Watercolour Barns (Ready to Paint)

July 09

Another winner from the Searchpress Ready to Paint series. In this book there are five easy to follow demonstrations and the beauty of the ready to paint series is that one can simply trace off the projects from the pull-out transfers provided and concentrate on the actual painting skills, without worrying about getting the drawing right first. Terry begins by an overview of materials needed for watercolour painting and gives the excellent advice to buy the best you can. He then shows clearly how to transfer the image form the tracing to the support. Having followed his instructions one is left with a beautiful drawing ready for the paint. Moving on to the demonstration paintings, each one is accompanied by a list of colours, paper and brushes needed to complete that work, which makes following Terry's distinct instructions very easy for completing each painting. Every one consists of a beautiful landscape with a lovely rustic barn as a focal point, and covers the seasons from the midwinter barn in snow to the high summer barns with poppies that form the entrance to a working farm. Each barn is in a different style, and the changing surroundings of each landscape allows the student to practise the many techniques so useful in watercolour paintings. Having practiced these techniques in the demonstration works, it is then so much easier to translate them into works of ones own. Every demonstration is illustrated by detailed photos showing clearly how to approach each step, along with the very descriptive text that make understanding each step so simple. Working with Terry's simple and easy to understand instructions on these beautiful landscapes will allow every artist to produce a painting of which they will be very proud .

July 09

This is very much the cousin of Terry's recent Rustic Buildings & Barns, but offers the pre-drawn tracings that come as part of this series so that the basic structure of the painting is done for you and you're free to concentrate on the work of getting the brushstrokes and the colours right. As a primer in painting buildings, it's ideal.

Aug 09

Ready To Paint are a series of unique books designed for beginning artists who want to paint, but whose lack of drawing ability is holding them back. Each book concentrates on a different popular subject for paintings, and contains six reusable tracings plus full instructions on how to paint the pictures. This title shows you how to paint peaceful scenes featuring rustic barns in watercolor. The more experienced painter might prefer to buy Terry Harrison's Rustic Buildings and Barns in Watercolor (also reviewed on this site) but if you don't fit that description, then read on. Mr. Harrison admits that barns are one of his favorite subjects, and advises us to buy the best paints as well as a helpful selection of just eight brushes. Learn the vital first step of transferring the image, and you are off with the first project. I love the way these books get down to it with the minimum of waffle! Choose from a barn in the snow, which would make a lovely Christmas card, a summery scene with poppies, my own favorite which has the barn in a bluebell wood, and three others, including an American study (the others are English scenes). As with the other titles in this series, each project is shown in quite a large number of staged photographs (up to forty) with short, useful captions. There is little chance of getting lost in a painting this way, and it is an excellent approach to art for anybody who wants a bit of help starting.

Terry Harrison grew up in Norfolk, UK. His early art education was basic and he never dreamed that he would one day become an artist. At fifteen, Terry moved to Hampshire and, inspired by his brilliant art teacher, won a place at Farnham Art School at the age of sixteen. After graduating he became a graphic artist but continued to paint in his spare time. In 1984 Terry gave up his job to paint full time and never looked back, teaching and demonstrating his watercolour techniques throughout the world, developing his own range of brushes and paints and writing over 20 best-selling books that have been translated into many languages. Sadly, Terry passed away in 2017 but his legacy lives on. His gift for explaining his methods in an easy and accessible way has encouraged countless people to take up painting, and his beautiful works of art, inspired by the English countryside that he loved, will continue to be enjoyed by people all over the world.