Simplifying Complex Scenes in Watercolor

Rating:
Summary: This one's a keeper.
Review: As a beginner-to-intermediate painter, I have bought several watercolor books and this seems to be one of the best ones for me. It is not a beginner book, as it is targeted more for the intermediate painter; short on fundamentals and long on technique. In reading it, I had more than one "light-bulb moment". The book sets some realistic goals, and accomplishes them. I really enjoy the painting style represented here, fast and loose with implied rather than explicit detail. The book has lots of example excercises and many full blown projects with varying levels of guidance. It will likely stay on the top of my stack for a while.

Rating:
Summary: Too much detail, not enough drama? Try these lessons
Review: This is a wonderful watercolor book, and I must have dozens in my library. Malcolm Beattie gets right to the point and shows you how to emphasize the main points in watercolor painting, and how to add punch and drama to each work.

I especially liked his instruction on how to do figures, whether simple and undetailed, or with action in their movement, to add life to the painting. If you like doing landscapes or cityscapes, this book is for you. I really got some useful tips, and of course Beattie's paintings are worth looking at just for enjoyment alone. Great resource.