Ready to Paint: Watercolour Trees & Woodlands

Sept 08

Here is another in Search Press' innovative new Ready To Paint series, which give novice painters a kick start at handling watercolors without having to get past that tricky drawing stage. These books give you the outlines to trace, and then explain how to construct the painting.

This looks as though it would work well, and is nothing like painting by numbers. Instead you learn the anatomy of a painting in photographed stages. There are a lot of these stages, with helpful captions telling you what is going on, and what you need to do next, from tracing the outlines to working with the actual paints. This even includes things that often get missed out, such as when to clean the brush and how to hold it to get the right effects. It is rather akin to having a tutor beside you telling you what to do, and very confidence building for a beginner.

This also includes a beginner not only at painting, but anybody who fancies trying their hand at a totally new subject. Each picture comes with a helpful list of what colors to buy as well as which brushes you will need, as well as tips on capturing the appearance of different types of trees. There are six pictures, and these include all four seasons as well as painting water, snow and different types of light. This reminds me of the way I learned to draw and paint, working from coloring books with faint outlines to trace over and copying staged examples in those wonderful old Walter Foster books. Think of this as an update on that - highly recommended for anybody starting out in watercolors who is a little unsure of the drawing aspect.

Geoff Kersey is an experienced watercolourist and is much in demand as a teacher and demonstrator. He lives and works in Derbyshire where he has a studio, and he exhibits extensively. He has made over 30 watercolour DVDs and contributes to various art publications.