- Paperback: 144 pages
- Publisher: North Light Books; illustrated edition edition (28 May 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1581805896
- ISBN-13: 978-1581805895
- Product Dimensions: 28.2 x 21.6 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,073,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From soft, atmospheric effects to powerful images, this guide provides artists with the insight and instruction they need to illuminate their paintings with the magic of light. Utilizing 7 complete painting demonstrations, artists will learn how light behaves, where and how to find the best light and how to use the personality of light to express the feeling and character of a subject. In-depth guidance features specific instruction for capturing light effects on glass, metal, water, landscapes and architecture - and also offers methods for experimenting with candlelight, shadows and more.
About the Author
Paul Jackson's watercolour compositions have been featured in several publications, including The Artist's Magazine, Watercolour Magic and Watercolor Highlights and can be seen in magazine ads, on posters, CD covers and wine labels.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
There is no greater element in any painting than the light that illuminates it. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
There is no greater element in any painting than the light that illuminates it. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is aimed for an intermediate to advanced level watercolorist. The majority of the book focuses on the author's fascination with portraying light as it hits colorful subjects. The subjects range from beautiful colored glass such as wine and perfume decanters to brass musical instruments to breathtaking architectural and landscape paintings.
Other than the first chapter that gives a very quick overview of a few techniques such as blotting, drybrushing, scraping, pouring, etc. it is not an overly comprehensive book on every aspect of watercolor painting. For example, only 1-2 page cursory discussions are given to subjects such as composition, creating textures, values, leading eye movement arrangements of a painting, etc. When they are discussed the subjects are always tied back to the book's main theme - light. So eye movement is discussed, for example, in how light helps achieve this goal to make a strong painting.
Another subject which the author doesn't address is color mixing and color theory. Which is something that rather surprised me since I think of color as being intimately tied to the subject of light. Also there is frequent use of alizarin crimson in many of the painting demonstrations which some new painters may not know is a rapidly fading color. Fortunately there are 2 relatively new very permanent pigments on the market that are dead-on ringers for traditional alizarin crimson when you mix them together. W&N Permanent Carmine, which is a quinacridone/diketo-pyrole pigment + any brand with only PR122 as the listed pigment. In fact, W&N offers these two pigments as a convenience color mix named Permanent Alizarin Crimson. I have painted washes of my true alizarin crimson right next to the quinacridone/PR122 mix and could not tell the difference. Neither could my boyfriend when I asked him to try to pick which was the real alizarin crimson and which was the mix.
One of the most intriguing chapters was on painting light at night. The cover painting is only one of the types of night scenes this chapter covers. There are others such as streetlight fog at night and architectural spotlighting. Overall this book is a good overview for seeing how one element of painting - light - can be pushed to amazing effect. And although I said this book is of most use to intermediate to advanced watercolorists it can not fail to help beginners since the paintings are so inspiring and beginners will eventually move up to intermediate level anyway.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
A really stunning watercolor book!
9 Aug 2000
Format:Hardcover
I ordered the book after visiting Paul's website which has many of his beautiful paintings online and I was really delighted to receive my copy yesterday. The book is done on a very professional level, filled with gorgeous step-by-step projects, and it serves as the door to the Paul's spectacular watercolor world. I've recently realized (I'm a beginner watercolorist) that a painter needs to train ones vision the same way as a musician needs to train fingers, and Paul gives many valuable hints on such perception development, seeing beyond the still life objects and taking them to life by help of light effects. The many projects in the book are very interesting and tempting, earlier I used to sigh when seeing some amazing paintings depicting colored glass, crystal and metal objects, but now I'm sure I'll be trying to paint them myself by using Paul's instructions! Also the architectural paintings demand special attention, painted Paul's way, the churches, monuments and city buildings create a special mood and they become messengers to the viewer. I really recommend this inspirational and at the same time very practical book to watercolorists of any level.
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Proper title should be "spectacular painting"...
7 Mar 2001
Format:Hardcover
I bought the book expecting "painting spectacular light effects in watercolor", thinking of effects=FX (special effects). That was wrong, the book is not so much about painting light effects but painting the way light illuminates the scene. It is a journey from light sources bending through glass/water/mist bouncing off surfaces or just exploding in fireworks!
I was surprised by the contents, it was not what I had expected, but it was a pleasant surprise! It was way better then I had hoped for! The illustrations are not only of high class, some are better than anything I have seen in watercolor at all.
It is a step-by-step advanced course in painting in watercolor using light to its best. How do you paint something colorless and transparent such as glass? How do you paint a metallic surface? How do you use light and shadows to bring life into a lifeless painting? You will get answers to some of your long standing questions.
I recommend it for anyone who wants to catch the light... I am sure you do.
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
I Used This Book & Won an Award !
30 April 2000
Format:Hardcover
WOW! I was trying desperately to find something to paint for my first (really fantastic) art show. I had never painted in watercolor before and the entries in this show are always the highest quality. I had entered, and was chickening out.
This book arrived the week before the show and after looking at it all night and sighing with the thrill of it all, I was inspired to try using candlelight (one of the lessons) for my very first painting ever.
Imagine my shock when my name was called out of many other amazingly talented entries as winning an award! My very first watercolor!
So, you can guess by now, how I feel about THIS book. But that does not tell you if it is for you yet, does it?
The illustrations in this book are wonderful. They are realistic and create the illusion of light beautifully. You will love looking through it as a wonderful collection.
The book also has photos of subjects for you to study as well. The conversational tone is wonderful, and many topics are covered. Texture, depth, color and temperature, movement are all discussed. There is a great chapter on glass and metal.
The demonstrations cover a bead of water, drop of water, mist, stormy clouds, buildings, and candlight (my favorite, of course).
The amount of information in here is well worth the price of the book. If you are in love with light in painting, then this is a book you will also love.
As far as ease of learning- well, as I said, I won an award for my very first watercolor painting in a tough art show. This book will have a special place in my collection!
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