Customer Reviews

Charles Reid's Watercolor Secrets

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Charles Reid is a noted watercolorist. His technique is loose yet structured; he does portraits, landscapes, florals all with exceptional dash yet clearly he is following rules of some kind. What are they? He reveals his ideas on composition, color and things specific to watercolor. His use of the white of the paper is extraordinary; he doesn't just restrict this to highlights, but leaves large patches of paper that lets the eye fill in the subject in a very exciting manner.

The book is in a longer-than-wide format and beautifully printed. The example paintings are lovely--you just want to stare at them and wonder how he could make something so uncontrived-looking. But the technique is not simple, so if you admire this style of watercolor and strive for looseness yet coherence in your own painting, I'd recoomend this book for your library. It gives you a lot to think about and try for yourself.

I've learned a lot from Charles Reid's books, and so will you. For me, the most important lesson is to paint directly, avoiding overwashes, and you will see a dramatic difference in your watercolors. Mr. Reid reiterates this lesson in most of his books, and from his latest you can not only see examples of this principle in practice, but you can also see how his work has gotten bolder and more colorful with time.

He also stresses the importance of drawing (a skill developed easily enough by practice) and to not try to make a painting perfect (you never will).

Highly recommended.

I first met Charles Reid and his wife Judy in 1988 and it was the beginning of an endless learning process ever since. I have learnt so much about watercolour from his books over the years since then. Charles' books are amazing in that he holds nothing back and just discloses all his knowledge in a wonderful style that is easy to learn from. Invariably there are step by step demonstrations to illustrate his methods. This book is a gem in that it is a compilation of his sketchbooks with each sketch accompanied by short notations explaining the key points in each. It gives you a remarkable insight into how a great artist manages the very personal part of his working day in making his sketches. One can learn so much from this book not the least of which is to leave your camera at home! Charles' workshops are a great delight and if you are fortunate to attend one you will find that he is a friendly man of great warmth and charm which is reflected in his books and above all a wonderful teacher.

As a newcomer to watercolor painting, I have purchased an extensive library of books on the subject to better educate myself in this wonderful media. I stumbled upon "Charles Reid's
Watercolor Secrets" at a bookstore and it is my favorite of all the books I've seen. It is a beautifully printed book and his paintings are extraordinary, I am just blown away by his consummate skill as an artist.His use of color and negative space(white paper) are remarkable.A wide range of subjects are covered, landscapes, flowers, French Villas and towns etc.
What really sets him apart however,are his watercolor portraits,
just amazing. He seems to capture not just a likeness of the person but also their very essence. I love the painting of actor Gene Wilder though all the others are outstanding too.
I loved his portrait work so much I also purchased his book on the subject "The Natural Way to Paint". So many books on watercolor look the same, overdone subjects, overly tight painting. Charles Reid is the real deal, a true artist.Very inspiring, makes me want to paint every time I look at it.

The title of this book is rather misleading. I had thought I was going to get some real expert tips on watercolor painting but instead this book is just a reprinting of the artist's watercolor "NOTEBOOKS" with VERY little in the way of useable and tangible tips about painting in watercolor. The book is slender, sparsely laid-out and over-priced at that. It struck me as just an excuse for a book with a cleverly disguised title to market and sell it (everyone wants the "secrets", right?) . Save your money!

Charles Reid is a wonderful artist. I enjoyed reading the book but it falls short as an instruction manual as it is very difficult to understand from the text and illustrations how Charles actually achieves his very loose wet in wet effects.

This book, Charles Reid, author, entitled "Watercolor Secrets" was picked by an instructor at Washburn University for a class on watercolor. I am taking the class and find the book weak on instructions, but good in presenting the
variety of work this artist has done. It certainly could be written in a more instructional style.

Put 'Watercolor painting techniques' into Amazon Advance Search and you'll come up with well over a thousand titles. I'm sure most of these are worthy books but I'll stick with anything by Charles Reid. I have five of his books and 'Watercolor Secrets' together with Painting Flowers in Watercolour are probably the ones I look through most often.

All of the books, of course, show what a stunning artist he is though I much prefer his watercolor work rather than oils. It's his studied casualness that I love, colors define shapes, they merge into each other, large areas are just left blank and look unfinished yet the overall effect is controlled precision. His work is totally convincing and rather unique.

The five chapters in this book throw up lots of interesting techniques for the established painter*. I particularly liked the Demonstration pages in each of the five chapters. Each shows a step-by-step series of paintings from the original drawing to the finish with comprehensive captions to each picture. There's something for everyone in the book: figures, landscape and seascapes, flowers, buildings and more.

Another reason I like this book is because it's so good to look at. Visually it is based on a landscape sketchbook and nicely each spread has part of a used sketchbook printed in the spine. The layout and typography are first class (a tip of the hat to Wendy Dunning) and how refreshing to find a publisher that is prepared to go that little bit extra for the reader.

If you like Charles Reid get this book for some excellent examples of his work and positive thoughts on watercolor techniques.

*Just starting out? Have a look at Reid's Painting What You Want to See (Practical Art Books) which has some very basic instructions, especially on drawing.


***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

This is an inside look at the sketchbooks of one of the masters in watercolor. Sketch books are priceless to the artist and for Reid to share some of his thoughts about the sketching process is rather remarkable.

I had originally taken this book out from the local library. After I returned it there was a mix up and I was charged for the book as irretrievably damaged. I took them at their word and ordered a new copy. When I got the new copy to the library I found that the book was actually nearly intact, with only slight wear to one corner! So I came back home with my new copy.

Charles Reid has a loose style that probably suits him and I don't doubt that he is acclaimed. Yet his "Charles Reid's Watercolor Secrets" just did not help me much. If given the choice I would not have purchased the book after having seen the library copy. Still I think that this may be partly a difference of taste. One of my problems with his work is his tendency to artistically splatter his finished paintings. Sometimes this seemed to work, but often (in my opinion) it did not. I sometimes felt that the book was more a glorification of that technique, rather than a real painting manual. In short the whole book left me feeling less than enthusiastic. I don't object to many loose formats and even abstract ones, but they have to work. In my opinion (and I stress this, because I don't consider myself an expert at all) Reid's paintings did not always do this.

In the case of this book I don't feel able to recommend or to not recommend, but I think it wise for a potential buyer to examine it first carefully. If the style is agreeable to the buyer and they think that they can gain something from the descriptions than so be it. For myself I much prefer the manuals produced by other watercolor artists. This is in short not a book I would rush out and buy to add to my art library.