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  • #448262

    We are regularly asked by members new and old about suitable watercolor tutorial books on various aspects of watercolor painting. It may be that you are looking for a general tutorial or a book on a particular subject or technique – flowers, portraits, landscapes, skies, pen and wash, color theory, painting from photographs etc. etc.

    I have now added DVD’s and videos to this thread, so if you have any recommendations, post a review using the relevant parts of the template.

    Many members have a collection of books and it would be a great help if you would give your opinion on each of your books in the form of a review using the following standard template: (highlight the template copy and paste into your reply).

    If you read a review and wish to add your opinion, by all means submit your own review, just input the title, your Personal Assessment and Rating.

    NOTE: You can use the “Search this Thread” facility at the top of the thread to locate a book or a subject.

    TEMPLATE:

    Front cover picture optional but keep it small say 200 x 300 pixels)

    Title

    Author

    Author’s website

    Publisher

    Published Date

    ISBN No.

    Format/size

    Genre (Landscape/Floral/Portraits/Still Life/Technique/Various)

    Description of content

    Personal assessment of content

    Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced

    Here’s an example(no need to use red text for your input):

    Title
    The Watercolor Landscape Techniques of 23 International Artists
    Author
    Not applicable
    Publisher
    International Artist Publishing Inc.
    Published date
    2003
    ISBN No.
    1-92983-426-8
    Format/size
    12×8 hardback
    Genre (Landscape/Floral/Portraits/Still Life/Technique/Various)
    Landscape.
    Description of content
    The varied landscape painting styles of 23 international artists. A wide range of styles is covered from very detailed work to loose wet in wet techniques. The artists include Alvaro Castagnet, Nita Engle, Robert Lovett, John Newberry and Joseph Zbukvic. Each artist is allotted six pages, two to describe their approach to painting, a two page demonstration spread and a two page gallery spread.
    Personal assessment of content
    I found this an excellent book which is crammed full of valuable information gathered from many cumulative years of experience.
    Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced
    Intermediate

    Please limit your replies to reviews, any queries send me a pm – a link to this thread will be placed in the Watercolor Handbook.

    Now it’s up to you!

    Doug


    We must leave our mark on this world

    #495162
    mmcaloon
    Default

        Title: Complete Guide to Watercolor Painting

        Author: Edgar A Whitney

        Publisher: Dover Books

        Published Date: 1974

        ISBN No. 0-486-41742-5

        Format/size: 8 x 11

        Genre (Landscape/Floral/Portraits/Still Life/Technique/Various): Technique

        Description of content: The book covers tools, Exercise, Painting in gerneral, Landscapes, Figure and Portrait, Prinicples od design, Elements of Design, Drawing, MattingFraming and Selling.

        Personal assessment of content: This book although primarily black and white (very few color plates) carries tremendous impact and is a classic must have.

        The basics in tools and technique are cover but the true treasure is the attitude, thinking process and philosphy of painting coupled with excellent examples. There is allot of design and/or composition insights also. These two great examples with real paiintings.

        Each time I read it something more comes. I have read it three times, and know I will read it again.

        Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced: All of them

        Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent): 5

        Mike ------- see my progress through the work that I share on my website

        Newbie Help Posting Guidelines User Agreement Watercolor Handbook
        GIMP Article

        #495141

        Title: The Watercolourist’s Guide to Painting Buildings

        Author: Richard Taylor

        Publisher: d&c—David & Charles

        Published Date: 1998

        ISBN: 0 7153 0811 4

        Format/size: Hardcover, 8″ x 11.5″

        Genre: Technique

        Description: “This book is written from an artist’s point of view—an artist with a love of structures and a fascination for textures and how to recreate them in watercolour.” [em]Richard Taylor[/em] The author shows a wide variety of structures and architectural elements and techniques for portraying them in a painterly way. He also discusses including people and other elements of the locales in which the buildings are found.

        Personal assessment: The book has numerous color illustrations of the author’s techniques for painting the various types of building materials that make up the structures he paints. It is written in an easy-to-follow manner that I found it to be both interesting and instructive. If architectural subjects appeal to you, this one is worth looking into.

        Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced: All levels of painter could follow these methods.

        Score on a scale 1–5 (1=poor 5=excellent): 5

        Sylvia

        #495160
        Lynn Quinn
        Default

            Title: Color Choices (Making Color Sense our of Color Theory)

            Author: Stephen Quiller http://www.quillergallery.com

            Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publishers, New York

            Published Date: c. 1989 (paperback 2002)

            ISBN No.: (pbk) 0-8230-0696-4

            Format/size: 8 1/4″ x 11″ 144 pages

            Genre (Landscape/Floral/Portraits/Still Life/Technique/Various): Colour Theory

            Description of content: Quiller starts off with 10 pages about the colour wheel. He developed his colour wheel after 10 years of research. It contains 68 colours, showing pigment names for each. This isn’t to suggest you need all those colours! But whatever colours you have, you can place in their proper position on the colour wheel, to determine exact complements, etc. There is also a chart for the major brands of w/c paint (also charts for oil & acrylics), due to differences in colour for same-name pigments. The charts show which brand most closely matches the colour Quiller has selected for that position on the colour wheel.
            Quiller has very informative chapters (with many colour studies, as well as finished paintings, to show how different ways of handling colour can radically change mood and effect)) on the following:
            ‘Monochromatic and Complementary Color Schemes’
            ‘Analogous and Split-Complementary Color Schemes’
            ‘Triadic Color Schemes’
            ‘Going Beyond Structured Color’
            ‘Master Colorists’ This section shows haw famous painters over the years have used colour.

            Personal assessment of content: This book not only gave me a better understanding of colour theory (in a straight-forward and easy-to-understand way), but opened my eyes to a vast range of possibilities in using colour to communicate many things in a painting, beyond strictly ‘realistic’ colours. I have found this book to be an invaluable reference in selecting colours that work beautifully together, and help me say what I want to say in a painting.

            Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced: All

            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent): 5

            My website: http://lynn-quinn.pixels.com/

            #495114

            Title: Webb on Watercolor

            Author: Frank Webb

            Publisher: North Light Books – Cinncinnati, OH

            Published Date: 1990

            ISBN No.: 0891343466

            Format/size: 12″ x 9″ (softcover and hardback available)

            Genre (Landscape/Floral/Portraits/Still Life/Technique/Various): All of the above!

            Description of content:
            Explains almost every aspect of watercolor including chapters on equipment, color, value, planning, philosophy, and technique (Mr. Webb calls this the “Encounter”).

            Personal assessment of content:

            I have enjoyed this book since it was introduced in 1990. It contains some of the most thorough, straight-forward explanations of this fascinating creature we call Watercolor. Many full-color examples of Mr. Webb’s work are given. The chapter called “Encounter” gives the reader a very nice description of Webb’s various ‘styles’ of painting a watercolor. The book also emphasises the philosophy behind painting and art in general.

            Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced: All levels

            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent): 5

            #495115

            ]

            Title: First Impressions

            Author: Edward Norton Ward

            Publisher: Watson Guptill

            Published Date: 1990

            ISBN No.: 0823018202

            Format/size:
            12″ x 9″ Hardback

            Genre (Landscape/Floral/Portraits/Still Life/Technique/Various):

            mostly landscape

            Description of content:

            On-site (plein air) painting is presented in this fine book by Mr. Ward. He includes an introduction to equipment and setting up, lanscape painting, design concepts, painting in the garden, adding people, initial sketching, etc. Many full-color paintings are presented giving a great example of the artist’s work.

            Personal assessment of content:

            I first found this book in an old used bookstore in St. Augustine, FL. I was hooked at first sight! Mr. Ward’s spontaneous style is colorful and full of playful, well-designed shapes. He describes his plein air methods and all the paintings presented were done on-the-spot. This book proves that with a minimum of basic equipment, the artist can produce very beautiful paintings in a very direct manner.

            Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced: all levels

            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent):
            5

            #495116

            Title
            Graham Green Country
            Author
            Paul Hogarth – Foreword and Commentary by Graham Greene
            Publisher
            Pavilion Books Limited
            Published Date
            1986
            ISBN No.
            1 85145 042 4
            Format/size
            Paperback 11½ x 10
            Genre (Landscape/Floral/Portraits/Still Life/Technique/Various)
            Travel biography with sketches
            Description of content
            A commentary with beautiful ink and watercolours sketches of a 50,000 mile journey around the locations of author Graham Greene’s books. The sketches are accompanied by extracts from the books and a fascinating description of the places that Hogarth found.
            Personal assessment of content
            Wonderful plein air sketches which taught me lots about the importance of capturing the mood of a place. Highly recommended to artists and book lovers alike.
            Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced
            All
            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent)
            5

            Doug


            We must leave our mark on this world

            #495168

            Title
            Watercolor: Simple, Fast, and Focused

            Author
            Mel Stabin

            Publisher
            Watson-Guptill Publications

            Published Date
            1999

            ISBN No.
            0-8230-5706-2

            Format/size
            softcover, color. 112 pages. 8.5 x 10.5 inches.

            Genre

            Landscape, public places, portraits. Plein Air. “Loose” style.

            Description of content
            Defines and illustrates Stabin’s signature approach, emphasizing
            • simplification of detail
            • quick, spontaneous painting
            • clarity of focus
            Includes chapters on equipment (brief intro to palette, brushes, paper), design principles, creating quick value sketches, color choices, portraits and painting outdoors. Many examples of Stabin’s work; also that of students and other painters.

            Personal assessment of content
            As this is one book I keep coming back to, you’d think I’d immediately say, “buy it!” Excellent for inspiration and thinking beyond the boundaries of realism and controlled technique, it is not a book for the feint hearted. :p Stabin’s insights and instruction is generous, detailed, well illustrated and straight to the point, and but the book includes only 3 step-by-step examples. I think there is a leap of faith needed to put his suggestions to work. I recommend it, though, because it keeps me thinking about the spirit and craft of watercolor.

            Suitability
            For intermediate or advanced, particularly interested in expanding and loosening the range of their style.

            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent)
            4…a 5 if there were a little more step-by-step or WIP content.

            Jennifer Landau
            Proud to be published in Art Quilting Studio magazine and educating about wool at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair.

            #495169

            Title
            Fast Sketching Techniques

            Author
            David Rankin

            Publisher
            North Light Books

            Published Date
            2000

            ISBN No.
            1-58180-005-3

            Format/size
            paperback. 144 pages. 8.5 x 11 inches. Black & white.

            Genre
            technique; various subjects

            Description of content
            Detailed exercises and examples to build field sketching skills. Includes sections on materials, composition of sketch, developing speed, sketching from photos as well as on site, use of white space/values, going from sketch to painting. Specific chapters on sketching landscapes, people and animals.

            Personal assessment of content
            A must for someone wanting to build or expand use of values studies and field journals. Exercises are broken into easily understood steps. Exellent range of examples. This book will help you get to the essence of a subject quickly, and will foster doing so in a confident, professional style. Demystifies value studies and sketching. Helps the artist SEE as much as draw.

            Suitability
            Recommend it for all levels. Beginners will transform their sketching; experienced painters will be reenergized.

            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent)
            5+

            Jennifer Landau
            Proud to be published in Art Quilting Studio magazine and educating about wool at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair.

            #495170

            Title
            Painting Nature’s Peaceful Places

            Author
            Robert Reynolds with Patrick Seslar

            Publisher
            North Light Books

            Published Date
            1993. May be out of print, though available through used book sources.

            ISBN No.
            0-89134-511-6

            Format/size
            Hardcover. 135 pages. 8.75 x 11.25 inches

            Genre
            Realistic technique; nature, particularly mountains, rivers, Northern California

            For examples of the genre see
            http://www.robertreynoldsart.com/

            Description of content
            Teaches technique needed to realitically and artfully capture the mood and sense of special places in nature. Illustrates the creative process, from value sketches and source photos to WIP and completed paintings. Detailed analysis and examples of composition, perspective, value, atmospheric color (e.g. for skies, mist, snow), range of texture tecniques, use of masking and regaining whites. Include nine WIP style demonstations of achieving a scene’s mood and spirit. Examples: First Snow (valley and creek), Rock Pools (rock and creek macro), Alpenglow (trees and peaks), Early Morning (apline lake and mist), Quiet Journey (creek and rocks in snow). Also includes basic info on paint, work environment, brushes, color combinations, brush strokes.

            Personal assessment of content
            Heart-stoppingly beautiful artwork that you believe you can do, too, because Reynolds and Seslar lay out the steps and technique so clearly. Worth owning just to glimpse inside the artist’s heart and mind. Defies the view that realism belongs to photography or equals slavish rendering. Offers the serious student of watercolor realism clear steps, techniques, and descriptions, particularly for alpine and light-infused settings.

            Suitability
            all levels and coffee tables

            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent)
            4

            Jennifer Landau
            Proud to be published in Art Quilting Studio magazine and educating about wool at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair.

            #495171

            Title
            Watercolor: A New Beginning

            Author
            Ann K. Lindsay

            Publisher
            Watson-Guptill

            Published Date
            1998

            ISBN No.
            0-8230-563-4

            Format/size
            paperback. 144 pages. 9.5 x 7.5 inches.

            Genre
            Beginning technique. Still life and simple nature (flowers, trees).

            Description of content
            A “self-help” oriented book for the beginning watercolorist, nearly like a workshop on paper. Addresses technique and the emotional barriers many have experienced about art, watercolor in particular. Good intro to materials, handling a brush, getting set up. “Hands-on” style exerices introduce basic concepts of mixing primary and secondary colors, as well as working wet-in-wet, producing graded washes, and finding edges. Addresses drawing, negative painting, volume and form. Projects include pears, leaves, flowers, simple daily life objects.

            Personal assessment of content
            Very supportive in tone and exercises. Successfully taps the “inner artist” and demystifies basic watercolor terms and techniques. The playful and intuitive philosophy is good for developing a looser style and letting go of negative self-judgement, while also building concrete, core watercolor skills.

            Suitability
            Beginners

            Score on a scale 1-5 (1=poor 5=excellent)
            5

            Jennifer Landau
            Proud to be published in Art Quilting Studio magazine and educating about wool at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair.

            #495156
            scribblet
            Default

                [B]Title:[/B] The Watercolourist’s Guide to Painting Buildings

                [B]Author:[/B] Richard Taylor

                [B]Suitability for beginners, intermediate or advanced:[/B] All levels of painter could follow these methods.

                [B]Score on a scale 1–5 (1=poor 5=excellent):[/B] 5

                Sylvia

                I’ve been trying to get this book but its out of print. I tried the publisher and they want $70.00 for it yikes

                I love cooking with wine - sometimes I even put in the food.
                #495185
                Lawrence Fox
                Default

                    Scriblett:

                    The author wrote a series of books for the publisher; I got his one on skies out of public library here in Vaughan and I’m going to check to see if any more are in the catalogue. When I was at ChapIndigo :) (Chapters/Indigo, I forget which “label” it was) they had one book that combined several of Mr. Taylor’s books into one, so try searching their website for a listing…

                    Ooops….I just checked the website. The book I was glancing at was “Watercolor Landscapes: The Complete Guide to Painting Landscapes”, which looks like it combines four books (clouds, shadows, etc). The buildings MAY be part of it, though….

                    You may have to try the used bookstores or places like ABE Books…

                    Lawrence Fox Thornhill, ON
                    “Try not. Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'” -- Yoda

                    “ I have never failed; I have, however, found ten thousand ways that don’t work”. :lol: -- Unknown
                    See my LinkedIn profile or follow me on Twitter: @TheWizardGuy

                    #495153
                    Europa
                    Default

                        I’ve been trying to get this book but its out of print. I tried the publisher and they want $70.00 for it yikes

                        Amazon have some new and used ones for about $30 – here

                        It’s the UK site but am sure they deliver abroad .

                        Pat

                        My Paintings' Slideshow
                        HELP THREAD FOR NEWBIES
                        THE TEMPTATION TO SING 'THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT' IS NEVER MORE THAN A WHIM AWAY!!

                        #495161
                        Lynn Quinn
                        Default

                            I’ve been trying to get this book but its out of print. I tried the publisher and they want $70.00 for it yikes

                            Good Grief! Just checked Amazon.ca, and they want between $131 and $138.00! :eek: :eek: :eek: Amazon.com wants $70.79 US. :eek:
                            Kathy, I’ve seen sometimes in the North Light Book Club magazine where members list books that they no longer want. I haven’t seen it lately, though. You could always contact NLBC to see if you could put in a want ad for it.

                            My website: http://lynn-quinn.pixels.com/

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