Helen Birch - Just add Watercolor

Just add

WATERCOLOR

INSPIRATION & PAINTING TECHNIQUES FROM CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS

HELEN BIRCH

Copyright 2015 by RotoVision SA

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com

WATSON-GUPTILL and the WG and Horse designs are registered trademarks of Random House LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-6077-4757-4
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60774-758-1

Cover design by Michelle Rowlandson
Interior layout by Michelle Rowlandson and Richard Peters
Design concept by Lucy Smith

Front cover images: Luka Va, David Hornung, Peggy Wolf, Becca Stadtlander, Kotryna Zukauskaite, Vikki Chu, Simona Dimitri, Natasha Newton

v3.1

Id like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has allowed me to use their work in this book.

To the many anonymous online artists and curators for sharing their art blogs so full of visual delight and invaluable information.

To all of the publishing folk for helping turn virtual into actual.

To my mother Joyce (Cooper) Birch, who drew and painted so beautifully; thank you for everything, including my first watercolor paints.

This book is dedicated to my father (Philip) John Birchbecause he painted a lime green house, and liked his mustard yellow tie .

Starting on , youll find a visual index that will help you dip in and out of this book. Use it to find specific watercolor paintings quickly and easily. If youre trying to find an image youve already seen in the book, or are looking for a specific style, color, or background, use this index to take you straight to the right page. Page numbers appear on the thumbnail for each painting. Please note, however: where there is more than one painting included in an entry, only one will feature in the visual index.

Each artist is credited alongside their work and the name of the painting appears in the accompanying text. At the back of the book you will also find an alphabetical list of all the artists and, where relevant, a link to their blog or website so you can look up more of their work.

Borzoi by Itsuko Suzuki

Water + watercolor paint + paper + paintbrush = watercolor painting

This simple formula indicates what you will need in order to start painting with watercolors and gives an idea of just how simple watercolor painting can be. There are lots of established rules about the traditional approaches that are considered the foundations of good watercolor painting. While it is useful to pay heed to some of these rules, they shouldnt make you hesitant.

Watercolor is familiar to us. If youve ever painted on paper, youve probably already used a water-based paint. The brush, loaded with water and pigment, easily transfers color to the paper surface. It is a playful medium and welcomes experimentation. Fluidity, drips, runs, and color blooms are all characteristic of watercolor paintings.

The aim of this book is to show a range of works of varying styles and levels of complexity, using watercolor, gouache, and acrylic paints, as well as ink. Some of the works are fairly immediate in execution while others were produced over a much longer period. The choices of brush, paper, and pigment are important factors in the production of the paintings and illustrations. Accompanying each work is a short exploration of the artists approach and the techniques used, so you can try some of the ideas out too.

Watercolor work is as technique intensive as you want it to be. It can be immediate and portable and produce traditional or contemporary outcomes that are delicate or robust, richly colorful or subtle. If you are a beginner, take things slowly and enjoy each stage of discovery. If youre more advanced, try out something new.