Druid Magazine

Watercolor will entertain you for a lifetime. Those who have spent decades with it can testify how they are continually charmed and amazed by new discoveries every time they put paint to paper. This book was developed to clarify and simplify various aspects of painting with watercolor, while at the same time challenging you with new possibilities. However, unlike a book of rules that tend to close our minds, this is a collection of principles, concepts and general information designed to expand the creative process. This is your invitation to join the magic world of watercolor. --Gordon MacKenzie

This special 10th-anniversary collection combines two of the best-loved North Light watercolor guides available: The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook and The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook: Landscapes. Clarifying and simplifying the various aspects of painting with watercolor, Gordon MacKenzie's The Complete Watercolorist's Essential Notebook will encourage and challenge you with new possibilities. Rather than a list of rules, this is a collection of principles, concepts and general information designed to expand your creative process. Mackenzie shares with you tips, techniques, ideas and lessons for a sure path to creative fulfillment and better watercolor paintings.

The beauty of a watercolor painting lies in its diaphanous layers, delicate strokes, and luminous washes. However, the very features that define the beauty of the medium can make it difficult to master. This complete guide to understanding the relationships between color, value, wetness, and composition unravels the mysteries of watercolor to help your practice evolve. Experienced teacher and acclaimed artist Tom Hoffmann offers a unique, inquiry-based approach that shows you how to translate any subject into the language of watercolor. With Hoffmann as your guide, you’ll learn the key questions to ask yourself at every turn and time-tested methods to help you reach solutions. Hoffmann’s thorough explanations and step-by-step demonstrations delineate the process of composing a painting in watercolor, while art from more than thirty-five past and present masters, including John Singer Sargent, Ogden Pleissner, George Post, Emil Kosa, Jr., Mary Whyte, Trevor Chamberlain, Lars Lerin, Torgeir Schjølberg, Piet Lap, Leslie Frontz, and Alvaro Castagnet serve to illustrate and inspire. Whether you’re a serious beginner or a seasoned practitioner, this book will guide you toward the all-important balance between restraint and risk-taking that every watercolorist seeks.

Discusses how to use color to your best advantage, how to achieve textural effects with color, how to mix colors and how to use wash and glazing techniques

The how behind the wow Dive deeper into the creative waters that have made North Light Books' Splash: The Best of Watercolor series today's most celebrated showcase of contemporary watercolor paintings. Watercolor Secrets invites you into the studios of 15 Splash artists as they reveal the creative processes behind their stunning work. From meticulous glazes to loose, luscious color, these artists joyfully embrace watercolor in gloriously individual and expressive ways, sharing their unique journeys inspirations and techniques. Step-by-step demonstrations, sketchbook pages and inspiring finished art from 15 modern-day watercolor masters Expert tips on creating stunning color, capturing the magic of light, turning on-location sketches into personal keepsakes, designing compositions with impact, and more A variety of subjects, including flowers, landscapes, waterscapes, city scenes, interiors and portraits Whether you are a watercolor artist looking to make a big splash in your own paintings or simply an admirer of this most magical medium, Watercolor Secrets puts you on the inside track to outstanding art.

A watercolor instruction guide for both beginners and experienced painters discusses materials and preparation, color theory, painting techniques, textures and special effects, perspective, and landscape and figure painting

Just Add Watercolour is an innovative and accessible guide to this most dynamic of artforms, packed with bite-sized creative painting tips and advice, offering aspiring artists the freedom to dip in and out for practical information or flick through for fresh inspiration and ideas. Showcasing nearly 100 works by contemporary artists across a range of different styles and approaches, Just Add Watercolour highlights and examines the different techniques, qualities and effects relating to each piece. Organized into chapters according to medium and materials (e.g. traditional watercolour, gouache, digital, mixed media) artwork is featured large and luscious, accompanied by extended captions, insightful tips and practical advice. A visual index at the front of the book enables the reader to easily identify a specific painting, style, colour or subject matter. Throughout the book, useful information and practical tips are provided on a wide range of topics such as tone, perspective, colour and much more besides. Readers are encouraged to discover the various ways in which similar subjects and styles are executed by different artists, while also being inspired to use the tips in the book as a way of building on their existing skills. Offering a bold, refreshing change from other run-of-the-mill art books, Just Add Watercolour adopts the unique approach of accessing practical information via the images, focusing on the way subjects can be treated using a range of different watercolour techniques, rather than looking at how to master one single style.

Brilliant guide by renowned artist tells all, from basics to creating masterful landscapes, portraits, and figures. Full-color sections follow evolution of seven of the author's own watercolors. 37 color and over 100 black-and-white illustrations.

Provides detailed demonstrations to help the beginner develop and refine skills and techniques in painting still lifes, landscapes, and seascapes