Customer Reviews:
Flower painters bible.......2007-02-14
I first came across this book at our monthly flower painters class, and was so impressed with it I ordered it from Amazon straight away.It has become my Flower Painters Bible with good informative instruction on painting in stages and design. I often open the book for inspiration, and members of the class dive into it.
Review of Glorious Garden Flowers in Watercolor.......2007-01-12
This wonderful, beautiful book by Susan Harrison-Tustain was anticipated with great expectations. It did not disappoint. I have gone back and read, and re-read it all and passages that were of the most interest to me. Having begun a journey of painting watercolor florals, I attempted to get all the newest books about that. This one is one of the best I've ever seen. It seemed to surpass many of the older books that I have collected by far.
Cecilia Price
Techniques to Improve Your Floral Watercolors.......2007-01-10
This book provides the reader with practical tips on how to achieve real life floral watercolors. The author generously shares her techniques. There is enough basic information for the beginner to get value from this book. The more advanced watercolorist can improve their techniques. This book is excellent for the permanent library of a watercolorist.
Glorious Garden Folowers in Watercolour.......2000-04-01
I have always wanted to paint, specifically watercolours. I have have participated in classes but never really felt confident enough to move on. I purchased Susan Harrison-Tustain's book and was overwhelmed by the images I found within. Now I am working through the excercises and although previously my attempts were pretty rugged now they are not so rugged. I found the book so inspiring and easy to follow that my confidence has now improved greatly.
Harrison-Tustain/ Best flowers I've ever seen.......1999-12-23
When I show a friend Susan's book they can hardly believe it is in watercolor. Her flowers, leaves and backgrounds are exceptionally vivid and robust. There are a few step-by-steps in it but not enough for a beginner. I hope her next book will have more steps to each picture. I feel confident we will see more from her - if she's willing. This has inspired me more than any other watercolor book. And, I liked almost all the pictures in it enough to try myself, which is alot more than I can say for any other watercolor book I've ever found! Enjoy!
Amazon.com
Award-winning artist Charles Reid wants his students to concentrate on three basic themes in his book Painting Flowers in Watercolor: "Keep it small. Keep it simple. Avoid overwashes." Economy is stressed throughout, as when Reid writes, "The fewer the strokes and the smaller the amount of color mixing, the fresher the painting." He explains how to get started with brushes, mixing paint, and the basics of composition and contour drawing, and provides exercises in these fundamentals. Reid then guides the watercolorist in painting fruit, vegetables, leaves, and flowers. He offers mini-demonstrations here, such as how to paint a bunch of carrots, an avocado, or slender leaf forms, and finishes with advanced, step-by-step demonstrations in composing still lifes with flowers. Experienced and beginning watercolorists will appreciate the wisdom in Reid's philosophy of "less is better." Somehow he manages to invest a bowl of yellow tulips and mixed flowers with a splashy, vibrant expressionism while expertly exploiting the blurry and translucent delicacy of the medium itself. --Mary Ribesky
Customer Reviews:
Patricia O.......2006-07-02
Looks great, haven't had time to read, but is similar to one he wrote (currently out of print) loaned to me by my art teacher.
Watercolour at its Best.......2005-07-20
I first met Charles Reid and his wife Judy in 1988 and it was the beginning of an endless learning process ever since. I have learnt so much about watercolour from his books over the years since then. Charles' books are amazing in that he holds nothing back and just discloses all his knowledge in a wonderful style that is easy to learn from. Invariably there are step by step demonstrations to illustrate his methods. Even if the reader doesn't particularly like his style but would rather paint in a more classic sense with lots of glazes and so forth you will still learn so much about how the colours interact with water and on the paper. Charles' workshops are a great delight and if you are fortunate to attend one you will find that he is a friendly man of great warmth and charm which is reflected in his books.
Fun and Skill-Improvement Are Possible!.......2001-12-25
I discovered Charles Reid at my local library and was smitten with his loose, colorful, gorgeous pictures. This book is a clear, helpful guide to making juicy watercolors of still lifes that sing with color. He has practical tips on brushwork, contour drawing and composition that are easy to follow and clearly explained. He also has step-by-step instructions for several of his pictures that show you how he goes about making his own pictures (often from everyday objects and flowers on his kitchen counter). I'm fairly new to watercolors and I found this book invaluable to improving my pictures and getting me to loosen up and feel creative and find beauty in simple objects.
Indispensable to the serious watercolorist.......2001-06-27
I wish I had had this book years ago. It contains exercises to enable the reader/student to experience and learn direct painting techniques that bring freshness, spontaneity, bright vivid color and realism to one's paintings--inspite of an "untidy" style. If you're serious about watercolor, Reid can take you where you really should go. Reid embodies the principles of the best of watercolor and painting teaching of the past (particularly Hawthorne, Henri, Manet). He puts it all together into what I call a meditative painting style (stroke on color and pause to consider, then soften, add other color wet-in-wet, and so on. Doing the exercises in this book can revolutionize your painting and will, at the very least, bring immediate and important improvements to your technique and approach to watercolor. If you like Reid's paintings--flower, figures, portraits, etc., do yourself a favor--get the book and the two corresponding videos.
Great book to help you "loosen up" in your painting style!.......2001-06-07
I have just purchased this book, as well as 2 instructional videos by Charles Reid. I would highly recommend the set to anyone who needs to "loosen up" his or her painting style. He shows you how to get the color right with a minimal amount of strokes, and how to keep from overworking a painting. He is an excellent instructor and author. You won't be disappointed!
Book Description
This giant treasury of watercolor florals brings together a popular medium with a popular subject matter. With North Light's Big Book of Painting Watercolor Flowers, readers can:
* Paint all their favorite flowers in watercolor--everything from wild daffodils and gladiola to hollyhock and mums
* Brush up on the basics, including composition, wet-into-wet washes, mixing color and stretching watercolor paper
* Create finished pieces in no time with easy step-by-step demonstrations
Page after page of gorgeous artwork and clear instruction make this the perfect choice for artists of all levels. Painting flowers has never been easier!
Customer Reviews:
North Light's Big Book of Painting watercolor flowers.......2005-08-23
Very nice book,looked like a new book
nice book.......2005-04-15
Very instructive. Many different styles of painting demonstrated in a way easy to follow. Very well worth the money.
Customer Reviews:
A great resource.......2003-08-19
I really don't think that any artist can survive with just one book on the shelf. This book is a great resource with beautiful step by step photographs. I recommend it to someone with a little experience and foundation. This book is not too intensive but also does not hold your hand at every step. A resource to add to your library. It helped me relax my style a bit.
Technical rendering...........2001-09-30
Ann Pember, author of PAINTING CLOSE-FOCUS FLOWERS IN WATERCOLOR has a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in fashion design and illustration. Before she became a free-lance illustrator, she worked as a commercial artist for many years. Photos in her book show the professional studio where she works. Technically, her work is nearly perfect. I don't particularly care for her rendering of her subject matter as it stikes me as too "commercial" and not very painterly at all, but much can be learned from her book if you have had no other exposure.
Ms. Pember's background in fashion design and illustration are apparent in her work. She takes the reader from photographs of flowers to watercolors of those photographed flowers in several steps. She reveals how the eye is attracted by asymetry (offsetting of the center) and the placement of elements; how backlighting and focused lighting affect the appearance of the subject; how surfaces and background affect the paint and matter in the execution of a watercolor. She spends some time addressing color, but Ms. Pember is not a colorist. She is more concerned with line and the arrangement of elements in a design.
The end result from my perspective are flowers that are somewhat overcontrolled, although she gives the unpracticed eye the exact opposite impression. In the end, her flowers are contrived and not original. The watercolorist can acquire some interesting tips for creating pleasing paintings, but if producing art for commercial purposes is not your goal you may find Pember's book less rewarding.
Capturing Flowers "Up-Close and Personal".......2000-09-08
I love looking at this book! For years I have been filing away myriads of floral photos with the hope that one day I might attempt to capture them in paint. I muse over these photos from time to time wondering just how a painter might do them justice. I need wonder no more. In Ann Pember's "Painting Close-Focus Flowers in Watercolor", she has been able to demonstrate a variety of step-by-fluid-step techniques to bring high drama to the world of simple blooms. Her close-ups of hollyhocks, gloxinias; and peonies float upon the pages which are jam-packed with carefully chosen, eye-pleasing colors. Thankfully, the vibrancy of Ms. Pember's palette has been well-reproduced in the printing process. There is so much valuable information packed into this book. One should read it from cover to cover initially to pick up all the helpful hints. What a wealth of knowledge Ms. Pember has shared with her readers including: preferences for specific papers, paints and brushes; how to avoid turning paints into "mud"; and my toughest assignment - how to see shapes and values as patterns; to mention a few. Ann Pember's close-up compositions are outstanding. Even if my attempts pale in comparison to this well-seasoned artist's, she is very encouraging. She reinforces the idea that given some degree of perseverence and practice, we too may develop our own means of capturing nature's beauties "up-close and personal".
Book Description
Anyone can learn these simple and fun methods for producing outstanding watercolor landscapes and flowers. One of the reasons that Roland's first book has been so popular (Fill Your Watercolors with Light & Color--over 65,000 copies sold) is that his techniques make watercolor fun and successful for a great number of otherwise frustrated artists.
Roland has a gift for simplifying the process of painting into a few readily understood steps. In this book, he expands the teaching of his pouring technique and goes into the underlying structure of a painting. He presents a unique way of teaching composition that will delight the reader. He then presents his three-step process of painting a landscape--masking to preserve the lights, pouring on the atmosphere and spattering the textures. Next, he shows two great techniques for painting flowers, a subject that does not appear in his first book. Also included is a chapter of fun experimental techniques that readers are sure to enjoy and another chapter that answers some frequently asked questions.
* Enables any artist to produce landscapes and flowers, two of the most popular painting subjects
* This author has a proven sales track record
Customer Reviews:
Fill Your Watercolor With Natures Light.......2007-05-25
Helpful well put together book, which encouraged trying new techniques
Great Service.......2006-08-10
It was a surprise when the book was delivered in a couple days, I had expected a week. It is in superb condition. Impressive seller and delivery.
Nice loose painting.......2003-08-19
This is a nice book for soft landscapes. However, I don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would. Check out the authors style first, and if you really like it...then the book is for you. I use some techniques, but the subject matter is a little soft for me. I didn't stay interested enought to use the lessons, but I did read it through and apply concepts to some of my own work.
These techniques are nothing short of fantastic!.......2001-12-24
I love these books by Roycraft. If you love painting landscape or natural subjects, you cannot go wrong reading this book. Roycraft's techniques look simple (a lot of splashing going on) but they are controlled and well thought out. If you love floral painting you should not miss his examples here of a peony and an iris. JUST Breathtaking. I picked up so many ideas from this book.
Not only are Roycraft's paintings beautiful to see, he knows how to communicate his techniques incredibly well. I'm glad I found this watercolor artist's books.
A power tool for watercolorists.......2001-08-09
Having read "enough" art technique books, I have learned that until one gets "down and dirty" trying out what is discussed in the book, then one does not actually spend the money wisely (on the book).
The same for this book. Beautiful artwork by the author. Did I say beautiful? No, BREATHTAKING, rather. However, to be able to generate beautiful artworks, the readers will need the following:
- An ability to SEE (light, dark, positive and negative space)
- Follow instructions from the book (which is PROBABLY the easy part, since it is rather well-written)
- A decent craftsmanship to finesse the final painting after the "mask and pour paints" phase of the process.
Briefly, I would think this is a power tool for watercolorists. How great the final products turn out to be will depend on the aforementioned factors.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Book Description
Learn how to paint exquisite flower portraits in watercolour, following Billy Showell's highly detailed, step-by-step instructions. Packed with stunning pictures and technical advice, this book is truly inspirational. Billy Showell's exquisite and technically brilliant watercolour flower portraits are beautifully presented in this highly informative, lavishly illustrated book. Packed with information on drawing and painting techniques, colour mixing and composition, it is an invaluable source of ideas and inspiration for anyone who wants to develop their flower painting skills, whether or not they have any previous experience.
Customer Reviews:
Surprise for Painter wife.......2007-04-11
My wife was thrilled with this book that was added to her resources. She has used it already.
It's all in the details.......2006-10-05
This book improves on many previous painting books by giving very specific step-by-step instructions. Each step is beautifully photographed and carefully explained. This makes it a must have for both the beginner and painter.
Billy's paintings bring a contemporary feel to botanical art. Her work is meticulous and detailed. The Artist's talks about all aspects of creating a painting including choosing paints, brushes and paper for the execution of your work. Her comments about composition and her approach to painting help guide you to develop your own approach.
I highly recommend this lovely book.
Book Description
A unique guide that will teach complete beginners how to paint a beautiful floral watercolour in just one weekend.
Beginners recognise that they need to acquire basic painting skills - but at the same time they are eager to produce their first finished painting. This popular 'weekend' formula allows them to do both in a limited amount of time - to build skills gradually and to produce an attractive, frameable painting that they can hang on their walls by the end of the weekend.
The author starts by introducing the materials required, and then leads readers through a series of watercolour technique exercises designed to provide a basic grounding in the skills needed for this subject area.
This instruction is followed by six weekend projects for painting a range of popular floral subjects: a single flower; a group of white flowers; an indoors still life; an outdoors close-up; autumn flowers; and wild flowers in the landscape. Each course starts with practice exercises to be completed on the Saturday; readers are then ready to complete the full watercolour painting on the Sunday.
Clear instructions accompany step-by-step photographs throughout, and technical information is given in special feature boxes.
Customer Reviews:
Thanks, Jill!.......2004-04-11
After months of sitting with my preschooler at the easel and painting nothing but crude daisies, I bought this book. It's been three days and I am already painting flowers that look like flowers. The techniques are simple and are explained well with text and photographs. I find that many how-to-paint books are filled with the artist's own finished works but never show the intimidated beginner how to get there. This book is different in that it takes the reader through a step-by-step process that begins with the first stroke and ends with the final product. I highly recommend this book to the beginning watercolorist.
Book Description
In 14 eye-popping step-by-step demonstrations, author Soon Y. Warren reveals her techniques for painting bold, intense florals. The featured artwork takes the glowing, light-drenched scenes watercolor is known for and elevates them to another level. Readers will find:
-Secrets for intensifying color, such as beginning with a yellow underpainting to create a warm glow
-Popular flower subjects, such as roses, lilies, irises and peonies
-Techniques for conveying mood using color, contrast and setting
-A warm and inviting instructional voice
Best of all, artists can't resist the robust, luminous quality of the author's paintings and want to know how she does it.
Customer Reviews:
magnificant flowers.......2007-02-07
This gorgeous watercolor book is filled with equistive colored flowers. It has instructions as to the layering technique on how to achieve these glorious paintings. It is not your ususal run of the mill watercolor book. This is sophisticated stuff. Much of her painting involves using glass as part the picture, crystal and otherwise. You just cannot believe the results. Glorious flowers and complex backgrounds. I would not recommend this book for the beginner watercolorist. I would say you have to have some experiance in washes, values and color theory. But, for the more advanced, it is a wonderful resource.
Learn from the best!.......2006-10-30
Soon Y Warren is one of the best watercolorists of our times. I was privileged to take a workshop from this humble woman who manages to produce some of the most richly colored, impacting paintings of our day. While many books just give you enough actual information to be discouraged, Soon's book is generous with her techniques. If you are not even an artist, buy it to have many photos of her stunning watercolors with their intricate crystal, vivid florals, and lush fabrics. I learned that a garage sale dinner plate works as well as a porcelain palette, that her "magic" red is "RED" well applied, that inexpensive Silver Black Velvet brushes will match a kolinsky in the right hands, and that 5 colors will paint just about anything.
Book Description
The abundant variety of flowers is a never-ending source of inspiration for all artists. Whether it's the graceful shape of a tulip or the cheerful colors of a daffodil, each flower has its own unique beauty. The Flower Painter's Essential Handbook teaches readers how to find that beauty, and features:
-50 of today's most popular flowers, from azaleas to water lilies
-Step-by-step instructions that show artists how to capture the exact qualities of each flower
-Helpful suggestions for customizing projects to the artist's individual style
-A "getting started" section that covers basic materials, techniques and colors for beginning artists
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource .......2005-11-21
This floral painting book is excellent. Instead of a one-technique collection from a singular artist, this compilation from several fine watercolorists provides a treasure chest of techniques. From basic watercolor daisies to crinkled masa paper pansies, this book gives clear demonstrations and inspiration. There were simple projects that were provided quick success, and more challenging techniques that required some practice.
Some prior basic watercolor experience is necessary. The instructions assume basic level skills such as charging, negative painting, glazing and use of liquid masking. Successful composition suggestions are covered, as well.
I have many flower books, but this one by far is the best........1998-11-13
After purchasing many watercolor books on flowers and realizing they just didn't fit my needs, I was hesitant to purchase another one. But after seing Basic Flower Painting, I succumbed and am thrilled with the instructions and the step by step demos that are the most helpful of all. The price is so reasonable for what is provided in the content, and the colors are as vibrant as in a much more expensive book. I couldn't ask for anything more. I recommend it to any level artist whether beginner or advanced. There's something for everyone in it.
Great Reference, But Beginners Beware.......1998-04-03
Caveat: this title may attract the novice, but "Basic" shouldn't be confused with "Beginning." If you are have a limited palette and are not yet conversant with terms like "charging color," "thirsty brush," and "modeling," the demonstrations may be frustrating.
That being said, the book is a joyful compendium of fine work by accomplished artists. Many examples are featured in the _Splash_ series. Demonstrations are varied, detailed, and challenging (although the section on special effects with cotton swabs is a bit long).
As a reference or idea-generator, the book is excellent. The editor has thoughtfully included sketches for constructing single blossoms, composite flowers, stems, leaves, weeds, and wild grasses. For the adventurous, she also includes articles on techniques with crumpled paper, compositions, acetate, acrylic, and airbrush.
I would recommend this book highly for an advanced beginner who is interested in exploring florals in more depth, or for the more accomplished artist who seeks a comprehensive overview of the subject.
Simply one of the best flower painting books ever published.......1997-10-13
If you really want to learn about flower painting, This is one book you simply cannot do without ! This book REALLY teaches you the basics step-by-step. It is beautifully illustrated and will give you the necessary knowledge in learning how to paint flowers with the help of different artists. There are very few books on flower painting that will give you this much demonstration, tips & techniques plus beautifully painted flowers that are painted so realistically that you can almost smell them.
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Books Index
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General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Paint Watercolors That Dance With Light
The Watercolor Flower Painter's A to Z: An Illustrated Directory of Techniques for Painting 50 Popular Flowers
Vibrant Flowers in Watercolor
North Light's Big Book of Painting Watercolor Flowers
Flowers: Wonders of Nature in Watercolor
