Watercolour Animals for the Absolute Beginner

Matthew Palmer is a renowned demonstrator of watercolour painting, and his classes are particularly popular with beginners. He has been painting professionally for over 20 years and specializes in landscapes, still life and animals. He has his own studio at his home in Derbyshire, UK and teaches hundreds of people each week, as well as running watercolour workshops and holidays. He participates in several art shows and appears regularly on television as well as on his own internet-based art show at www.watercolour.tvMatthew has now written his seventh book with Search Press, with total books sales of over 118,000 copies worldwide.

• IntroductionMaterialsColourSketchingTechniquesWet into wetWet into dryAdding shadowDry brushLifting outAdding white paintFinishing touchesAdding facial featuresThe ProjectsPenguins – step by stepGoldfinch – step by stepSilhouette dolphins – step by stepParrot – step by stepCheetah – step by stepSea turtle – step by stepPanda – step by stepPolar bear – step by stepGiraffes – step by stepIndex

This is a book that absolutely lives up to its title. Matthew paints birds, mammals and reptiles in a style that is easy to replicate and he provides fully illustrated instructions that explain every step. You’ll never have trouble again with textures, skin, fur, feathers, eyes or any other detail.These are not animals that live and breathe on the page. That element of character we so admire in the best animal paintings is missing, but that’s deliberate. This is a book for the beginner and it produces recognisable, realistic results without over-elaboration. Work through this and you’ll be able to replicate what Matthew does and be ready to move on to those books that do include the elusive element of character.There are nine full demonstrations, as well as preliminary projects that concentrate on specific techniques including wet-in-wet, drybrush and lifting out. It’s nice that all this is done in an actual painting (of an elephant), rather than with abstract marks that have all the excitement of practising scales. Just be sure to pay attention at this stage, though. As an added bonus, traceable outlies are provided, so you’re freed from worrying about getting form and proportion right at this stage.This is a book that knows exactly what it’s required to do and delivers it with considerable aplomb.