Matthew is renowned for his beautiful, detailed paintings and his ability to teach effective painting using simple techniques. He teaches over 150 pupils per week and also appears regularly on TV.
Watercolour for the Absolute Beginner begins with excellent advice for the beginner, including, easy drawing for painting, composition, easy perspective, light and shade, colour, and how to paint skies, tree, water and figures in watercolour.
There are then six simple step by step painting exercises, and each exercise leads into a more developed step by step painting project, including a windmill, seascape, snow scene, mountains and lakes, bluebell stream and an all-rounder featuring a landscape with buildings and figures.
The exercises are ideal for beginners and the main projects will also build skills for improving artists. A pull-out outline drawing is provided for every exercise and main project, and Matthew shows step by step how to transfer these onto watercolour paper.
Critique: An ideal pick for DIY instructional guide for aspiring watercolor painters with no previous experience with the medium, this large format paperback edition of Watercolour for the Absolute Beginner is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, art school, and college/university library Watercolor Painting instructional reference collections.
Craft Focus
Best-selling artist and tutor Matthew Palmer is renowned for his beautiful, detailed paintings and his ability to teach effective painting using simple, friendly, step-by-step techniques.
This revised and updated anniversary edition celebrates 10 years since this best-selling book was first published. In addition to the time-proven instruction of the original it includes three brand-new projects, over a dozen new or updated exercises and techniques, over 30 brand-new finished paintings plus fresh tips that Matthew has learned over the past decade.
We say: Theres key advice for every beginner, including a handy brushstroke comparison guide.
artbookreview.net
When the cover of the latest reprint proclaims 10 year anniversary edition, you can be pretty sure the publisher is trumpeting a success, and that of this excellent book is richly deserved.
Library Journal
Palmer (Watercolour Animals for the Absolute Beginner ) presents an updated edition of his best-selling book, offering readers fresh artwork and numerous tips gleaned from years of teaching watercolor painting.
Starting with a detailed look at needed materials, Palmer discusses the qualities of various paper weights and textures and helpfully includes photos of different brush types to aid readers in identifying them. Appreciating that new watercolor artists may struggle with underlying drawings, Palmer illustrates simple but effective tricks for rendering buildings, animals, people, and objects, and also gives readers exercises for practicing single and two-point perspective.
Palmer covers topics including composition, light and shadow, and the importance of tonal contrast in creating realistic depth, as well as techniques like using masking fluid to preserve highlights. Recommending two alternative sets of primary colors, Palmer shows which additional colors can be made by mixing them and also advises readers on creating shadow tones.
VERDICT: Palmers detailed landscapes are likely to intimidate beginner artists, but the wealth of practical advice he offers should aid those who feel confident enough to try to replicate his paintings.
