Light Up Your Watercolors Layer By Layer: Transparent Glazing Techniques for Luminous Paintings

by Linda Stevens Moyer

Give your paintings more life--with light!

The best watercolor paintings have a certain radiance, a richness of light, color and detail. You can bring these same effects to your own work with the help of award-winning painter Linda Stevens Moyer. With this book, you'll discover a layering formula for creating stunning watercolors that explode with light.

Even if you've struggled previously with layering colors, you can achieve the results you want through these easy-to-follow instructions. Moyer takes you step by step through the entire process, beginning with the most basic aspects of watercolor, including:


mixing and using color
creating form and representing space
saving and regaining the white of your paper
building realistic textures
using photographs to inspire and develop your painting
layering with transparent watercolor to portray light
Create paintings that dazzle. It's easier than you think!

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Reference

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2003

Reviews

[Klay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great inspiration, interesting pieces, enjoyable layout!

I especially liked the technique step by steps, the way her process works a bit like screen printing was visually compelling & fascinating.

I think I’ll try doing some paintings this way and see how it affects my perception of color.

I also really liked the descriptions/visuals of the texture techniques and the color systems - including the additive color wheel was intriguing for a painted medium.

I also liked the organization drawers for photographs/references. I’ve been trying to organize my art materials this year & this is a great balance of accessible without being constantly on display.

Great Book!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, keep going back and rereading sections. As well as numerous exercises, this book includes alternate muted colour wheels in both warm and cool tones for more natural looking colours, not just the primaries.

[loafingcactus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially the technique described is to paint from warm colors through to cool colors. It is NOT layering because layering can be done a lot of different ways. Trying it out added to my options, but I have not adopted her system.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a tremendous resource for me. I have learned more from using this book than I ever did in art class.

[Roopa Speedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book for anyone who aspires to be an artist.

[scherzo♫ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perceiving color -- the more you look, the more you will see.

Assignment #19 to become more aware of color:
- still life with colorful objects
- 8 x 16 composition
- divide the rectangle into five different sections
- cover the sections you are not working on with a piece of paper while you are painting
- Section by section, concentrate on seeing a different specific color
--- paint the color wherever you see it
--- notice where the focal color influences another color and mix with the focal color
--- paint all the other colors you see

At the end of your painting, each section should have a slightly different color cast because of focusing on a particular color in that section.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels more like a classroom textbook than a standalone text. The layering example are less than 1/3 of the book and there is cursory coverage on basics, color theory and texturing. The first 2/3rds of the book are not really useful outside of a classroom, there's a lack of examples suitable for beginners. I feel this book would have been a better if the layering part was expanded to a full book and the other bits dropped.

[Kåre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Malerierne er gode, men ikke fantastiske. Teknikkerne beskrives, som det er gjort mange gange før. Kapitlet om glazing teknikker er det interessante/nye, men det kunne være både bedre og længere. Billederne til dette kapitel er mindre fede. Måske fordi det skal være gør det selv, og derfor ikke kan være for svært.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In addition to the eye-candy of Moyer's incredible paintings, this book has solid explanations of color theory. I don't think the layering method is for me, but this book was definitely worth the read.