Watercolor Basics – Let’s Get Started

Book Preface

Watercolor Basics: Let’s Get Started

INTRODUCTION

I was born in Toronto in 1925 and am blessed with six brothers and five sisters. One of the strongest memories from my childhood is an addiction to drawing and a curiosity about visual images. I was constantly analyzing light and its effects on my surroundings. I became an addict at rendering with pencils, crayons or whatever was available. This was a healthy addiction from which I have thankfully never fully recovered.

When I was ten years old I joined the local Kiwanis Boys Club in Trinity College in Toronto. It was here that I met my mentor, Tom Roberts, a professional watercolor artist. He took a personal interest in me because of my obvious fascination with art. He encouraged me to accompany him on sketching trips. One day, Tom completed a small watercolor of the old St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. He executed this quickly with a brief explanation of composition, values and colors (which were very limited). When he finished, I was completely hooked on transparent watercolor—and have been ever since.

Watercolor Basics: Let’s Get Started

Contents

Introduction

1 WHAT DO I NEED TO BEGIN?

All the basic materials you need to start painting, from brushes to paper to paints and all the accessories.

2 GETTING STARTED

Easy suggestions on how to arrange your indoor studio and streamline your materials for outdoor painting trips, as well as exercises explaining how to handle and control your brushes with ease.

3 FOUR BASIC TECHNIQUES

The flat wash, the graded wash, painting wet-in-wet, and the dry-brush are explored in nine simple step-by-step exercises.

4 INTRODUCTION TO VALUE

Learn how to control depth and contrast for realistic paintings with eleven monochrome exercises.

5 FIVE STEPS TO A PAINTING

Easy, informative step-by-step demonstrations take you from one color to five, revealing how to make your paintings sing with color.

6 SIMPLE PAINTING PROJECTS

A seven-exercise workshop allows you to flex your artistic muscle creating beautiful paintings while using all the tips explored in earlier chapters.

7 BASIC COMPOSITION

Still more informative exercises look at composing effective paintings and using photography and photocopying to make art from real life.