Learn how to create dynamic, original abstract art using easy techniques and nothing more than watercolor paints and a few pens. Let your creativity loose and start making art, without getting bogged down in detail or accuracy - just allow yourself to experiment, have fun, be present and play with colour, shape and texture to your heart's content. In this unique step-by-step book, you'll discover watercolor techniques, tips and tricks to create your own vibrant art, letting the natural watercolor flow to help form your composition and inspire further mixed media embellishment. Author Kate Rebecca Leach of Essoldo Design has amassed a huge following online for her beautiful abstract artworks. In her debut book, she generously shares her techniques so that even complete beginners will be able to pick up a brush and create stunning works of art. Through a variety of projects, including simple shapes, abstract botanicals, and expressive landscapes, you'll learn easy techniques to combine color, texture, and contrast in exciting ways, and how to add gorgeous embellishments using gel pens and metallics to make your abstract pieces shine. Using this book, you'll be able to create art that you'll be proud to display in your home, gift to friends and family and develop your own portfolio, while having a lot of creative fun in the process.

An Inspired Collection of the Best of Abstract Art! Abstract art is a visual language--a riot of color, a profound explosion of texture and shape, a quiet collision of forms. Dynamic works of art can showcase pastel painting, showcase watercolor flowers, or even build off pen and ink drawings. Abstract artists are limited only by their imagination. And through instinct, composition and an inspired color palette, they translate emotions, ideas or experiences into immersive images you want to explore again and again. This book is a stunning volume of more than 100 award-winning abstract works showcasing the colorful and expressive nature of contemporary abstract art. Pieces have been hand-selected from the Pastel Journal's Pastel 100 competitions and The Artist's Magazine's annual competitions, hard-bound to provide years of beauty and enjoyment. Each painting is accompanied by an insightful critique from the artist. You may discover oil painting tips, watercolor techniques, details about creative process, artistic inspiration, and revelations on why abstraction is an important art form. "You need passion and dedication to do abstract work and that is really my best advice to aspiring artists. You have to let your heart and emotion lead you to where you want to go." --Denise Athanas, page 11 "For me abstract art can teach us about the beauty that lies deep within all our experience, often unseen until we change our perspective, remove our usual filters and allow our hearts and minds to open to the wonders of life." --Patricia Bevan, page 15

Overcome your creative blocks and fears and start painting with confidence with Your Year in Art: Watercolor! Filled with weekly art challenges, step-by-step watercolor lessons, helpful tips and techniques, and gorgeous artwork, this follow-up to the drawing-focused Your Year in Art is a must-have for any watercolor artist. Written and illustrated by Kristin Van Leuven, owner of the popular online art shop Hello Lovely People and author of Modern Watercolor (Walter Foster Publishing), Your Year in Art: Watercolor seeks to motivate and inspire. The book is divided into weekly art challenges and prompts that cover appealing themes like florals, birds, and portraits, as well as inspirational ideas for painting patterns, holiday decorations, scenery, and so much more. Lessons and prompts are guided but invite personalization so you can build your skills while celebrating your own unique style. If you're a beginning artist, you might feel intimidated by watercolor, a medium that doesn't allow for many errors. However, Kristin Van Leuven makes watercolor fun and approachable with her easy-to-follow tips and free-flowing, expressive style. With her guidance, you'll learn to embrace imperfection and use the lessons as inspiration, rather than something to imitate exactly. With Your Year in Art: Watercolor, develop your own painting style and express yourself using watercolor!

Discover abstract painting with acrylics! "If you approach your art with a playful attitude you will be more apt to keep making art, and the more art you make, the better your art will be." --pg. 10 Like a diving board for creativity, Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting will help you plunge joyfully into artmaking. With the belief that an attitude of playfulness is key to artistic growth, award-winning acrylic artist Jo Toye leads you on an engaging workshop-style adventure filled with innovative techniques, inventive approaches and breakthrough results. • Work Small. Start by discovering how working on a small canvas yields big payoffs. When you don't have anything to lose but a few minutes and a little piece of paper, you'll find that you paint more fearlessly, absorb new concepts faster and enjoy yourself more. • Step-by-Step Instruction. Learn what tools Toye finds most useful in making art, along with 17 step-by-step demonstrations showing how to use them to best effect. • Start-to-Finish Painting Projects. At the heart of the book, 8 start-to-finish painting projects put it all together. Discover fresh takes on stenciling, sponging, making and working with gesso. Use razor blades and applicator bottles to create distinctive linework. Achieve wonderfully original patterns using resist pens, mouth atomizers and India ink. Experiment with Clear Tar Gel, pour paint with pipettes, work over top a "failed" painting...all yielding brilliantly original results. Heavily illustrated and filled with exciting ideas you won't find anywhere else, Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting will inspire you to paint, experiment, play...and come away with some of your best work yet!

A guide to painting beautiful watercolors and combining them with other user-friendly materials—plus projects to test out what you’ve learned. In Creative Watercolor and Mixed Media, popular watercolor artist, instructor, and author Ana Victoria Calderon shares her simple step-by-step techniques for painting exciting and colorful motifs by combining watercolor with a variety of other user-friendly materials. Start with the essentials—paint, paper, and brushes—then learn about the featured mediums for mixing, including masking fluid, gold leaf, bleach, salt, and alcohol Take a step-by-step look at fundamental watercolor techniques Learn to paint a variety of striking organic motifs and surface effects, including stirring skies and clouds, sparkling galaxies, flowing oceans, and dazzling crystals Find great project ideas for stylish gifts and stationery Whether you’re new to the medium or are looking to add new techniques to your watercolor practice, go grab a brush, paints, and some easy-to-use materials and take a beautiful creative journey with watercolor! Perfect for all skill levels, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.

Welcome to your watercolor happy place! The world of Danielle Donaldson is as wondrous as a jar full of fireflies. Her whimsical illustrations are known for their offbeat color combinations, artful arrangements and endearing quirkiness. In this book, you'll learn how to partner with the wonderfully spontaneous medium of watercolor to create your own brand of magic. Start by creating a handmade journal, then follow exercises and start-to-finish projects to fill it with illustrations that are small in size but big on color. Along the way, Danielle shares her fresh takes on color theory, perspective, composition and more. Designed to get your brush moving, this book makes practice feel like play. It's a one-of-a-kind journey for any artist wishing to tap into the utter joy of watercolor painting and make it a cherished part of your daily life. Inside you'll find: • Imaginative techniques that help you override perfectionist tendencies while making the most of watercolor's unpredictable nature • An inventive approach (using scraps of paper, ribbon and other ephemera) for more creative color choices • A simple strategy that makes drawing new subjects less intimidating and more fun • Sweet ways to add hand lettering to your artwork • Inspirational exercises that make finding subjects to paint as easy as A-B-C "Don't underestimate the giddiness you feel when you mindlessly grab a color and mix it with another and create the most beautiful wash ever!" --p43

Creative Watercolor offers beginners a fun, modern, and practical approach to a timeless medium with instructions on how to paint simple motifs and lettering and embellish projects beautifully. In Creative Watercolor, popular watercolor artist and workshop instructor Ana Victoria Calderon shares her step-by-step techniques for painting modern motifs in this classic medium. Through a series of easy tutorials and projects, you will: Get an overview of basic materials and tools, plus options for embellishing your paintings Master essential techniques, starting with easy warm-up activities, learning to layer, and getting into the flow with watercolor, plus an introduction to scanning and digital editing for making multiples Learn to paint a variety of simple, beautiful motifs: flowers and leaves, butterflies and critters, fruits and vegetables, and delightful lettering Use what you've learned to create unique, stylish stationery, including beautiful invitations, place cards, menus, monograms, recipe gift cards, thank you notes—any project you can imagine, for any kind of event you can think of! There's never been a better time to dive into the world of watercolor, so why wait? Grab a brush and get painting!