Painting Spectacular Light Effects in Watercolor (Hardcover)

by Paul Jackson (Author) "There is no greater element in any painting than the light that illuminates it..." (more)
Key Phrases: Winsor Violet, Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
From soft, atmospheric effects to powerful images, this guide provides artists with the insight and instruction they need to illuminate their paintings with the magic of light.

Utilizing 7 complete painting demonstrations, artists will learn how light behaves, where and how to find the best light, and how to use the personality of light to express the feeling and character of a subject. In-depth guidance features specific instruction for capturing light effects on glass, metal, water, landscapes and architecture-and also offers methods for experimenting with candlelight, shadows and more. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author
Paul Jackson's watercolor compositions have been featured in several publications, including The Artist's Magazine, Watercolor Magic and Watercolor Highlights, and can be seen in magazine ads, on posters, CD covers and wine labels. He lives in Columbia, Missouri and Pensacola, Florida. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891349162
• ISBN-13: 978-0891349167
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #443,575 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really stunning watercolor book!, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

I ordered the book after visiting Paul's website which has many of his beautiful paintings online and I was really delighted to receive my copy yesterday. The book is done on a very professional level, filled with gorgeous step-by-step projects, and it serves as the door to the Paul's spectacular watercolor world. I've recently realized (I'm a beginner watercolorist) that a painter needs to train ones vision the same way as a musician needs to train fingers, and Paul gives many valuable hints on such perception development, seeing beyond the still life objects and taking them to life by help of light effects. The many projects in the book are very interesting and tempting, earlier I used to sigh when seeing some amazing paintings depicting colored glass, crystal and metal objects, but now I'm sure I'll be trying to paint them myself by using Paul's instructions! Also the architectural paintings demand special attention, painted Paul's way, the churches, monuments and city buildings create a special mood and they become messengers to the viewer. I really recommend this inspirational and at the same time very practical book to watercolorists of any level.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Proper title should be "spectacular painting"..., March 7, 2001

By	Claes Tegenfeldt "artist, silversmith, MScEE" (Sweden) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought the book expecting "painting spectacular light effects in watercolor", thinking of effects=FX (special effects). That was wrong, the book is not so much about painting light effects but painting the way light illuminates the scene. It is a journey from light sources bending through glass/water/mist bouncing off surfaces or just exploding in fireworks!

I was surprised by the contents, it was not what I had expected, but it was a pleasant surprise! It was way better then I had hoped for! The illustrations are not only of high class, some are better than anything I have seen in watercolor at all.

It is a step-by-step advanced course in painting in watercolor using light to its best. How do you paint something colorless and transparent such as glass? How do you paint a metallic surface? How do you use light and shadows to bring life into a lifeless painting? You will get answers to some of your long standing questions.

I recommend it for anyone who wants to catch the light... I am sure you do.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great examination of how light affects paintings, November 11, 2001

By	hamsterdance (TX) - See all my reviews

This book is aimed for an intermediate to advanced level watercolorist. The majority of the book focuses on the author's fascination with portraying light as it hits colorful subjects. The subjects range from beautiful colored glass such as wine and perfume decanters to brass musical instruments to breathtaking architectural and landscape paintings.

Other than the first chapter that gives a very quick overview of a few techniques such as blotting, drybrushing, scraping, pouring, etc. it is not an overly comprehensive book on every aspect of watercolor painting. For example, only 1-2 page cursory discussions are given to subjects such as composition, creating textures, values, leading eye movement arrangements of a painting, etc. When they are discussed the subjects are always tied back to the book's main theme - light. So eye movement is discussed, for example, in how light helps achieve this goal to make a strong painting.

Another subject which the author doesn't address is color mixing and color theory. Some of the paintings use of alizarin crimson which some new painters may not know is a fugitive color. Fortunately there are 2 relatively new very permanent pigments on the market that are dead-on ringers for traditional alizarin crimson when you mix them together. W&N Permanent Carmine, which is a quinacridone/diketo-pyrole pigment + any brand with only PR122 as the listed pigment. In fact, W&N offers these two pigments as a convenience color mix named Permanent Alizarin Crimson. I have painted washes of my true alizarin crimson right next to the quinacridone/PR122 mix and could not tell the difference. Neither could my boyfriend when I asked him to try to pick which was the real alizarin crimson and which was the mix.

One of the most intriguing chapters was on painting light at night. The cover painting is only one of the types of night scenes this chapter covers. There are others such as streetlight fog at night and architectural spotlighting. I am especially envious of the author's beautiful architectural themed paintings. I'm still trying to get down perspective myself so anyone who demonstrates such mastery is someone I pay attention to.

Overall this book is a very good look at seeing how one element of painting - light - can be pushed to amazing effect. It is fascinating to see how just one of the criteria (in this case, light) needed for a successful realistic painting can contribute to creating your own signature style. And although I said this book is of most use to intermediate to advanced watercolorists it can not fail to help beginners since the paintings are so inspiring and beginners will eventually move up to intermediate level anyway.