Ready to Paint: Vibrant Flowers in Watercolour

Please, you're spoiling me; two books by Fiona Peart in one batch! Seriously, though, Fiona is rapidly colonising the market in good, clear flower painting books and this is one of the best, even though it's masquerading as one for the complete beginner. I must say that I'm particularly impressed by the way she's managed to introduce some quite loose touches into a format (the pre-drawn tracings) that you'd instinctively think would preclude them. At this point, I'd normally be telling you that I'm not sure what a vibrant painting is, even if I do think I know one when I see one. Here, however, it's clear: it's those loose touches combined with a willingness to use quite bright (and yet not inappropriate) colours that bring light and vivacity to the results. As with the book on Mackintosh Flowers, there's a huge amount here that should please and instruct even the most experienced flower painter and the book is a positive triumph.-Artbookreview.net As ever in the Ready to Paint series there are tracings of the artworks used in the book so that the student can concentrate on the techniques used. This is useful for those people who worry about getting the drawings right before even picking up a paintbrush - this way they can concentrate on the painting part and have fun. That's what arts about for many of us isn't it? In this book Fiona shows us some simple flowers from vibrant poppies to stunning sunflowers and simple buddleias. Each one of the five demonstrations uses a different watercolour technique and is an excellent way to learn and built confidence. None of the demonstrations are too challenging so even the most beginner artist will achieve a pleasing painting. Super book on different watercolour techniques for those just beginning in watercolours.-JeannieZelos.com Flowers are always a popular subject for artists and if you are a novice painter who finds the drawing part gets in the way of producing a good painting this series is a great help. Each book contains six tracings along with everything you need to produce some excellent results. Just add water - - Also paint, brushes, paper etc of course. Even this part is covered, with each project listing exactly what you need and a section describing methods to transfer the tracings to paper. This artist has a delightfully playful approach to painting flowers, and the result is some truly happy pictures that will cheer up any home or workplace. Each project introduces new techniques to learn, making this a great way of practising watercolor painting even for those who do not find drawing a challenge. Choose from poppies, buddleias, sunflowers, tulips, irises and when you find you want to have a go sans the tutorial a tracing of lilies. Techniques covered include an exuberant background of splatters, stippling, water-soluble pen outlines and many more. Each project is incredibly detailed and virtually fool-proof, consisting of many stages each with a small photograph and short caption to show what has been added and how to do it. This loose, free style of painting captures beautifully the bright, outdoors appeal of flowers and you can almost smell the fresh summer air. I like the way the author shows what a lot of fun painting can be, and this book is sure to produce some good results and plenty of positive energy towards future unassisted work.-Myshelf.com