Machine Knitting Monthly
Dec 08
Everyone who ever visited a Nationwide Knitting Exhibition will have passed by and admired Terry Harrison's painting skills and possibly attended his workshops. Terry takes the mystery out of painting trees, flowers and mountains, valleys and streams plus sea and sky in watercolour. He's now written an inspiring guide to cover all aspects of landscape painting. There are step-by-step photographs, dozens of demonstrations, masses of tips, techniques and practical advice. It's a great book for beginners and experienced artists alike.
Myshelf.com
Nov 08
Terry Harrison is a name synonymous with good watercolor books, some of which have been reviewed on this site (look in the archives). Here is a whole compendium of good advice based on four earlier books to show you how, in one handy volume, to paint watercolor landscapes.
There is a lot to tackle in a landscape if you think about it; all those different textures, colors and shapes. Water, clouds, trees, houses, flowersnot to mention perspective and making an attractive composition. Not much of a meal is made for once of what to buy, and I admired this brief but necessary advice, as beginners really do not need much. Listing credit card made me laugh - until I realized that Mr Harrison was suggesting you use one for scraping out texture on rocks and cliffs! Maybe this is a good way of introducing the book, for all sorts of tips and tricks are mentioned that most people would not think up on their own but which make for good pictures. Learn what basic palette you need, work through some staged pictures to gain confidence and discover how to get those all-important effects right for the most realism. Discover how to use a brush handle to paint as well as the other end, work from photos or nature, and get the most out of a wide range of brushes and more. I reckon there is something for everybody in this big book even if they are not beginners.
JeannieZelos.com
Oct 08
Another excellent guide from Terry Harrison, this time on Landscapes. Its a compilation of four earlier books, Trees, Flowers, Mountains Valleys & Streams and Sea & Sky and if you already have these you won't need the full volume but for those with only part of the set or none this is an excellent buy.
As usual Terry gives a brief overview of materials and colours needed for Landscape painting. I found the hints on how to make greens for foliage and grasses particularly useful as ready mixed greens can be very artificial and not have the softness and reality of tone needed for foliage. Terry also has his own range of paints and for this book the sunlit gold and autumn gold, and the two shadow colours Shadow and Burnt Shadow will be useful for working on the later demonstrations in the book. There's a useful hint on how to adapt photos for painting for very long artists have been told not to use photos but as Terry points out we can't always pack up our kit and get out painting so images taken with our camera when we are out can be usefully turned into a painting back at home. Sometimes one photo contains all we need and sometimes we need to combine more than one, and Terry shows us how to do that and what to leave out or change to make a visually pleasing painting. Terry also has his own range of brushes and shows how to make different marks with each brush so we can see how to use them while working.
He covers more techniques such as using masking fluid and using a paper mask. There are a range of close up snaps of bark, branches and foliage and a clear description of how each was completed, whether its wet into wet or wet into dry and what brush or colour was used to achieve it. Using these simple techniques he goes on to make larger parts of a painting such as whole trees and skies. Following this is an excellent guide on how to paint not just A tree but a specific tree, such as pines, oaks, poplar and whether its spring blossom or winter bareness they become trees that are alive, not pats of tree shaped colour on paper. Its small things like this that can transform a painting into a work of art.
Of course a decent landscape needs not only trees but flowers and Terry shows us what colours to use and how to mix them to best effect. He uses two of his own completed paintings with very similar composition to show how warm and cool colours can change the nature and feeling of a work. Several interesting step by step demos follow using trees, flowers and photographs for you to feel confident in these before moving on to the next section which covers mountains, valleys and streams. Again it starts with some small vignettes showing use of colours, brushes and photos, followed by some simple techniques for rocks, mountains and different skies. After practising these you should feel confident in approaching the next full painting demo's which use all of these techniques. A section on sea and sky ends the book, following the same format of breaking down each section to practise first and ending with a couple of full painting demonstrations.
After following Terry's easy to use demonstrations in this book, explained in his usual clear format of practising small sections and then putting them together in a whole painting anyone should be confident in creating realistic landscapes.
Artbookreview.net
Oct 08
This not insubstantial book started life as four smaller volumes on Trees, Flowers, Mountains Valleys & Streams and Sea & Sky. It was pretty obvious from the outset that a bind-up was the obvious way to go from there and here it is.
Terry is very good at explaining what he does and even if some of the finished results may not win prizes at an exhibition, you can always see whats going on and what the author has done. The flowers section is particularly good at showing flowers in a landscape rather than as an individual subject in themselves and fulfils a long-felt need that other flower books simply dont cover.
If youve already got the individual books, then you wont need this but, if you only have two, then this one is cheaper than completing your collection. I suspect that if youve already discovered Terry Harrison, youve been buying his books as they come out. If not, this is a very good place to start. Although hes not everyones cup of tea, Terry is an excellent guide for the beginner because he explains things fully and concisely and, more importantly, he wont lead you into bad habits youll have to unlearn later.
