Beginner's Guide to Watercolor Painting

June 10, 2024

Illustrator Miyoshi gives readers simple watercolor painting or "sketching" guidance. Although the exercises can be completed with a regular brush, the author uses a watercolor pen and gives readers instructions on how to utilize it to create various brushstrokes. The first few practice exercises focus on single-color everyday objects, such as fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The projects progress in complexity to cover bouquets, animals, people, and landscapes. The book supplies ample tips, like painting from light areas to dark, placing shadows before color, and letting each layer of paint dry before adding another to prevent bleeding. Miyoshi also illustrates how dynamic a single color can be when layered and varied in hue. Some of the example sketches, however, are too light and difficult to see against the white background of the pages. Librarians should be aware that the book contains 16 removable postcards to paint. VERDICT A wealth of practical and clever advice that beginner artists will find useful.--Sara Shreve

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