Watercolour Flower Painting Step-by-step

June 12 This is an interesting bind-up, as the publisher has chosen to attempt a comprehensive manual on flower painting by taking complementary sections from several previous books. On balance, I’d say that it works. I tend to be wary of this sort of approach because, all too often, it looks like a scissors and paste job, and shoe-horning together stuff that was never intended to be more than a chapter requires time and skill. I’m therefore pleased to say that this seems to have been overcome and that it’s not at all easy to see the joins. One of the reasons, I think, is that there’s been no attempt at democracy – all the authors are not equally represented so, if you think you’re getting four for the price of one, you’re not. This is a book that stands on its own and is all the better for that. Having more than one author can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you get the best approach for each section; on the other, you get a lack of continuity. Flicking quickly through, however, doesn’t reveal any great changes of style and I suspect that this again comes down to the choice of material and perhaps also to the production – maybe the colours were more markedly different in the original books (I can’t say for sure), but they have a consistency here. * Artbookreview.net * Dec 13 This book brings together several books previously published by Search Press by four popular tutors, Wendy Tait, Jackie Barrass, Richard Bolton and Ann Mortimer. The book is divided into five main sections: wild flowers in watercolour, and watercolour flower portraits both by Wendy Tait; light in flower painting by Jackie Barrass; creative techniques for flowers by Richard Bolton; and flowers in the landscape by Ann Mortimer. Each section clearly describes how the author sets about his or her particular subject. There is information on the basics, including materials, techniques, how to stretch paper, use masking fluid, and plan your painting, as well as the treatment of backgrounds, using negative spaces, step-by-step demonstrations and troubleshooting advice. These compilation books are good value for money, allowing you to learn from more than one expert, all painting in different styles, and the content is concentrated so that it really focuses on the subject in hand. * Leisure Painter, The *