Product Description

This handy, practical and inspirational little book is perfect for the pocket or art bag. It shows watercolour painters of all levels how to loosen up their paintings and maintain spontaneity by painting simple watercolour studies in no more than 10 minutes. Written by popular artist Hazel Soan, the book is arranged in three parts: the first section explains all about the equipment you will need; the second section covers techniques and shows what can be achieved with watercolour in a short time span; the third section looks at various subjects that are ideal for painting quickly. All the essential techniques are covered, focusing particularly on maximizing brushstrokes and exploring colours, and there is useful advice on deciding what to include and what to leave out. With helpful chapters on painting a wide range of subjects -- people, landscapes, seascapes, buildings, gardens, flowers and still life -- this little guide is ideal for quick reference when working in the studio or out in the field.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44788 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
Hazel Soan is a successful artist with an international reputation. She divides her studio time between London and Cape Town, exhibits her work widely, and her paintings can be found in collections worldwide. She is the author of 7 books on painting, regularly contributes to art magazines, and runs very popular painting holidays. She was an Art Expert on Channel 4's Watercolour Challenge and has made a number of other radio and TV appearances both in the UK and abroad.

Customer Reviews

They weren't kidding when they said it was small
I know the write up describes this book as small, but just over 3 inch by 4 is a little too small for me. Yes you can fit it into your pocket to take out with you, but don't forget to pack a magnifying glass to read it as well.

I thought it was going to be bigger otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. Saying that, I love anything to do with Hazel Soan and think she is an amazing artist. I just think this book would have been better served in at least A5 size, then you wouldn't have to squint so much to read it.

The book does pack a good range of tips in it thought so it may be perfect for some people.

Helpful little book
It may be small in size, but it covers all the basics of watercolour painting for the beginner. Has examples, easy to copy for gaining confidence, and gives you inspiration to go further by yourself. Full of information.

beautiful is small
It is small, there's no denying that, but it's not thin on inspiration, information, or beautiful examples. It is Hazel Soan's examples that make this the book of choice for me. Every single illustration right down to the paints, palettes and brushes you're recommended to buy are exquisite examples of 10-minute watercolours. Other examples in the book are breathtaking in their simplicity to convey form and rendering with a minimum number of strokes and colours. As for the size, well part of the attraction of watercolours must be in the ease of carrying. The media is relatively compact compared to others. So, why should the book be any larger than pocket sized? I think it fits perfectly into the watercolour package.

One thing I would say is that it does only deal with a single aspect of watercolour. As the title suggests, it is the use of watercolours as a quick sketch medium. Obviously, watercolours offer more versatility than just quick sketching and, possibly, you might want a more comprehensive manual on watercolours if you're exploring the medium. But if sketching is what you do, especially on the move, in between walking about, or on holiday, you really can't go wrong with this gem packed alongside your paints and brushes.