International Journal of the Guild of Silk Painters
Regular readers will know I believe watercolour painting translates well to silk painting. David Bellamy is a renowned watercolour artist, Seas & Shorelines is well written and superbly full of his paintings. He generously passes on hit tips and techniques to his readers.
Monoprinting, is used to magically achieve a lobster pot, plus other tips to create texture. Step-by-step detail is given to create wave structure, from gentle surf to monstrous walls of water.
I love the chapter on drawing boats, made to look so easy I want to paint one. There are charming little thumbnail sketches, paintings of dramatic cliffs and peaceful harbours. I particularly like a small painting called 'Puffin Secrets' in the Sea Bird section.
There are several step by step exercises, easy to follow and an excellent tutorial for adopting a painting style.
Customer review
An informative book showing great techniques for painting seas, boats, shorelines & cliffs. I especially gained a lot from Davids use of other materials used to enhance a painting. Applying netting to paint a lobster pot is something I have enjoyed with acrylics, but, will use for Watercolours as well. His explanation of painting skies was eloquent and I will be experimenting with them all. He encourages playing with paint and techniques - its only paper after all! I also enjoy mixing paint on the paper and letting the paint do its thing. I would have liked David to mention more about which colours he uses in his examples.
Customer review
Wonderfully informative with clear instruction. Helpful advice for a novice or more experienced painter
Artbookreview.net
This is Davids best book in a long time and his Arctic trip seems to have rekindled his love of all things rugged. It tells the story of the littoral the point where land and sea meet. Astonishingly, although there have been books on painting the sea and on coastal scenes, this moment of transition has largely passed the instructional book market by. Its possible that this is because margins are always hard to define theyre small and tend to vanish when you look at them.
So, is this a book about nothing at all? Well, no, of course it isnt. What David has done is to combine the two conventional approaches sea and land and show you how they inextricably interact. So, you get waves both crashing and lapping on cliffs and beaches, harbour villages clinging to rocky slopes that teeter down to the waters edge, as well as boats, buildings, birds and people.
Theres also a nicely complete narrative to the books construction. You dont just get a series of unconnected exercises and demonstrations, but rather the story of how the coastline connects land to water and the margin to itself, creating a string of scenes and opportunities. Its as thrilling as it is informative and the results are stunning.
The Artist
David Bellamy's Seas & Shorelines in Watercolour
There are many guides to painting seas and coastlines. It sounds like a slim subject, David has managed to wring an extraordinary amount of detail out of it without stretching a point beyond its limits. There are waves and breakers, cliffs, rocks and beaches. There are also, however, buildings, boats, birds and people, which what makes this such a comprehensive work. It is worth adding that the execution is amongst David's finest, making this, in its own quiet way, one of his best books. It is packed with information, both technical and creative, as well as examples, ideas and demonstrations. The sheer variety of material is breathtaking and the quality of the work, as well as the instruction, is first class.
Paint Magazine
This is a book about painting that often-neglected area where the sea and land meet. It's complex and presents many and varied challenges that offer all kinds of exciting, creative possibilities. The idea of the shoreline, and its existence, are obvious the moment you start to think about it, yet most books just allow it to sort of happen.
No more. This is one of David's finest books and he takes every opportunity to demonstrate some virtuoso painting, as well as explain what he's doing and- most importantly- how he's doing it. You'll find waves, rocks, cliffs, boats, buildings, birds and people here.
Gentle waves lap on sandy shores, heavy breakers pound beetling crags and all kinds of craft bob gently or fight the pull of currents.
David paints in all weathers and conditions and he'll show you not just how to paint a boat that has all the correct dimensions, but how to place it in the water so that it sits naturally. He'll explain centres of interest, perspective and recessions, as well as how to create a sense of depth and give your work real impact.
There's a mass of information here and it's hard to believe there are only 96 pages, but David is so clear that he can explain in a single page things that would take other artists a whole chapter.
Leisure Painter, July 2019
Popular artist, tutor and Leisure Painter contributor, David Bellamy, inspires us to paint seas and shorelines in all their moods in his eagerly awaited book Seas & Shorelines in Watercolour . Both practical and inspiring, David gives advice on finding suitable subjects, composition, how to tackle specific coastal features from all over the world, and how to add figures and birds to your paintings. There's plenty of in-depth information about painting and sketching techniques throughout.
