Artists seem compelled to try to capture the amazing variety of the animal kingdom; the challenge remains how to breathe energy into your paintings and make the animals jump off the paper. This deeply practical book offers an accessible introduction to sketching animals from life, to try to capture that essence. It gives instruction on how to approach drawing; covers ideas for materials and supplies to make sketching from life a joy; gives step-by-step demonstrations of different watercolour techniques; offers specific advice on using colour and painting, fur, feathers and features and gives ideas for mixed-media experimentation. Full of colourful examples and guidance, this new book explains how to transform your studies into finished artwork that are brimming with character. It encourages you to find the extraordinary in the everyday, as well as revelling in the breadth of nature. Taking a contemporary approach to traditional watercolour, the author shows how a few, well-chosen brushes of paint can reveal the soul of your subject.

Sally Michel clearly understands the behaviour, characteristics and personalities of her subjects. She shares her techniques in a practical and inspirational way showing how best to paint cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, squirrels and more. Here is a book full of quick sketches, step-by-step demonstrations and inspiring paintings. It is a wonderful guide for anyone who loves animals and wants to master the art of painting them in watercolour.

Jean Haines' enthusiasm for watercolours burst through every page of this inspirational book that will guide you, step by step, to creating beautiful and unique paintings of your own, whatever your ability. Accomplished artist Jean Haines shares her passion for watercolours in this wonderfully practical book. Known for her exciting techniques and love of colour, Jean takes you on an inspirational painting journey on which you'll encounter, amongst other things, magical watercolour flow, glorious washes, sunbursts, and a magnificent 'hotting it up' finale. With her simple exercises, clear advice and easy-to-follow projects, Jean pushes the boundaries and will alter the way you think about watercolours and painting for ever. With a selection of popular subjects, including animals, landscapes, buildings, flowers and people, there is something for everyone here, whatever their artistic ability.

Discover how to create vibrant, colorful watercolor paintings of a range of animals! With Colorways: Watercolor Animals, learn to paint all your favorite animals, from an elephant and a whale to a dog, cat, fish, and more. Each step-by-step demonstration shows not only how to capture the animal’s likeness, but also how to use color to create magical, otherworldly, and whimsical paintings. In these tutorials, you will also learn how to use watercolor paint to suggest texture and fur on your animal subjects. Along the way, you will find technique instruction and tips for using different types of strokes, working with various brush shapes and sizes and using washes and underpaintings. The Colorways series teaches artists of all skill levels how to employ color across a variety of media in unique and imaginary ways to create innovative and inspired artwork. Focusing less on realistic artistic representations and more on creating expressive art, this series invites you to break the standard rules of color and let your imagination and artwork soar to new heights in order to create unconventional, whimsical, and fanciful works of art. Learn the customary rules of color, and then bypass them, with the help of Colorways: Watercolor Animals, a book that encourages you to use color for interpretive means and personal expression while painting your favorite animals.

Line and wash is an exciting combination. This practical book shows you how to exploit the strength of ink with the transparency of watercolour to produce powerful and dynamic paintings. With over 170 illustrations, it covers a wide range of styles and subjects, before exploring mixed media, new surfaces and other ways to take your line and wash work to another level. Includes advice on choosing materials; exercises to hone your drawing and painting skills; gives inspiration for new approaches to line and wash and, finally, step-by-step demonstrations of ideas and projects. This book is a visual treat and an essential guide for all artists who want to try this exciting technique.

Learn Wildlife Painting with Techniques from Masters With decades of experience at Chicago's renowned Field Museum, artist-in- residence Peggy Macnamara and scientific illustrator Marlene Hill Donnelly share tips on all aspects of painting wildlife in luminous watercolor. Painting Wildlife in Watercolor includes everything you'll need to know to from basics to finishing touches of rendering vibrant lifelike animals, birds and reptiles. Well-known for her "no fear" approach which bypasses traditional composition methods, Peggy Macnamara employs a technique of gradually applying color to develop rich subtle tones. Balancing this is Marlene Donnelly's clear and detailed instruction on drawing and painting techniques-the perfect complement to the "no fear" approach. The authors explore subject matter, color theory, design, light and shadow, and present several illustrative demonstrations. Macnamara describes her process as a form of meditation and encourages the student to compose their image using many light layers. She says of her technique, "It automatically builds depth in the liquid expression of the eyes as well as in the rich texture of fur and feathers." Whether rendering birds, mammals, or reptiles, these master artists will guide you as you create your own interpretation, step by step, as they share their years of experience. This innovative approach allows artists at all levels of experience to imbue their work with a fresh and subtle beauty. This book is also available from Echo Point Books in hardcover (ISBN 1635619475).

Step into Jean Haines distinctive, exciting world of watercolour with this, the ultimate guide to her influences, style and work. Jean's loose, expressive paintings are filled with colour and personality, embracing a range of subjects that includes flowers, animals, people and places, all influenced by the countries and cities she's lived in and the people she's met during her life. This beautiful book contains easy-to-follow and inspiring introductory sections such as an artists treasure chest and the colour gym, offering practical guidance and in-depth exercises in an innovative and accessible way, and the numerous examples of Jeans work will inspire and encourage novice as well as experienced artists. After this introductory section, the book shows the reader how to put the skills they've learned into practice with gorgeous step-by-step projects packed full of expert tips and advice, encouraging them to move forward and develop their own style of working. Like her painting, Jean's writing is filled with passion and enthusiasm, transporting the reader through a world of watercolour that will not fail to excite and inspire.

Paint lively and lovable animals of all kinds! Capture all the natural charm and personality of your favorite animals. Bestselling author and beloved teacher Claudia Nice makes it fun. With step-by-step guidance, Claudia shows you just how easy it is to paint a menagerie of lively creatures in her trademark pen, ink and watercolor technique. Follow along and see for yourself. Whether you are a beginner attempting to paint your first animal subject, or a more experienced artist looking to broaden your skills, you'll find this book to be both entertaining and instructive. It features: 14 complete step-by-step demonstrations A range of delightful animal subjects, including dogs, cats, horses, pigs, sheep, bunnies, birds, and more 60+ mini demos and quick studies that focus on getting the details right, such as fur, feathers, feet, facial expressions and backgrounds Techniques for painting from photos, sketches and memories Key tips for working with ink and watercolors successfully Claudia starts by simplifying the animal subject into basic shapes and diagrams. She then shows you how to refine these shapes into drawings. From there, you'll gently add color in simple washes and finish the details with pen and ink. Discover the versatility and satisfaction of painting with pen, ink and watercolor, and watch your favorite animals spring to life with a charm and detail you've never captured before.

"My First Friends" is an informative book that introduces kids to animals in a fun, playful way. Talking about themselves, baby animals ask the little reader to guess, who are they? Riddles in verses help the toddler to find the right answer. By flipping the page over, the child will immediately be able to check his answer by seeing a magnificent illustration depicting a baby animal. Watercolor illustrations and brief information about the life of each animal will help the little reader to learn about new animal friends. Each baby animal communicates with the child and becomes his friend. After reading the book with mom or dad, children will gain new knowledge and consolidate them by solving fun activities at the end of the book. The book "My First Friends" was written by N. Nell. Watercolor illustrations were made by the artist Anastasia Anikeichik. Anastasia is a mother herself and knows well what is interesting to little tykes. So her book was already appreciated by the first reader - her son.