The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook - Landscapes

by Gordon MacKenzie

Painting with watercolors gives you endless opportunities to create the world you want. You choose whether to let the sun blaze or the rain pour, to move a maple tree here or make the trail wind over there, to subdue a hillside with quiet greens or make a forest glow with dazzling golds and reds. It's not only a matter of what to paint, but how to go about painting it. This book examines, one at a time, the three major elements of landscape painting: water, sky and land. You will be encouraged to try numerous ways of painting each one. Then you can choose the methods that best express how the outdoors speaks to you. Let this reliable collection of tips, techniques, ideas and lessons be your companion on a sure path to creative fulfillment and better watercolor landscapes.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Reference, Drawing

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2006

Reviews

[Maggie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want advice while learning to paint in watercolor, this is the best book I've seen so far. His earlier book appears to be more generalized. (I haven't seen it yet) However, this book offers so much good advice above and beyond landscapes that it could be used by anyone who wants to learn the medium whether or not they have an interest in landscapes per se.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

GNAB This is a wonderful guide to using your water colors to best advantage, for those new to the art or trying to pick it back up. Mostly I am just stale, but this book awoke the joy of painting back in me. There are the old 'tricks' to add depth and dimensions to your work, but also new and well phrased ideas to get back into a painting frame of mind. This is a book I can recommend to new painters as well as to those old one's like me who sat it aside when life got hectic and have failed to break out the easel now that there is lots of time .

I received a free electronic copy of this painting guide from Netgalley, Gordon MacKenzie, and North Light Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

pub date May 11, 2006




Netgalley
pub date Dec 27th, 2017
North Light Books

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of basic techniques are covered. Great reference book for tricks on how to practice basic landscape features (clouds, water, trees, reflections). Now you don't need to wait for a nice sky before you start practicing!

I wish the pictures were more glossy and modern, but I guess it's better to have less on the page to focus on basics. Other watercoloring books have museums quality pictures, but they watercolors are so complex (so layered and so detailed), I don't know where to start practicing, and it doesn't say how the brush produced all those blue, gray, orange clouds! Or even how those colors got there!

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few truly "essential" books for watercolorists.

[Madison Pantuso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is split into 3 chapters. The first two chapters had good information and descriptions of materials the author suggests but sometimes it felt like it jumped around randomly and some of it felt very basic (which is great for people who need that foundational knowledge). However, I would come back to this book for chapter 3 which was full of specific techniques and exercises on how to paint aspects of landscape elements. If I weren’t working on some other projects it would have been more beneficial to paint along as I read.
I’m hoping in the future I can check out this book again and dedicate myself to just working through these exercises because it would really solidify some great techniques like negative painting!
I think some things that really stood out was the need to plan ahead, sketch and develop your composition, figure out your lights and shadows, understand your cool and warm colors, and trying to sometimes think “backwards” when painting in layers.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it once through to get a lay of the land and I have to say that it is FULL of quality information. A little overwhelming for me as I am a very casual watercolorist but I can picture this book being enough to teach myself good techniques with.

[NinaB · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read on watercolor painting.

[HAO ZHANG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good handbook

Every topic is covered in a couple of pages. Brief illustration to explain the theory. Very compacted book with a lot of information.

[Kelley S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covered so many basic and essential tips, tricks and advice that other books do not. I particularly found the segment on pigments and paint quality to be enlightening.

[Lifeisadance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book. Well laid out with excellent tips. Book feels very good in hands and has a high quality paper. I will continue to use this as a reference book. Has great illustrations. Highly recommended.

[Donna Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

refer to this book often

[Thom Schoenborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So very helpful and practical.

[jmmarq1956msn.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and helpful

I like books that give clear direction and this one does. I'm always interested in a new direction in watercolor

[Chumanus K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reference and technic

Full of techniques and it is quite easy to read.
Can be used as reference. I would recommend this book in pairing with essential watercolor.

[Vaidyanathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical

Good advise and down to earth practical examples are the highlight of this book. Beginner will definite!y benefit others will find approach interesting

[Mikaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great instructions on technique.