The soft, atmospheric hues of watercolor could entice any painter. If you're thinking of putting brush to paper, artist Ray Campbell Smith can show you the best approach to this beautiful and expressive medium. Each layout contains a black and white sketch of the project. Campbell explains what makes the subject interesting, and the painting's intended mood. Close-up sections detail particular techniques and choices. Every page has recommended colors and brushes and hints on composition. The gorgeous projects include a Scottish Fishing Port, a boathouse by a lake, an English market, and a French village.
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Focused on His Process - Analyzes 50 Landscape Paintings,
By
This review is from: Ray Campbell Smith's Way With Watercolour: Exploring Landscape Painting (Hardcover)
I loved this book which is all about the creative process that Ray Campbell Smith uses to paint his watercolor landscapes. I would classify this book as a good read after you already are acquainted with the basics from reading some other book, such as Smith's own book for beginners titled WATERCOLOR FOR ALL A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS AND IMPROVERS (which I read after I read this).The format of this book is to show 50 final paintings on a full page with the opposite page showing a sketch of the scene with text. The text describes the author's vision, what he saw in real life, what inspired him, what he wanted to capture in a painting. He then tells the challenges of the site and what differences he chose to make to make the appealing scene adapted into a successful composition for the painting. (An appealing painting is not always a direct copy of the scene in real life.) There is a small box with one tip per two page spread that pops out at the reader too (helpful when skimming or going back over the book for a second skimming read). This is not a step by step workshop book, it describes his process, yet sometimes there is so much information about the process that indeed you could replicate it on your own to try it out. Interspersed inside the text are practical tips so reading the book cover to cover and really reading every single page is worthwhile. Some examples are the Mediterranean's hot sun bleaches buildings out so you have to look closely for shade variation, and simplify buildings at the shore because there is sometimes just too much detail to paint with his style and en plein air, and saying to have shadow sometimes reflect warm tones not always reflecting cool tones, and to look for color in half shadows, all to give a pleasing and warm tone to the painting. The chapters are arranged by subject matter such as seashore and harbor side, mountain scenes, and so forth. Smith highly recommends using sketches to work out the design, taking time to plan. Do not work and experiment on the paper as it can make a painting overworked or ruin the color, or make it muddy. Work out the challenges in the sketches then do the painting quickly. He loves en plein air painting and recommends using lively strokes and washes with clean water to keep the colors bright and to let the brightness of the paper shine through the paint. Regarding the color palette used Smith uses a surprisingly small number of paints and custom mixes them for his paintings. For each painting he lists the paper and the brushes used is also included for each painting. I love Ray Campbell Smith's landscape paintings and his choice of color palette. These are similar to the paintings I am trying to teach myself to make. I also love books about the process and getting inside the artist's head to see what they were thinking and what made them choose to do what they did. Therefore this is a 5 star rating for me, I loved it. (After I finished this book I found the other more general book for beginners at the library and went on to read that. I am a beginner watercolor painter and am teaching myself through reading books and my own trial and error.) If you like the artwork of Ray Campbell Smith and if you are a beginner or intermediate painter this book is for you.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stimulating analysis for intermediate watercolourists,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Ray Campbell Smith's Way With Watercolour: Exploring Landscape Painting (Hardcover)
This book gives analyses of dozens of the artist's luminous watercolours. Each painting is given a full page, with a facing page of details on the painting of the picture. The book is organized by type of subject. Unfortunately for beginners, this book doesn't have a guiding thread, and so I would recommend it for slightly more advanced painters. Fans of Ron Ranson should like this book.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
bland,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Ray Campbell Smith's Way With Watercolour: Exploring Landscape Painting (Hardcover)
This book was a terrible disappointment. Although it is clear that he knows something of painting in watercolors, the samples given were bland. Spread across the entire page that blandness became stifling. This book would work for a true novice but any one else should steer clear.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
