Overcome "creative block" and break out of your norm! Every artist struggles with creativity at one time or another. Creative Watercolor Workshop will help you, the watercolor artist, explore your creativity and stretch your boundaries while still making the realistic and semi-realistic art that you love to paint. This book is chock-full of hands-on projects, techniques and strategies to get you thinking beyond your self-imposed creative boundaries. Mark Mehaffey, an experienced, friendly teacher, begins with the basic of designing a strong painting with shape, value and color. Once you've mastered these keys to any successful painting - regardless of style - you will have the confidence to be more creative! Mehaffey will show you practical techniques and lead you in experiments with color, composition, painting surfaces, methods of applying paint, and more. This book offers creative exercises for every skill level and comfort level, as well as demonstrations, painting critiques, weak/strong comparisons and examples by Mehaffey and a variety of other accomplished artists. With this book in your studio, you'll be encouraged to have fun while creating wonderful art. In no time, you will have a variety of tools for jump-starting your creativity and painting with confidence!

Welcome to your watercolor happy place! The world of Danielle Donaldson is as wondrous as a jar full of fireflies. Her whimsical illustrations are known for their offbeat color combinations, artful arrangements and endearing quirkiness. In this book, you'll learn how to partner with the wonderfully spontaneous medium of watercolor to create your own brand of magic. Start by creating a handmade journal, then follow exercises and start-to-finish projects to fill it with illustrations that are small in size but big on color. Along the way, Danielle shares her fresh takes on color theory, perspective, composition and more. Designed to get your brush moving, this book makes practice feel like play. It's a one-of-a-kind journey for any artist wishing to tap into the utter joy of watercolor painting and make it a cherished part of your daily life. Inside you'll find: • Imaginative techniques that help you override perfectionist tendencies while making the most of watercolor's unpredictable nature • An inventive approach (using scraps of paper, ribbon and other ephemera) for more creative color choices • A simple strategy that makes drawing new subjects less intimidating and more fun • Sweet ways to add hand lettering to your artwork • Inspirational exercises that make finding subjects to paint as easy as A-B-C "Don't underestimate the giddiness you feel when you mindlessly grab a color and mix it with another and create the most beautiful wash ever!" --p43

Creative Watercolor offers beginners a fun, modern, and practical approach to a timeless medium with instructions on how to paint simple motifs and lettering and embellish projects beautifully. In Creative Watercolor, popular watercolor artist and workshop instructor Ana Victoria Calderon shares her step-by-step techniques for painting modern motifs in this classic medium. Through a series of easy tutorials and projects, you will: Get an overview of basic materials and tools, plus options for embellishing your paintings Master essential techniques, starting with easy warm-up activities, learning to layer, and getting into the flow with watercolor, plus an introduction to scanning and digital editing for making multiples Learn to paint a variety of simple, beautiful motifs: flowers and leaves, butterflies and critters, fruits and vegetables, and delightful lettering Use what you've learned to create unique, stylish stationery, including beautiful invitations, place cards, menus, monograms, recipe gift cards, thank you notes—any project you can imagine, for any kind of event you can think of! There's never been a better time to dive into the world of watercolor, so why wait? Grab a brush and get painting! Perfect for creative beginners, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.

Unwind and get creative as you learn all about watercolor painting--one of the fastest-growing activities for everyday adults who are looking for a hobby to easily relax and relieve stress! Modern Watercolor Botanicals is a comprehensive guide for all skill levels--beginner to advanced--that teaches everything you need to know about watercolor using easy-to-follow diagrams, pictures, and instructions. Learn how to paint and advance your skills using pieces of beautiful, traceable artwork, including detailed wildflowers, shade tropical leaves, eucalyptus wreaths, and more. Lessons in Modern Watercolor Botanicals include: • Instructions for every skill level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced • Easy-to-follow diagrams, pictures, and instructions • Each lesson builds upon skills learned in the previous lessons • 15 pieces of traceable artwork to paint, no drawing experience required! • Lessons that promote focus and mindfulness and help you reduce stress through the enjoyment of the artistic process • All you need to know to create frame-worthy masterpieces and thoughtful gifts • Prompts, challenges, and ideas to take your creativity to the next level Author Sarah Simon (@themintgardener), a Seattle-based artist who leads sold-out watercolor workshops across the U.S., shares everything she teaches her students in this book. She also answers some of the most common questions from watercolor artists at all levels: • What tools do I need? • How do I mix interesting colors? • How do I create shape, movement, and definition in my piece? • How do I find my own creative style? Delve into Modern Watercolor Botanicals to develop your skills and form your own unique artistic approach to the world of modern watercolor!

Learn to paint gorgeous contemporary art by practicing watercolor technique directly in this instructional sketchbook. Through 100 different experiments, artist Sasha Proodteaches you traditional techniques like wet-on-dry, wet-on-wet, and flat washes, and also encourages you to play with the paint through colorful ombr�s, unique bloom textures, and added elements like salt and sponging. Each experiment is accompanied by Sasha'sbeautifully painted examples and space to practice your skills on the thick pages of the sketchbook. Sashamakes watercolors accessible by setting you up to paint a series of practice swatches before attempting to make final art and she emphasizes experimentation with color and technique so that you can learn to enjoy and embrace all the unique qualities of watercolor.

Art Workshop for Children is not just another book of straightforward art projects. The book's unique child-led approach provides a framework for cultivating creative thinking and encourages the wonder that comes when children are allowed to freely explore the creative process and their materials. As children work through these open-ended workshops, adults are guided on how to be facilitators who provide questions, encourage deep thinking, and help spark an excitement for discovery. Children explore basic materials and workshops that use minimal supplies, and then gradually add new materials to fill the art cabinets as well as new skills and more complex workshops. Most workshops are suitable to preschool-aged children, and each contains ideas for explorations and new twists to engage older or more experienced artists. Interspersed throughout are sidebar essays that introduce perspectives on mess-making, imperfection, the role of adult, collaborative art, and thoughts on the Reggio Emilia method, a self-guided teaching philosophy. These pieces underscore the value of art-making with children, and support the parent/teacher/care-giver on how to successfully lead, question, and navigate their children through the workshops to result in the fullest experiences.

Practice the Art of Watercolor with this Beginner’s Guide to Picturesque Mountains, Lakes, Sunrises and More From a striking Desert Sunset Silhouette to a majestic Icelandic Waterfall to an eye-catching Magical Snowy Forest, watercolor artist Kolbie Blume’s wilderness scenes are the perfect introduction to watercolor painting. Kolbie’s step-by-step instructions make it easy to paint stunning landscapes featuring all of the key elements of wilderness painting and teach you beginner-friendly techniques for colorful skies, mountains, trees, wildflowers, oceans, lakes, and more. Each chapter teaches progressively more advanced elements, allowing you to build upon your skills as you work through the projects. And the final chapter combines all of the elements in breathtaking scenes—like a Glassy Milky Way and an Aurora Glacier Lagoon—that you’ll be proud to hang on your wall or gift to a friend or family member. With all the tips, tricks, and techniques you need to master the basics of watercolor painting and instructions on how to paint every element of nature, this collection of wilderness landscapes is the go-to guide for both beginner painters and more experienced artists looking for new subjects to paint.

"In Watercolor With Me in the Forest, Dana provides light outlines of each project, and every page is printed on premium art paper, so you can focus on the watercolor techniques--wet-on-dry, wet-on-wet, painting fur and ink and wash. Even if you've never picked up a paintbrush before, Dana's creative tricks will ensure that every piece of art is frame-worthy"--Back cover.

Unlock the secrets to gorgeous, expressive, unforgettable color! Finding color combinations that not only work but excite the eye is one of the greatest challenges artists face. This updated and expanded 30th anniversary edition of the North Light classic Exploring Color teaches artists of all mediums and skill levels how to use and control color in their artwork and shows how exhilarating and enjoyable the ride can be. Popular art instructor and best-selling author Nita Leland will help you take any artwork you make to new color heights. Memorable paintings from more than 30 contributing artists are inside towill inspire you, along with 75+ hands-on exercises, 8 step-by-step demonstrations and countless nuggets of color knowledge--all in your own private workshop! Learn how to master color mixing, assemble the perfect palette for your artistic goals, select just the right color scheme, and communicate color in a way that elevates your designs way beyond the ordinary. Start a handy journal to keep track of your discoveries, with customized mixtures, color wheels, reference charts and other tools designed to uncover your color personality and help you work with color more efficiently. Nita knows that the quest for perfect color can be fun, and it can be yours. So stop guessing, and start exploring! "Beautiful color is no happy accident. Color can be learned." --Nita Leland

A contemporary paint-every-day watercolor guide that explores foundational strokes and patterns and then builds new skills upon the foundations over the course of 30 days to create finished pieces. This beautifully illustrated and inspiring guided watercolor-a-day book is perfect for beginning watercolor artists, artists who want to improve their watercolor skills, and visual creatives. From strokes to shapes, this book covers the basics and helps painters gain confidence in themselves along with inspiration to develop their own style over the course of 30 days. Featuring colorful contemporary art from Mon Voir design agency founder and Instagram trendsetter Jenna Rainey, this book's fresh perspective paints watercolor in a whole new light.