Painting Sunlit Still Lifes in Watercolor (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is one of the best in a recent spate of books that uses sunlight as the unifying theme. Donovan contends, as do most realist artists, that light is the most important part of a painting. In 33 demonstrations, she explores sunlit lace, glass, silver, wood, fruit, and flowers. Refreshingly, she is one of the few art instructors who admit that certain effects of texture and shape are nearly impossible to learn from a book. Such honesty is typical of the style of this fine work. A good companion to Patricia Monahan's more general Light in Watercolour (LJ 7/96).
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

How to capture the effects of light and shadow in thirty three step-by-step demonstrations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 143 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books; 1st edition (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891347321
• ISBN-13: 978-0891347323
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #802,782 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfull Book For Still Life Painters, October 27, 1998

By	hamsterdance (TX) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderful book. After discussing the materials and some basic watercolor techniques the following chapters provide demonstration projects to apply the techniques. Ms. Donovan's paintings are a nice balance between washy-style watercolors and hyper-realistic.

She really shines on the demonstrations of painting reflective surfaces such as silver, glass or brass and also woodgrain and marble (which was a wonderful surprise since I'd never seen marble discussed before in any other watercolor book I own).

She also discusses composition, the effect of lighting and set up of your own still lifes for maximum impact.

I have done several of the projects and plan to do all of them. My own paintings have improved since applying the concepts and techniques the book demonstrates.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Splash!, August 25, 2000

By	Margaret Lynch (Chicagoland, IL) - See all my reviews

Liz Donovin is not only a beautiful artist, she's an excellent teacher. I study watercolors exclusively, and mostly from books. Her examples and color diagrams are truly worth a thousand words each, and her text is tightly knit into lines of priceless information, insight and instruction. Liz generously shares her secrets of mastering light, texture, and color. That's just for starters. I could go on and on. My husband ordered the book as a gift for me, under the condition I take my twice borrowed, overdue copy back to the library before I put us into hock! I did return it...but it was a long farewell! Thanks Liz, and BRAVA!

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Splash!, August 25, 2000

By	Margaret Lynch (Chicagoland, IL) - See all my reviews

Liz Donovin is not only a beautiful artist, she's an excellent teacher. I study watercolors exclusively, and mostly from books. Her examples and color diagrams are truly worth a thousand words each, and her text is tightly knit into lines of priceless information, insight and instruction. Liz generously shares her secrets of mastering light, texture, and color. That's just for starters. I could go on and on. My husband ordered the book as a gift for me, under the condition I take my twice borrowed, overdue copy back to the library before I put us into hock! I did return it...but it was a long farewell! Thanks Liz, and BRAVA!