This past summer I started dabbling in watercolors. I used to take oil painting lessons when I was a girl, and something made me decide to give watercolors a try. I was thinking it might be a little easier to paint in short sessions than with oils, since I only have limited time to do that sort of thing with three munchkins.
Well, watercolors are way different than oils! I experimented here and there and started to figure it out a little bit, but I still felt pretty lost, so I had to get this book when I saw it was up for review.
Urban Watercolor Sketching by Felix Scheintserger is a great beginner guide to painting with watercolors. He starts with the very basics (such as the color wheel), but he addresses everything in a way that doesn't make you feel stupid if you didn't already know what he is writing about. He goes over some basic watercolor techniques and gives tips throughout.
What I liked about this book is that it wasn't a "how to" sort of book as much as a book to give you inspiration. He writes about watercolors in such an easy-going way that it gives you confidence to experiment and figure things out for yourself. He paints from a very unique perspective, but he doesn't try to impose his style on the reader, and I like that. The information is also broken up with many of Scheintserger's sketches and paintings, so it is easy and interesting to read.
Every time I read a chapter I was ready to break out my paper and paints and experiment, but the kids haven't allowed me to paint much lately. However, I think I will keep this book handy and read a chapter here and there when I need a little inspiration to try watercolors again!
Note: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
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