Customer Reviews

Watercolor Book: Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist (Practical Art Books)

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An outstanding book for the watercolor enthusiast. Dewey's chapters cover materials, subject matter and technique that even the advanced watercolorist can learn from. The book is a handy item to help both the practicing artist and teacher. Not so much a step by step study, but rather information that can be applied to the artists individual style and subject matter.

a comprehensive, knowledgeable, concise survey of watercolor technique and the art theory necessary to watercolor painting. some essential techniques, such as wet-on-wet washes, receive a one-page treatment that encapsulates all text, illustrations, and photos for that topic; others are repeated as themes throughout the discussion. the demonstration paintings are simple and inviting for a beginner to imitate, yet all of them -- my favorites are niagra falls, the japanese arch and the still life on a rug -- are masterfully composed and build from value sketches and compositional studies to show how to think a painting through. the section on color theory is the most coherent and pointed i have ever seen. the sections on materials (paints, brushes, papers, by type and by brand) are excellent too. a marvellous book, a classic of its kind.

This book may take years to get through-there are so many useful exercises and projects,but it's impossible to come out of it without knowing a great deal about watercolor and all it's myriad possibilities. Through this book I found Dewey,teaching at the National Academy in NYC and I have been studing with him ever since...for four plus years,so of course I am biased, but I feel this book is a classic of technique and an essential to anyone serious about learning this quite difficult medium.

David Dewey's straight forward and concise writing makes this among the best Watercolor references available today. I own over 100 watercolor books and this is one of the four I reference continually.

Great book. Chapter by chapter it provides a course on painting in general as well as specific watercolor techniques. Examples are easy to follow and make excellent practice exercises.