Painting Nature S Details In Watercolor

In Painting Nature's Detail in Watercolor, author Cathy Johnson lends an intimate look at nature's easy to overlook tenderness. This essential guide gives the tools you need to express your own views of subtle natural beauty.

Offers practical advice on portraying light and shadow, texture, water patterns, plants and flowers, wildlife, and still lifes, and discusses composition and contrast

In this inspiring companion to the acclaimed "Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes," one of the most brilliant watercolorists of the 20th century shows how to paint nature close-ups in 40 full-color step-by-step demonstrations. Szabo begins by explaining how to select and record your subject in on-the-spot sketches and photos-and how to redesign, simplify, dramatize, and transform this raw material into a vivid personal statement. He also demonstrates how to paint seven different categories of close-ups-preceded by a fascinating collection of painting tips about each subject. Szabo begins by showing you how to paint the magical effects of light and shadow on snow, rocks, and other natural forms. Searching the forest for inspiration, he demonstrates how to paint a variety of subjects, including sunlit leaves and cobwebs on a tree trunk. Exploring the patterns of water, Szabo even discovers hidden beauty in a puddle on a muddy road. Szabo, famous for his winter paintings, reveals how he paints footprints in a snowy field, icicles, and frosty trees. When focusing on the beauty of wildflowers, Szabo uses subjects ranging from a single thistle in the wind to a cluster of blossoms in a meadow. The artist shows how to discover what he calls nature's abstractions, like the shape of a dead leaf caught among the branches or a spiderweb against the sky. He leads you around the house to find unexpected beauty in a wasp nest or a fallen feather on a pebbly path. And he shows you how to extract multiple paintings from a single subject by painting a series of variations on one handsome theme. "Painting close-ups will not only give you a whole new range of subjects," Szabo claims, "but will add a new dimension to your work as you explore the hidden treasure of nature." "Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures" can bolster the technique of every watercolorist. Zoltan Szabo was born in Hungary in 1928 and studied at the National Academy of Industrial Art in Budapest. He emigrated to Canada in 1949, and made a name for himself as one of Canada's foremost landscape painters. In addition to teaching workshops and seminars on watercolor painting, Szabo has exhibited his work in London, Canada, and the United States. Zoltan Szabo's paintings are found in public and private collections worldwide, including those of the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica and in the National Gallery of Hungary. Other books by Zoltan Szabo include "Landscape Painting in Watercolor," "Painting Little Landscapes," and "Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes."

In Painting Nature's Detail in Watercolor, author Cathy Johnson lends an intimate look at nature's easy to overlook tenderness. This essential guide gives the tools you need to express your own views of subtle natural beauty.

Nature illustrator Rosalie Haizlett has hiked through countless forests with her sketchbook and watercolors, documenting the plants, animals, and landscapes that she encounters. She has also taught tens of thousands of students to paint and appreciate nature’s beauty through her popular online classes and in-person workshops. In this book, Rosalie provides step-by-step instruction on how to paint 20 realistic insects, fungi, birds, botanicals, and mammals in her vibrant wet- on-dry watercolor style. Pick up the skills you need to become a better observer in the outdoors, take your own reference photos, and paint a wide variety of subjects so that you can continue to draw inspiration from nature long after you finish the projects in this book. You’ll also learn some fun nature facts along the way! Whether you’re a total beginner or ready to take your skills to the next level, Rosalie is here to walk you through every step of the process.

Featuring step-by-step instructions, this guide teaches artists how to create stunning nature illustrations. After mastering the realistic rendition of individual elements, you'll learn how to combine them into panoramic paintings.

A practical guide to painting nature's flora and fauna from award-winning botanical painting authors Meriel Thurstan and Rosie Martin. Recording the wildlife that surrounds us is an age-old art. The authors, in collaboration with the Eden Project, show us how to accurately and beautifully capture the natural world on canvas and make the most of the revival of this art form. Step by step, they take you through the whole process of capturing the essence of some of the most beautiful things on earth. From dinosaur skeletons and fossils to birds, butterflies and frogs. Learn how to paint the subtle scales on a fish, the iridescence of a feather or the lustre on a shell. The authors take you through the full range of skills and techniques you need to undertake natural history drawing and painting. Key techniques are explained with practical step-by-step demonstrations. Beautiful illustrations by the authors are featured throughout and will inspire you and illuminate the techniques you are learning. Painting Nature’s Details is a stunning book on an art form that is fast becoming the new botanical illustration.