Ready to Paint: London in Watercolour

Nov 09

This addition to the Ready to Paint series gives you pre-printed tracings for 5 London landmarks - The London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, The Tower and Trafalgar Square - that should be on any tourist checklist. Whether you're making a record of an actual visit or touring from your armchair, you can produce a convincing record for the album, wall or as a gift.

Dec 09

The Ready to Paint series are a really useful addition for artist wishing to practice painting techniques without worrying about the drawing first. Each book carries several reusable drawings ready for tracing and once this step is done the artist can follow Geoff's easy to understand instructions to complete a beautiful artwork. He gives an overview of all the materials needed for each project including the colours he uses. Through out the book Geoff's enthusiasm for London and the superb buildings it contains shows through. Geoff is well known as a landscape painter and explains that he has always enjoyed adding buildings into his scenes. However in this book the iconic London buildings take precedence over the landscapes and are the centrepiece of each painting.

The five inspirational projects included in the book use a variety of different techniques that once practised will be useful for future artworks. They are very easy to follow as Geoff clearly explains and illustrates each step. Each one focusses on a particular element of London buildings, from the ancient beauty of Buckingham palace and tower bridge to the more modern London Eye. Geoff's simple use of watercolours allows the beauty of the constructions to shine through in a subtle and understated manner making for a very pleasing composition. His instructions to use the tracings as a guide and not a bible mean that the artists is encouraged to make their own changes to create a very personal painting. Of course this also bridges the huge gap between following a demonstration and setting out full fledged into creating one's own work and is a valuable step in the art journey. An inspiring book for any artist containing useful information for painting buildings with superb absorbing demonstrations.

Jan 10

Would you like to learn to paint but can't rely on your drawing skills? These great books provide no-nonsense advice and easy to follow instructions making painting accessible for people who have never had the confidence to try before. They include outlines of five paintings to pull out from the centre of the book, with clear instructions and step-by-step photographs on how to transfer the outlines on to watercolour paper and then how to create beautiful watercolour paintings.

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.