Learn to Paint in Watercolor with 50 Paintings: Pick Up the Skills, Put On the Paint, Hang Up Your Art (50 Small Paintings)

The supply list and 50 painting tutorials in "Learn to Paint" are ideally suited to intermediate painters ready to loosen up, work a size larger (1/4 sheet), and increase their color vocabulary.WHAT I LIKED:1. The master supply list for the paintings as well as Freeborn's sketchbook kit is presented as a series of flat lay photographs with a list right at the beginning of the book. Will explains in several cases how his kit is streamlined to his work flow.2. Brief descriptions of common watercolor techniques with photos are given in the first chapter. I found this particularly helpful because my palette, techniques, and tools vary a bit from his.3. The paintings increase in difficulty from lessons 1-50 with new skills added sequentially.4. Will's lessons cover every major subject of representational painting: still life, landscape, cityscape, animals, figures, and portraits. This is an unusually wide scope for a single book.5. Each lesson is presented on a single two page spread. I found this format easy to use.~A gray sidebar listed the materials and palette colors needed for each piece at a glance.~Goals and techniques for each lesson are stated in the lesson title and then expanded in a single tightly written paragraph.~Five thumbnail progress photos with 2-3 sentence captions each guide you through each step from sketch to completed painting. These lessons are not the comprehensive, stroke-by-stroke type found in either beginner or advanced technique books, which I appreciated.~A final 1/4 size completed painting is included at the end of each lesson for reference.6. Freeborn provides dozens of little tips throughout the book that are usually the kind of instruction you receive in a live class as an offhand comment by the teacher.7. The palettes for each piece are sophisticated, elevating even the simple everyday subjects in beginning lessons.WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:1. I docked a single star even though I loved this book because the cover indicated it was aimed at "newbies." A brand new watercolor beginner would be unlikely to invest in the supplies listed or be able to understand many of the lessons in this book. The pieces included also require a solid set of drawing skills.2. I felt the United States publisher missed an opportunity to reach a large community of painters who have mastered basic techniques and are actively looking for material to continue growing their skills without specializing into a single advanced technique.2. Every single piece of art calls for a 10 x 14 watercolor block, even though many of the finished pieces are shown in square or landscape format.3. Learn to Paint, like many other UK art books I already own, felt like valuable author content shoehorned into a publisher template by someone who hadn't read the author's material. I had the same disconnect I used to get as a child when an illustrator gave a character in a book the wrong color hair or eyes.CONCLUSION:For an intermediate painter, 30 cents a lesson is an extraordinary value! I have admired Will Freeborn's work for several years and am excited to own a book that not only reveals his tools and work flow, but also seeks to teach his skills. If you are truly a "newbie", save this book in your wish list for after you've learned the bare bones of watercolor. It won't be long before you want to loosen up, paint larger pieces, and have the confidence to pick a palette that enhances and elevates your subject.

This is an excellent review of watercoloring basics by a renowned illustrator and sketchbook guru. The scope of the book is very broad and it touches on a wide range of technical issues. See list of chapter contents, below. This volume is highly recommended for watercolor beginners seeking an accessible guide to the medium. It is also recommended for watercolor enthusiasts who want to see a compilation of Wil Freeborn's work along with his insights about watercolor painting and strategies to deal with its technical challenges.CHAPTER CONTENTSChapter 1: Getting StartedBasic KitChoosing you colorsColor mixingPaperWashesColor, light, and atmostphereHow to keep a sketchbookChapter 2: Simple Still LifesLively washesBackgrounds for still lifesWorking with a minimal paletteArranging a simple still lifeBasic drawing for watercolorGet confident with colorCompose as you goWatercolor with pen and inkSight sizingQuick watercolor sketchHard edgesChapter 3: LandscapesCreating dynamic contrastWashes for atmosphereSimple wash with gradationCreating a sense of distanceMasking areas of white paperBright colors in landscapesIdeas for compositionBold shapesFinding interesting shapesPure texture and subtle washesWorking with one colorReserving colorsTelling storiesAbstract patternsChapter 4: CityscapesSimplifying what you seeExploring granulationSparkling sunlightSymmetry and proportionPainting multiple buildingsPerspective for beginnersBuilding up a complex sceneFinding your interpretationIntroducing a sense of scaleChapter 5: AnimalsGrouping subjectsEditing outExpressing brushworkPainting a museum specimenPainting live animalsWorking from photosThree-color washesPainting a marine subjectLandscapes with wildlifeChapter 6: Figures, portraits, peopleAdding figures to landscapesSimplifying peoplePainting quickly in situGrisailleCapturing movementMixing Media

I know that the only way to improve my painting is to paint. A lot. But I struggle with knowing what to paint. Faced with that blank sheet of paper, my mind goes blank, too. It's a weird hurdle to get over. So I went looking for a book of painting prompts and found this. It works very well for what I want. The instruction is a bit odd in that it expects you will find your own subject matter but then instructs you in how to paint what the author painted. It takes a bit of mental translation. Instead of saying "When I painted my shoes, I used a light wash of Payne's Gray" (which is helpful just to know how the author got the effects he did), the author says "1. Find a pair of shoes to paint. 2. Use Paynes's Gray" which is weird if your shoes are purple. Basically, it's just enough information to get me started, so I don't feel like I'm floundering too much, even though it does require some interpolation unless you just want to copy his paintings. Copying is a valid choice if you are just looking for practice and not presenting it to the public as a completely original work.So far, I've done the first seven paintings.

Great book.....

Great book, very helpful, arrived quickly

Es ist nicht einfach, ein gutes Aquarellmalbuch zu finden. Dieses Buch hat mich angenehm überrascht. Es ist übersichtlich gestaltet und deckt eine Vielfalt von Themen und Motiven ab. Die Anleitungen sind leicht verständlich und eindeutig, begleitet von vielen Fotos, die die einzelnen Schritte des Malprozesses dokumentieren. Der Künstler hat einen wunderschönen Stil, der weder zu abstrakt noch zu "ordentlich" ist, wodurch ein breites Publikum von seinen Bildern lernen kann. Das Buch ist für Anfänger geeignet, hat dabei aber ein ansprechendes Niveau.

Das Buch ist sehr übersichtlich aufgebaut und beinhaltet viele hilfreiche Tipps und Tricks und Ideen. Ich nehme es auch immer wieder gerne her und zeichne etwas nach, wenn mir mal die Inspiration fehlt.Der Autor ist talentiert, wirkt sehr sympathisch und die Absätze sind angenehm zu lesen.Einziges Manko: Das Buch ist kein komplettes Anfänger-Werk. Manches Mal sind Arbeitsschritte ausgelassen, bzw. wird vorausgesetzt, dass die LeserInnen diesen bereits kennen. Daher ist ein gewisses Grundlagenwissen Voraussetzung, um flüssig damit arbeiten zu können.Ansonsten finde ich es aber sehr gut und würde es mir wieder kaufen.

It’s a good book for ideas to get my painting skills up to snuff. Need to have good drawing skills to follow along. I like it.