Create Dramatic Coastal Scenes in Watercolor: How to Inject Light, Life and Character Into Your Maritime Paintings [Hardcover]

Carlton Plummer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004

From the pounding surf to the interior of a fisherman's hut, coastal scenes provide infinite inspiration and drama for beginning and advanced artists. In Create Dramatic Coastal Scenes in Watercolor, award-winning artist Carlton Plummer teaches artists how to capture the elements of the coast to make a dynamic watercolor. Readers will learn how to utilize the keys to drama--lighting, scale, value patterns, color, and more--so they can add intensity to their paintings.

Plummer also shows how to use technical and intuitive thinking when portraying subjects, and how to accurately paint tidal pools and the surf, lobstermen and clam diggers, and other elements of coastal life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carlton Plummer, AWS, has been a professional artist in oils and water media since 1960. His work is included in permanent corporate and private collections throughout the U.S. and abroad. A multi-award winning artist and veteran of 200 painting workshops, Plummer currently maintains studios in East Boothbay, Maine; Chelmsford, Massachusetts; and Tequesta, Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: International Artist Publishing (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929834373
• ISBN-13: 978-1929834372
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,368,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book, but not for beginners., September 13, 2007

By 

silky69 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Create Dramatic Coastal Scenes in Watercolor: How to Inject Light, Life and Character Into Your Maritime Paintings (Hardcover)

This book is beautiful and outstanding, but is not a beginners watercolor technique book. I would still recommend it to any one wanting to learn watercolors. It is more for the advanced watercolorist to understand design methods to create drama in a painting, but beginners can certainly benefit from all the information in this book and be inspired by the stunning and dramatic coastal scenes that Mr. Plummer teaches through his many demonstrations and explanations of how to create drama and excitement in painting coastal scenes in watercolor.

Mr. Plummer teaches and demonstrates about things that can add drama to a painting such as using light, exagerating shadows, adding warm color on a generally cool scene, using analogous colors on the color wheel to create continuity, connecting shapes, deciding tonal values, etc.. He breaks the coastal elements into sky, surf, calm water, reflections, rocks, ledges and beaches, vegetation, boats, and buildings.

It's an absolutely stunning book and each painting is filled with enormous energy through the use of design methods that Carlton Plummer teaches and demonstrates in this book. I'm somewhat a beginner, but I love this book even though it would be more helpful to me if I were a bit more advanced.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Create Dramatic Coastal Scenes in Watercolor, July 11, 2007

By 

Don (in PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Create Dramatic Coastal Scenes in Watercolor: How to Inject Light, Life and Character Into Your Maritime Paintings (Hardcover)

A must have book if you like to paint marine paintings or even paint in watercolor. Who better then Carlton Plummer to show the artist ways to paint the coast in watercolor? This book is full of a life time of helpfull information and great paintings to put the artist on the track to feeling the texture of marine life in watercolor.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, July 5, 2006

By 

Judith Freeman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Create Dramatic Coastal Scenes in Watercolor: How to Inject Light, Life and Character Into Your Maritime Paintings (Hardcover)

i received this as a gift from my son. not for a beginner, but great instructional techniques. a book chocked full of fabulous paintings and demos. i cant put it down. just makes you want to paint maine scenes!