Watercolours in a Weekend: Pick Up a Brush and Paint Your First Picture This Weekend

I needed more experience with landscapes in watercolor, so I bought this book. The paintings that you learn to do in it are beautiful and exciting, but not too difficult. Step-by-step instructions are given beginning with the pencil sketch you will need on your watercolor paper and then proceeding to the first wash. Each lesson teaches something new. The book begins with the usual material needed section, and then proceed to teach the basic painting techniques step-by-step by having you do a simple painting of ex: a simplified tree using wet-wet and then adding the trunk using another technique. Wet on dry is then taught in a 3-step exercise of a cloudy sky, lake and hills (nothing detailed---the book teaches everything in small exercises (paintings). Next, 2 exercises in the use of masking medium and lifting medium. Next, there are 2 pages on each subject of composition, choosing warm vs cool colors, perspectives. A few color mixes are suggested that can be safely used for landscape subjects. The rest (majority) of the book is then dedicated to step-by-step painting projects-- the first several paintings teach you the basics of painting different types of clouds and skies. Next---Water--sunlight on water, reflections in water, moving water, waterfall, rough sea, moody sea. Each of these lessons are taught by following step-by-step directions to make a small painting Next, mountains and lakes, then, trees and foliage--winter tree, foliage, tree shapes, trees in a setting, autumn trees. Next, a 6-page class on painting a scene of a road surrounded by trees with sunlight beaming through the trees--- as you progress in the book, the paintings you do become more detailed, building the beginner painter's confidence in a stepped method. Next, Buildings and textures--linear perspective, light and shade--again, a step-by-step painting to do--simple but beautiful. Next, simple brickwork, with a step-by-step instruction to achieve an interesting end- product of a stuccoed wall with bricks showing through a hole and cracks on the stucco. Next, windows and roofs, then a 6-page class on painting a farm scene-- the sketch to have on your paper is shown, making everything easy and fun. Next, reflection--puddles on a farm track, buildings reflected in a flooded field, reflected boats, and a denver mill. Several more beautiful paintings are taught in a stepped method, including winter landscape with a snow-covered tree, shadows on snow, low tide coastal scene, etc.. This is an outstanding book for beginner watercolorists. I was impressed by the simplicity of the paintings that you do, but at the same time, something you can be proud of and build on for the more complicated paintings.