Art-making as easy and breezy as a day at the beach! The ocean is home to a fascinating cast of odd and awesome creatures. With this creative field guide, anyone can sketch and paint these living treasures of sea and shore. Generously illustrated pages offer waves of inspiration, along with tips for making the most of watercolor's expressive, free-flowing nature. Profiles for 21 mammals, birds, fish, crustaceans, invertebrates and shellfish Each profile features a reference photo, interesting facts, color palette, sketches, a line drawing, a step-by-step detail demonstration and a finished watercolor rendering Includes an introductory primer on basic watercolor techniques and special effects for evoking seaworthy textures and backgrounds Quotes throughout celebrate the wonder of the sea With an intuitive approach and friendly instruction, No Excuses Watercolor Oceans makes first strokes fun and simple, allowing even novice artists to answer the call of the sea with loose and lovely results.

"I can't control the paint." "It's not colorful enough." "It's intimidating!" With the fun and easy techniques in Gina Rossi Armfield's No Excuses Watercolor, your excuses for not painting with watercolor don't stand a chance! As you try the demonstrations and exercises, you'll learn the techniques and tricks necessary to achieve amazing, colorful results in your artist's sketchbook. After getting to know your materials, you'll try your hand at thirteen exercises that will help train your hand, and help you identify and refine your artistic style. Along the way, you'll get tips and suggestions for adding journaling and writing to your art. Finally, you'll find an inspirational resource guide packed with reference photos, starter sketches, color palettes, journaling prompts and more to help you fill your watercolor journal! Grab your sketchbook and watercolors--it's time to paint, no excuses! • 22 demonstrations for sketching and watercolor painting. • 13 exercises for practicing backgrounds, focal images, color mixing, layering and details. • 13 resource sections loaded with journaling and painting prompts to keep you inspired.

Experience the freedom of watercolor painting and let go of fear! You'll have no excuse not to paint when you follow Gina Rossi Armfield as she shares her intuitive and inspirational approach to sketching and painting animals. Watercolor is the perfect medium for capturing the flowing textures, patterns and playful personalities of your favorite furry, feathered and farmyard friends. And it's fun using organic, sketchbook-style techniques to create soulful animal portraits. No intimidating exercises--just colorful and expressive works of art! The animal field guide is divided into 3 sections--Paws, Claws and Hooves--with 15 different animal projects that each include a photo reference, color palette and sketch template. Inside you'll find: • Tricks for painting fur, feathers, beaks, claws, hooves and eyes • Essential and easy paintbrush and watercolor instruction • Guidance for working from photo reference • Creative background and text overlay ideas

5O No-Sketch Projects That Bring the Ocean to Life Dana Fox, author of Watercolor with Me: In the Forest and founder of Wonder Forest, provides fifty new marine-themed projects in this beginner-friendly watercolor guide. Known for her whimsical art style and straightforward instruction, Dana leads you through three major watercolor techniques: wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and ink-and-wash. Best of all, there’s no sketching required, so you can focus on each painting method. Bring adorable sea creatures like octopuses and otters to life on high-quality art paper. Start simple with shading in a monochromatic orca, experiment with adding depth to color with a bright bobbing seahorse and practice stylizing your subject in a charming lighthouse scene. With inspired art and step-by-step instruction, it’s easy to pick up a paintbrush, break out your palette, and create something beautiful.

Breathtaking Watercolor Seascapes for the Beginner Painter From ocean sunsets and enchanting woodland lakes to snow-speckled rivers and quiet villages reflected in a serene sea, this outstanding collection of paintings from Kolbie Blume teaches painters of all skill levels to master a range of brilliant waterscapes. Projects like Mountain of a Wave, Through the Fjord, Village by the Sea, Secret Falls and more build your confidence in painting water in all its wild and varied states. The chapters progress in difficulty, with skills building upon each other, helping you to develop and strengthen your abilities as you paint your way through the book. Providing you with all the tips and tricks you need to master the art of painting waterscapes, Kolbie’s approachable step-by-step instructions and helpful hints will guide you from burgeoning beginner to pro painter.

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.

Kiss those excuses goodbye! "I don't have time." "I don't know what to journal about." "I can't keep the momentum going." Sound familiar? What are your excuses for not spending time with your art journal? Get ready to cast those excuses aside because Gina Rossi Armfield's No Excuses Art Journaling offers a no-fail approach to art journaling. Using a day planner as your art journal, you'll find daily, weekly and monthly prompts that you can adapt to fit your real-life, busy schedule. Along the way, you'll learn fun and convenient techniques to add sketching, watercolor painting, collage and more into your journal, all while setting goals, creating art and chronicling your unique life. Inside You'll Find: • More than 20 mixed-media art journaling techniques demonstrated step-by-step so you can add color, style and life ephemera to your journal. • 6 pages of journaling prompts and tips for every month of the year. • Dozens of inspirational art journal pages by Gina and 12 guest artists to show how you can make the No Excuses program decidedly yours. Grab your journal and pen, and kick your excuses to the curb!

A unique system for jump-starting artistic creativity, encouraging experimentation and growth, and increasing sales for artists of all levels, from novices to professionals. Have you landed in a frustrating rut? Are you having trouble selling paintings in galleries, getting bogged down by projects you can’t seem to finish or abandon, or finding excuses to avoid working in the studio? Author Carol Marine knows exactly how you feel—she herself suffered from painter’s block, until she discovered “daily painting.” The idea is simple: do art (usually small) often (how often is up to you), and if you’d like, post and sell it online. Soon you’ll find that your block dissolves and you’re painting work you love—and more of it than you ever thought possible! With her encouraging tone and useful exercises, Marine teaches you to: -Master composition and value -Become confident in any medium including oil painting, acrylic painting, watercolors, and other media -Choose subjects wisely -Stay fresh and loose -Photograph, post, and sell your art online -Become connected to the growing movement of daily painters around the world

Beautiful botanical drawings ready to paint or color.

The zodiac has been used for a millennia to bring humans closer to the cosmos. With this creative masterpiece, it's your turn to travel nearer the heavens following simple directions for painting each of the constellations, accompanied by information about each sign of the zodiac. A basic introduction to watercolor techniques and its tools will get you started. Learn how to paint the beautiful night sky throughout the seasons while learning about sun signs and their place in astrology with Celestial Watercolor—complete with an overview of the tools and techniques of watercolor. This guide to painting the stars also features: How to achieve the look of the night sky unique to each season, from the light blue summer night to the deep blue of the winter Watercolor wash techniques: wet-into-wet and wet-on-dry painting How to paint moons throughout the year, including the 12 moons from the Native American and spiritual traditions Adding environmental elements, including trees, mountains, and lakes Ideas for night sky painting gifts for baby showers, weddings, birthdays, and other occasions Express your passion for the night sky in paint with â??Celestial Watercolor, whether you're a weekend artist or a more experienced artist looking to expand your repertoire.