Customer Reviews

Charles Reid's Watercolor Solutions: Learn To Solve The Most Common Painting Problems

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The problem I usually have with Reid's books is that his style is SO distinctive that I feel I don't want to follow his advice. This is because I don't paint in a style at all like his. But unlike many watercolor books, where you pick the book based on the style of painting (realism, abstract, impressionist, expressionist) here, you can follow Charles Reid's advice and APPLY it to how YOU paint.

For example, there is a wonderful section on lost and found edges--how you blend areas of similar intensity and value with soft edges and make hard edges where values (lights and darks) are very contrasty. This gives the effect of diffused light and sharp, angled light where needed.

There is also a very fun section on how to convert a photo to a portrait without it looking like a cartoon--for this example, Reid takes a famous photo of John Singer Sargent and paints it in not only HIS style but in an extremely clever homage to Sargent's characteristic watercolor figure style. This is absolutely outstanding work and when you see Sargent under his parasol, you'll remember his own beautiful "Simplon Pass: The Lesson" and "Reading". This is very clever, very wonderful work and gives you the feeling of double-vision; you're seeing a Reid painting AND a Sargent painting. Worth the price of the book alone for that.

One of the best things Reid can teach you is how to do a contour drawing. This art class exercise, where you don't take your eyes off the subject and you don't lift your pencil from the paper as you draw the outlines of forms seems almost irritating when you first learn it. You get a funny, squiggly drawing that doesn't look like a finished sketch. But Reid shows you how to use contour drawing to great advantage when composing a watercolor.

As always, there are abundant large photos of Reid's work, and also some works of other artists to give perspective on watercolor technique. If you admire how Reid paints, then this is just fun for visual eye-candy. But if you are serious about watercolor, the book has much to offer and is really an excellent extension to the books Reid has written in the past. Highly recommended--in fact, if you own just one of his books, I'd say this would be the one to have.

This ought to be the best book Charles Reid has written on watercolor. It's absolutely honest and generous at giving his best painting knowledge and advise to anyone who loves watercolor. C.Reid is undoubtely one of the greatest watercolor masters of our time and his style is unique. I was a little hesitant about buying this book (I have most of his) because of the title, but "solutions" turns out to be a series of master classes, with excellent examples and critique of watercolor paintings. I'm eager to start reading it and applying all that knowledge. Just wished it was more comprehensive in each subject, but guess nothing is perfect. The book has beautiful plates and pictorials, it's nicely written, and intermediate-to-advanced watercolor artists will take the most advantage of it. It was worth the wait. Thank you, maestro!

Another great colourful intelligent book from Charles Reid, who is willing to share all of his knowledge with fellow artists! It's hard to find a book for intermediate and advanced artists, most are for beginners, but this book is highly recommended for those painting over 2 years. Do the exercises! They really help. A must for watercolourists and for Reid fans.

If you are an artist that uses a loose technique for painting your pictures then this book is for you. I on the other hand need structure so books by Claudia Nice and Laurie Humble are more my style. I thought this book was going to be filled with helpful hints and techniques to help me correct my work but after reading it through I have come to the conclusion that this book is not for a painter like me. This does not by all means make this a book that should not be purchased by anyone it is just not for me.

This is yet another wonderful book by the watercolor master, Charles Reid. Great book not only for beginners but for experienced watercolor artists as well!

I love Charles Reid's style of watercolor! He explains how he achieves his loose, but very expressive style and how you can, too! The only thing better than a book by Charles Reid is watching him in action on his watercolor videos.

I just happen to love the way Charles Reid paints and I would give my eye teeth to do likewise but, as an occasional late-arrived painter, I know I never will. But, hey, that's just like my golf game. I know I'm better than my performance and refuse to accept the evidence of my eyes. So I continue. And Reid is an inspiration. And there are a number of good tips here. However, I also have his "The Natural Way to Paint" (who picks these titles?) and much of what he says is already in that. Admittedly, he makes more of an effort to instruct in "Learn to Solve the Most Common Painting Problems" and his illustrations and text are helpful but the title is far too comprehensive not to disappoint. Why not call it "How to Paint like the Masters in a Week"?

Anyway, I shouldn't get hung up on the title. For me at least, I could have done with the steps broken down even further for a portrait and a landscape so that I might more easily reproduce an approximation of Reid's work. And OK I'll admit it I need all the help I can get and so no steps would be too small. But aren't there a lot of people out there like me? The trouble with many an instructive text is that the author is often too embarrassed to simplify beyond a certain point in case he's accused of speaking down to the students. You can never misjudge the ignorance of students, not at least in the first few chapters of instruction.

So Reid's work is wonderful, I enjoy the book a lot, I wish either he was a better teacher or I was a better student.

I have to disagree with most other reviewers. From the description of this book, I expected more... "Through before and after photos of various paintings, the author clearly identifies the existing problems in the painting and provides a detailed action plan with solutions to rectify the issue."

However, I found that the author rambles from topic to topic and does not provide many specific solutions. There were no "before and after photos" and no "detailed action plans." True, there are some student paintings, but the author only provides cursory critiques. Things like "could use more contrast" or the "proportions are wrong". The reader is left to guess where in the painting is the contrast or proportions wrong. As an experienced watercolorist, I could make an educated guess, but I really wanted the author to be more specific.

Charles Reid's latest book, "Watercolor Solutions", does what I always hope for in an artist's 'how-to' book; it provides me with a workshop in print. I have an opportunity to learn about painting from a master watercolorist and observe what he's doing at the same time. Reid's painting style is wonderfully open with a use of color both loose and precise, so that most us want to know more about how he does it. After reading and enjoying several of his previous books, I find this is his best attempt yet at showing us what he does and how he does it.

Many artists aren't very articulate when it comes to describing what they do, but Reid is a very clear writer. I appreciate his analysis of his pieces, what works and what doesn't, as well as his tips about how to achieve certain effects. His sections on contour drawing and mixing colors are excellent as is his section on brush strokes. Even if you don't paint like Charles Reid, I think there's a great deal of value in this book for you, because Charles Reid is painting out of that great tradition of impressionism - catch the moment, catch the light - and this book goes a long way towards showing you just how it's done.

Charles Reid is one of my favorite watercolor artists. I have several other books by Charles Reid, so some of the information in this book has already been covered in those books. If this is your first Charles Reid book, I think you will find it especially helpful. He talks about materials, his palette of colors he uses, contour drawing, brushwork, value, color mixing, etc. He has section on painting figures, landscapes, and also a section on working from photos. He does have books on just painting the figure, and if you like to paint people, as I do (I have Portraits and Figures in Watercolor), those have more exercises geared toward that goal. As for myself, I just enjoy his beautiful paintings and unique style (and watching the progression of his work from his earlier books), and the book is worth buying for that alone. I could never afford to buy one of his paintings, but get to see them whenever I like by looking through his books. Doing the exercises definitely helps, as I learned to paint with watercolor from doing the exercises from some of his earlier books. I think the most helpful solution is just to paint. The more you do, the more you learn from your mistakes or successes.