well . . . it grates and might detract from the rest of the book, which is a pity.

Overall, a worthwhile purchase that will tell you a lot for your money and increase your knowledge not inconsiderably.

Aug 07

There is nothing like a seascape to evoke all the joys of time spent at the seaside, or the power and majesty of the sea. But painting them is not the easiest task for an artist, so here is a book filled with useful advice.

Just as in Terry Harrison's Watercolour Flowers (also reviewed on this site) this book assumes that you are already some type of painter (although possibly not exactly expert) rather than a complete beginner. There are other books for that, and Search Press publishes quite a few. What the book does not assume is that you are proficient at painting seascapes, and helpfully gives an ideal palette of colors to buy, some useful mixes and, even better, some brush techniques for painting things like waves or clouds and the brushes you need for this type of work. This is very helpful - much more so than being told to always buy the best paints. Student colors are fine if you are only a relative beginner, and for practising. Most if not all of the items listed all artists will own, and most of the book is devoted to learning the various elements of seascape composition, practising them in staged projects and then going on to the whole paintings. It is always so helpful and illuminating to look at art this way, and I can see why generations of Chinese painters learned by copying masterpieces before they tried their own compositions. With a book like this, your first seascape doesn't have to be in front of you in reality in order to start. A very useful primer.

Sept 07

Terry begins by a brief overview of materials and colours - again he also says buy the best quality paints and papers. He outlines the colours he uses and shows which to mix to make some good sea colours.

Terry has his own range of brushes on sale and I found it useful that he showed the makes each one can create.

The painting section begins by explaining - with pictures- basic watercolour techniques such as wet in wet and lifting out, then moves on to a useful section on how to paint different seas, from calm water to crashing waves, and goes on to cover many of the elements for creating sea paintings, such as rocks, reflections and shorelines in separate detail. I found this very useful as it allows any combination of sea paintings to be created, and the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. The latter section of the book contains three demos, using many of the techniques already demonstrated and each one is very clear about what step, colour and brush to use next.

An excellent soft back book for those interested in creating sea and sky paintings in watercolour, with clear easy to follow instructions.