Customer Reviews

Watercolor in Motion: How to Create Powerful Paintings, Step by Step (Book & DVD)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a painter of watercolors, mostly self-taught with the use of books. The appearance of this book is very striking, with an unusual and very interesting layout. The illustrations are excellent, and the text clearly describes each step in the fascinating art of watercolor painting. Even though the emphasis is mostly on flower themes, the methods can be applied effectively to any other theme as well. Personally, I am finding it very helpful for improving my process of learning to paint portraits. Although the book itself is a very useful guide, I have learned even more by repeatedly watching the attached DVD with its live illustrations of how to work with watercolors. I realized that this kind of guide was the missing link in my own learning. Although I have watched many YouTube videos on the process of painting with watercolors, in general I have not found them particularly useful. The DVD is very well structured, the technical quality is good, and the educational technique is effective. I have found it very useful.

Although this book mainly concentrates on florals, it addresses many common issues that newby watercolorists face. I've take a couple of classes but Ms. O'Conner makes her instruction clear and fun! I certainly have a better understanding of what effects water and wet vs. dry paper has. Thanks very a wonderful book and the DVD is a fab bonus!

Be sure to buy this book/dvd. It is great. The beginning is fairly typical of this kind of book and good for a beginner. Then Birgit gets into the instruction portion and she does a great job. Lots of good info, well written, good photos to go along with the text portions. Great colors. Really like her wet into wet techniques. Really enjoy the dvd also. Be sure to buy it! Hopefully she is working on her next book and dvd.

I have a few DVD's showing watercolor how-to and so far, this is the best one.
Birgit really explains and shows how she does each technique; nothing done fast nor glanced over. This is the first Video I have ever gone threw that I did not have to stop and repeat on because I just did not get it. What is even better is she is not focusing on her work to the point you are learning "how to reproduce my paintings" versus learning the technique and being able to apply it to your own ideas. I think that is what I love about this DVD the most.In the video, you see exactly how to mix the colors and not only how to apply the paint, when and why but also the water, how much, when and why. No small detail is ignored. Unfortunately, for the more advanced painter some things are probably overkill but that is moot. She is showing you how to go beyond what she painted. Now I am spoiled and will be comparing all future DVD's to this one.
Cheryl

As a relatively new watercolor artist who has purchased a number of watercolor books in the past couple years, I find Watercolor in Motion by Birgit O'Connor is quite possibly the best instructional books I've read. It comes with a DVD which is high quality (which is more than I can say for others by different artists), which goes hand-in-hand with the book. The book and DVD cover a number of important areas which include color and color mixing, movement of water and color, washes, texture techniques, and, especially helpful to me--a demonstration of what can go wrong when you go back into a watercolor to try to "fix" it. The DVD demonstrates how to create, step-by-step, the techniques which are covered in the book. Ms. O'Connor is one of those rare individuals who has the ability to explain things in simple, concise terms, which a new artist will find refreshing. I only wish this book had been available when I was first introduced to watercolors. It would have saved me a lot of frustration as well as watercolor paper. I would highly recommend this book.

Watercolor is a challange for even the best of artists. One is constantly learning application, technique and how to create beautiful images on paper.
This books demonstrates some of the secrets in achieving flowing watercolor works. The step by step demonstrations help you to learn different techniques such as wet on wet, and soft and hard edges and just the right way to blend colors. It is easy to read, easy to understand and the DVD guides you along making each lesson fun.
I recommend this book to any watercolor artist both new and seasoned.

I bought this book and DVD for a friend and myself. I always say you can learn something from anything you read or watch.
I learned a lot about using more water with my watercolors and how to layer things a little easier. The DVD was too short for me, so I guess it was good enough to leave me wanting more.

Although I am a beginner this book taught me a few tricks that I have not learned from any other art books that I have purchased.
I think as I progress this is the one book on flowers that I will be refering to more than any other, and making it an extra added bonus to the excellent price is it includes a 51 minute demonstration on DVD
An excellent buy and highly recommended.

This is a great book and DVD. Woderful exercises that help you paint wet on wet with control and vibrant colors.
Any one who paints flower or plants will enjoy this book. It helped me to paint with more confidence and to use colors in a more exciting way. I hope to take a clas with Ms. O'Connner someday,

The book itself is fantastic. The cd that comes with the book shows the author demonstrating technique. But the c.d. skipped around as if it were scratched and was basically useless. So we sent the book back and promptly received a replacement. The replacement c.d. didn't work either and we couldn't even get it to go past the main menu. We were concerned that it was our dvd player, but other dvd's work just fine. The cd's even look like they have been made desperately cheaply. Too bad, because the book was very usefull and it would have been nice to have the supplementary c.d. Don't buy it unless you could care less about the cd.