Modern Watercolor: A playful and contemporary exploration of watercolor painting (Modern Series)

As context for this review, I am an absolute beginner and not very creative. This is one of my favorite watercolor books so far, it has a ton of full color illustrations, almost the same amount of space as the text. It also isnt overly technical and features loose style painting. In addition to the standard review of supplies and tools (which is only 6 pages, just the right amount of depth given how ubiquitous this information is), the Getting Started section includes a 8 pages on technique. These cover the right amount of water and paint which I haven’t seen discussed in this basic way before, washes, lifting paint, blending, hard and soft edges and more. Then there is a 10 page section on color including the color wheel, color mixing charts and black and white painting. The 8 page Mark-Making and Brushstrokes section covers the various brushes and the types of marks they can make and includes 4 pages of watercolor lettering information. There are 6 pages on shapes and patterns and 12 pages on resist techniques. The painting botanicals section is my favorite with 32 pages on flowers, greenery, wreaths and all-over patterns. It has step by step instructions for a variety of flowers including roses, tulips and peonies. The painting animals, landscapes and more section is 24 pages and as the title describes covers animals and landscapes as well as faces and interior paintings. This is my least favorite section as the animals, faces and interiors seem like they require more talent than I have but they do seem basic, like someone with just a bit of talent could handle them. The 6 page landscape portion is more my speed, back to the suggestion of things rather than detailed images.

This is outstanding. The techniques I tried actually worked and the best thing was Van Leuven’s color chart - not the color wheel, but making a color chart of your own set of paints. Then you don’t get stuck when artists use shades you don’t have because you’re able to see what your own paints can produce. Excellent book.

Beautiful book full of all sorts of ideas

I'll be the first "uncompensated" reviewer of this book. Overall, it's excellent. Lots of fun, colorful ideas with "can do" projects. My only complaint, and the reason I don't give it 5 stars, is there isn't enough information on how to do each project. Could use a little more info like if you are working wet-in-wet, dry, or glazing, etc. Also, for anyone without any drawing experience, it will be a bit difficult to complete some of the projects. I feel I have just enough skill to pull it off. Overall, well written, colorful and fun! Also, makes a good reference for fundamental watercolor basics.

Great advice and step by step illustrations on how to paint loose florals, greenery, landscapes, animals, interiors...also good advice on techniques and materials to improve your watercolor paintings. I really liked the book. I got the book in very good condition, like new.

Honestly, I accidentally purchased two copies of this book. I just knew that I had to have it. This book is fantastically written. I have read it once and now I am going back through and working on the different examples and techniques. I highly recommend this book if you fancy yourself a modern watercolorist. Great for beginners!!

Nice book! Lots of information

Better than described. Brand new book.

An excellent resource for the beginner watercolourist.

I have only recently gotten into watercolour painting and my biggest interest is in botanics - even just to look through this book to see how the author paints these flowers is lovely. There are step by step instructions along with images and these images show how the author holding her brush/making the stroke, which is incredibly helpful and I have found is lacking in other books that I have been using. There is also an introduction to watercolour painting, as most other books, and again, the images that show how to mix the paint and set up a palette is brilliant - as I was getting this wrong previously, and was wondering why my paintings were drying different to how I intended! Fantastic book, highly highly recommend!

It’s very nice book for beginners who have started or interested in watercolours..

Yes, the book was used and it was an excellent condition. It also came very quickly when one considers it was shipped from England to Canada. I ordered it on the fourth and it was here. On 16 September. I am very pleased with my purchase and the book is great for beginners. Lots of information and very little pressure to become an expert right away.

El papel y las imágenes tienen buena calidad. Hay fotografías de los paso a paso de todos los proyectos. Es un libro para principiantes. En mi caso, ideal.