Watercolor Class

Woody Allen said that "Ninety percent of success in life is just showing up." This is true for art skills too. Crespo has made this easy in this book. He helps us to realize that our efforts are art and that art should be fun.For example, Crespo's Day 1 of the second semester is an exercise encouraging artists to "begin again." He stated, "Remember: relax, love what you're doing, and don't take yourself too seriously. Let your critics do that" (p. 138).I am starting through this book for the second or third time. I don't know if I will ever be a famous artist, but now I know that I am an artist. Crespo's exercises help me find work to do and help me to focus on principles. Every exercise yields one or several paintings that I can display. Right now I am doing a series of 3 paintings. One in normal value, one in high key and one in low key. I am having a lot of fun.The exercises have really helped me improve over the years. Anyone can learn something from this book. But the best thing is that you can feel good about what you are doing. You always have plenty of critics; Crespo is someone who encourages you to suspend criticism and to enjoy creativity and growth.

This is an exceptional book of graded lessons on how to watercolor. It is completely different from any other "how to" book on watercolors that I've seen, (which to me are mostly "show off" books). Crespo is genuinely dedicated to teaching students - while teaching technical skills, there is a wonderful sense of humanity, love for teaching, and awe of the mysterious essence of nature which shines through. Instead of having illustrations which show only master watercolors, (as many books do - a good way to discourage the beginning watercolorist right off the bat), most of the examples Crespo gives are of his own students' work, and only a few of his own. He points out what is wonderful about the students' work, (which is such a refreshing change from critiquing student work and pointing out in graphic and gorey detail what is wrong with it!) The lessons are carefully graded, building on what has already been learned. The assignments are stimulating and fun, with just enough challenge to not feel overwhelming.I can't say enough good things about this book. As in all the best teaching, what shines forth in Crespo's is not only his knowledge of technique, but his love for the medium, his students, and life.

This book is great for beginners and for people who want to learn new techniques in watercolor. The author has excellent examples through out the book from students as well as skilled artists. He gives good advice and if you are new at watercolor and want to learn at your own pace without anyone rushing you this book is great.

Through a series of lessons and exercises, the book helps painters develop their skills in watercolor in particular, and painting in general. Unlike many other watercolor books, this book presents watercolor firmly within the mainstream of art, informed by modern developments and sensibilities, and not as a craft merely for hobbiests and society folks. Truly an inspirational book by a powerful painter. Highly recommended.

This book will well serve both beginning students with a serious desire to master watercolor, and experienced artists who want to revitalize their painting. The book is arranged in a series of exercises that are fun, thought-provoking, and not at all difficult, even for complete beginners. The text for each lesson is well-written. Crespo compresses a lot of useful art theory into brief but very usable form. Although the author uses some of his own paintings as demonstrations,the majority of the illustrations show student work. The pictures are beautiful in their own right. They also offer great encouragement to beginners who may be intimidated by seeing too much technically perfect work in conventional art instruction books. I have been working with watercolor for nearly thirty years, but I still learned something new from every page of this book!