Joy of Watercolor

I have had this book for over 20 years, and I keep going back to it. It is a delight to read because of the enthusiasm and exhuberance of its author for sketching and painting. He's inspirational, in other words. Also, many books teach compositional theories and methods, but this book contains an intuitive approach; and following it, the student learns composition by doing--getting out and sketching and coloring one's sketches. So design, or composition, is a major theme. He also majors on color, and again the method is learning by doing, by experimenting with mixing color, starting with a small palette of pigments and working up to a set of 40 different tubes (in the second book "More Joy of Watercolor," which of course is also good). But even though Millard's approach is experimental and intuitive, along the way he shares a whole host of vital principles for good painting and design and color use. In conclusion, Millard got me going in sketchbooks those many years ago, and I have learned best through the years by filling them with little color sketches. Highest recommendation.

This book is one of the main referance books in my library for watercolor. I only wish I could fine Volume 2.

This is an excellent book on watercolor that helps you teach yourself to paint. It is one of the few watercolor books that I have seen that uses brilliant color. The book concentrates of landscape and still life, which are the topics that most people will have ready access to and the author's method of having you keep a sketchbook and paint at least 15 minutes a day is a wonderful way to learn. His suggestion that you always include figures in your landscapes is also excellent as most people wish to avoid figure work. THIS BOOK GETS YOU PAINTING.