The Watercolor Artist's Guide to Exceptional Color

Ditto the above reviews. Jan Hart has painted and written an excellent book on color. I would say one of the top 2 or 3 I have found during 30 plus years of painting and study, and I have read and studied a lot of them. Constant insightful tips of using color, constant color circles painted with sets of pigments, very specific as to the colors used. Many, many color examples and paintings further clarify the well-written text. Frequently there are 3 or more color illustrations on a single page, all of them with Jan's crystal clean and clear, beautiful watercolors (except there are some included paintings by other artists). Every serious watercolorist should own, read, and study this book. It is much more valuable that its selling price.

Jan Hart has written articles for Daniel Smith Paints, most on her "amazing mixes"--unusual blends of watercolor that give luminous results in mainly landscapes. If you enjoyed seeing her articles and work (which really glows with subtle and startling color) then this book has a lot more of her way of mixing paints. Though landscape and botanicals seem to be her major love, the book also has animals, buildings, seascapes, skies and other subjects. She shows them in variations. There is no attempt to reproduce reality exactly--instead, Hart shows how to mix colors to get a result that dazzles the eye like fluttering leaves and bluish shadows on a bright, sunlit day. There is a section at the end on Daniel Smith Primatek colors. These are natural pigments made of ground stones and earths. They are sometimes less colorful and bright than synthetic paints, but Hart shows how to use their unusual granulating properties along with more traditional watercolor pigments to gain some eyecatching mixes. This book is a good tutorial for those who want to break away from the standard three to eight color palette and try for something different.

Numerous color palettes shown; many excellent and various art examples by professional watercolorists in a wide variety of color schemes. Everything printed in full color. Terrific book for a beginner and yet extremely helpful for advanced watercolor artists. The book is divided up into sections, for example, "Light, Shade and Shadow","Wet In Wet","Backgrounds", "Clouds and Skies", "Portraits" "Flowers", "Paper" and "What's New". Also a lot of information on how to do certain techniques. I own at least 50 or so watercolor books and most of the ones about color have not measured up to this wonderful book.

Jan Hart's book, The Watercolor Artist's Guide to Exceptional Color, is such an attractive and useful book. Beginners, as well as experienced painters, will be excited to have it in their hands. Ms. Hart gives much practical information for the beginning watercolorist as well as for those who have been painting for some time. But like all instruction books, it has its good points and its not-so-good points. Its strong points far outweigh its weaker points. While I recommend it very enthusiastically, I would not use the superlatives that other reviewers have used ~ calling it the "bible"of watercolor, or "fabulous", or saying there's no need to read anything else! Such extremes and generalities always make me a little suspicious. They do not help me at all. The kind of reviews that I do find helpful are those that tell me WHY the reviewer feels the way he or she does. A review is also helpful if it tells, even in a general way, what I can expect to find in a book. That's what I propose to do here. After a brief, general introduction, there's a section explaining the composition of paints, what they are made of. The author gives a fine explanation of the technical data on watercolor labels. She groups colors in general categories of the primaries: reds, yellows, blues; the secondaries: oranges, greens, purples; and a stand-alone group, the magentas. The practical application of this material is shown in three close-up demonstration paintings. This is followed by a brief treatment of basic mixing, again with practical suggestions for exercises that will enable the reader to learn from his or her own experience. Then color theory is approached through examination of the color wheel. After this introductory material, the book is organized in three large sections. The publisher has not made it possible to look inside this book on line. So I will list for you here the topics covered in each section. They are enticing. Section 1, Pigment Properties Pigment properties gallery, Transparent non staining paints, Permanent staining pigments, Sedimentary and opaque paints, Granulation, Wet-into-wet pigment actions, Underpainting, Glazing Section 2, Pigment Aesthetics Pigment aesthetics gallery, Comparing color schemes, Primary palette, Six-color palette, Analogous color palette, Complementary palette, Split-complement palette, Tetradic color scheme, Tertiary colors, The Velazquez palette, High and low color key, Color value, Color temperature, Neutrals Section 3, Choosing Pigments for Painting Choosing and using a color scheme in a painting, Light, shade and shadow, Backgrounds, Skies and clouds, Waterscapes, Buildings, Flowers and plants, Animals, Landscapes and trees, Portraits and figures. The book closes with a brief but practical treatment of the different types of paints, brushes, papers and other equipment. Then the author gives an engaging account of new developments. Finally, there's an excellent Index and a page of credi

The book is fabulous. I got an advance copy and I cannot put it down. It is packed cover to cover with wonderful bite-sized teaching, complete with color examples that make everything so clear. Not a dry reference book on pigments, it is a how-to for getting the color all watercolorists want.