Here is a selection of watercolor books that were very interesting and helped me progress technically. I usually will not follow everything an artist is describing but will develop my own process, picking up some ideas from each of those books.
Watermedia painting : A few recommended readings
For me, the master of color, she can achieve great effects by mixing certain type of colors depending on their characteristics : transparency, granulation…, achieving vibration effects by painting complementary colors side by side, the push and pull effect of warm and cool colors.
A completely different way to handle color in this book, by applying successive washes of cool and warm colors and achieving gorgeous granulation effects. It has also very interesting parts about figure drawing and painting, how to simplify shapes by connecting shadow areas, and some more advice about edge quality and connecting the figure to the background.
A very good book if you want to experiment with acrylic and mixed media, using all kinds of additives too. Lots of good ideas for mixing media and gorgeous illustrations by the author. His paintings have very exciting colors, a very unique style with contrasting under-painting and edge effects. He is excellent in watercolors, acrylics, oils, gouache…
A very good book if, like me you are interested in mixing some king of realistic style for your portraits with mixed media and more abstract backgrounds. A great “how to” book.
The book that got me starting with layering watercolors for luminous colors, I changed her technique to fit more my taste, but basically it’s the same idea.
And finally you might be interested in my watercolor instruction book:
Yes, YOU can do it. YOU can create beautiful watercolor paintings–everything from florals to portraits to landscapes–even if you’ve never before worked with this exuberant, exciting medium. Fearless Watercolor for Beginners offers a unique, one-on-one workshop–with step-by-step demonstrations, exercises and bonus video content–that teaches you all the basics you need to get started (and then some)–and then promptly encourages you to break them!
Originally from France, I have been living in North Vancouver, Canada for the past 20 years.
My work has been collected and exhibited extensively in Canada and internationally. I am also part of the Art Rentals and sales program of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Many of my paintings have been published in Art books and magazines (Artist Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Acrylic Magazine, International Artist Magazine). I wrote 2 art instruction books with North Light/F+W Books.
I have been writing for the last 5 years for my blog: paintingdemos.com, that has a mailing list of about 10 000 subscribers and about 20 000 visitors per month.
I am an active member in the community, as a co-founder of the North Shore Art crawl, a co-founder of a weekly life drawing group, a board member of the North Vancouver Arts Council, and have been invited as a juror for public art, art grants and juried exhibitions. You can read more about my collaborations here.
Comment (1)
lesliepaints
Excellent recommendations, Sandrine! I have read all but the acrylic one.