Your All-Inclusive Solution Guide Not sure which technique you need to improve your watercolor? Choose them all! The Watercolorist's Answer Book combines the wisdom, expertise and beautiful work of eight accomplished artists in one comprehensive volume. You'll find information on using and caring for materials, advice on basic and advanced techniques and useful tips for improving your paintings. The Answer Book includes: Techniques on brushwork, paper preparation, masking, measuring and drawing A complete explanation of the watercolor wash and all its variations The secrets to color, and how to use triads, analogous colors and colorful grays Sections on light and value, contrast, value scales, reflected light and shadows Simple solutions to composition, design, the golden mean and creating dynamic paintings Practical considerations like framing, cropping, marketing and selling your artwork Twenty step-by-step demonstrations reinforce the valuable tips that fill every page. And each of the 425 tips are categorized and numbered for easy reference, so you spend less time searching for answers and more time painting! The master watercolorists who share their secrets in this book are: Betty Carr Joe Garcia Penny Soto Pat Weaver Donald Clegg Linda Stevens Moyer Jan Fabian Wallake Mary and Mary Willenbrink

Provides practical answers and advice for a variety of questions about watercolor painting of landsacpes, people, buildings, and still life.

Included are numerous examples of the author's work as well as paintings by other outstanding artists. In each case, the philosophy behind the work and the actual techniques used are fully explained. For those who want to sell their paintings, the book gives sound advice on dealing with galleries, how to prepare your work for shows and how to keep records. Advanced technical methods are explained and demonstrated as a means of helping you express your ideas and develop a personal style--Jacket.

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.

This invaluable handbook for all watercolourists takes a practical problem-and-solution approach to painting a range of popular subjects, showing common mistakes and how to rectify them. Mastering fundamental drawing and watercolour techniques forms the basis of successful watercolour painting - the author starts by leading readers through a series of examples and exercises that will introduce them to tonal drawing, colour mixing, applying washes, and much more. Readers will then be ready to move on to the eight themed sections designed to help them in their specific areas of interest. Each theme starts by demonstrating the basic brushstrokes required for that subject. Trudy then sets out a series of problem-and-solution pages that are packed with useful tips on how to paint those subjects and avoid common pitfalls. The information throughout is presented clearly with plenty of useful annotations in a handy portable size so readers can take it wherever their painting takes them.

How to paint your world in watercolor…and have fun doing it! The day Sterling Edwards watched an artist paint an entire sky with three deft brushstrokes was the day he committed to trading his tiny oil brushes and photorealistic style in favor of big, bold strokes of watercolor. In the years since, he's developed not only a wonderfully fresh, luminous painting style, but also an approach that takes the intimidation out of this beautiful but often-mystifying medium. In this book, he shares both. • Initial chapters lay the foundation for successful paintings, from choosing the right brushes to achieving vibrant colors, interesting textures and strong compositions. • Step-by-step demonstrations illustrate techniques for painting rocks, skies, trees, foliage, buildings, water and other landscape elements. • An easy-to-follow, four-step painting process makes for easier starts and stronger finishes, complete with rich darks and sparkling highlights. • Eight complete painting projects cover a range of breathtaking scenes and seasons. Whether you're dipping into the medium for the first time or you're a watercolor devotee on a quest for clearer color and more personal statements, this book will help you make the most of the time you spend with brush in hand.

The major art pieces, most important artists, and significant artistic movements from 35,000 BCE to today are collected together in this easy to read resource on art history. Continuing in the tradition of the standout Handy Answer Book reference series, this book not only the covers the development of Western art, but also the history of art across the globe. An overview of art—its history, techniques, materials, forms, colors, style, the nature of artistic expression, and how to look at art—is followed by examinations of the main periods and movements of art history. The book both explains and shows important elements, influences, artists, and masterworks of era and the world events and cultures that influenced and changed them through nearly 150 color images of indispensable masterworks. This accessible and entertaining resource for readers with a casual interest in art history as well as industry professionals also includes a glossary of terms to demystify jargon and explain theory.