Beyond Technique: Painting With Passion

by Alvaro Castagnet, Debra Ashton (Illustrator), Ana Maria Castagnet (Editor)

Capture the Essence of the Subject as You Go Beyond Technique

Author and artist Alvaro Castagnet emphasizes the importance of – philosophy, ideas, technique, color, brushstrokes and magic – encouraging the reader to observe and evaluate their own paintings, and build on their discoveries; going beyond technique to improve and develop their own personal style of watercolor painting that is evocative and shows passion and feeling.

There are many educational art books; however, not all go beyond learning watercolor techniques to illustrate the elusive side of painting. In Beyond Technique: Painting With Passion, artists, students and educators will learn to express a subjects essence, its particular sense of place, mood and atmosphere; as the main motive in their own artwork.

This E-book Features:

133 Pages of Full-Screen Paintings illustrated with Large Text Side-by-Side.

Landscaped Fixed-Layout supports 2 x zoom.

Six Chapters, rich in content, contain a generous selection of stunning watercolor paintings, with detailed, informative captions, expanding on the key points discussed throughout. Included are four step-by-step demonstrations, covering a variety of subjects, such as a landscape, a boat scene, a streetscape and a still life; sure to excite and build confidence in the reader. This exceptional book is full of insight, anecdotes and helpful advice from a highly perceptive artist, who will convey key concepts of watercolor painting to achieve a powerful work of art in a way that is full of passion, quality and integrity.

Inside This E-Book:

STUNNING WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS

With detailed, informative captions, to inspire and build confidence as you apply the techniques explained.

FOUR STEP-BY-STEP DEMONSTRATIONS

Including countless explanations to show you how to convey the key concepts of watercolor into a powerful work of art.

ELUSIVE SIDE OF PAINTING ILLUSTRATED

To help you go “beyond technique” in your own work. With every subject, expressing its essence, its particular sense of place, mood and atmosphere, as your main motive.

PASSION, QUALITY AND INTEGRITY

These are the key aspects to focus on to develop your own, distinctive style of painting great watercolors!

Genres: Art

Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 2011

Reviews

[Kazi Afzal · Rating 1 out of 5]

RIP off

The book do not spill the beans of craft of Alvaro. It’s not systematic in its approach. It’s mostly in utopian style. I was disappointed not to see the secrets of color washes which Alvaro applies and are so magical. I could not find any trace of Color recipes. It’s a TED talk of painting with passion. All the best works of Alvaro are for showcasing in the books, techniques and demonstrations for those is absent. Only demonstrations provided are for lesser works. It is really beyond technique. I should have known. All great artist at least provide core concepts and techniques of their Mona Lisa art to those whom they want to impart the art but Avaro seems completely reticent in not spilling the beans. He unfortunately held back. Disappointed

[Cain S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the work and thought process of Alvaro Castagnet, and looked forward to loving this book. But it is less a propaedeutic to watercolour painting than it is a romp through the mind of a master artist.

It is filled with hard-won wisdom like the following

"Rather like playing golf, in which the winner is the one who takes the fewest strokes, so in painting generally the most successful watercolors are the ones in which the artist has expressed the idea with the minimum number of brushstrokes."

But it has no instruction on how the various types of brushstrokes available to the budding artist are to be executed. It appears the only way to pick up the practical skills Castagnet's works boast of is to attend one of his -expensive- masterclasses or watch bootlegs thereof on Youtube. I have gained a lot from watching bootlegs!

The book is like a leisurely chat with the artist about everything but the practical aspect of technique, and a very pretty collection of some of his astounding and distinctive paintings. You won't necessarily come away a better watercolourist merely from reading it. But it can't hurt in any case.

[Nick Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning paintings!

The text of this book is very…mediocre—a stream of cliches linked together in an attempt to inspire the less-than artists among us! But between the lines, it is chock-full of amazing paintings of everyday life. Castagnet is one of the masters of contemporary watercolor, and the gallery of his work is much more inspirational than any number of artist-soliloquies.
The four demo paintings at the end leave out the critical “steps” that make his work unique. It’s nice, though, to see the various stages of a painting as it comes to life.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures on my blog)

Alvaro Castagnet is known for his powerful and expressive style. I find his work intriguing because he uses a lot of black which is quite uncommon for a watercolour artist. Maybe that's what makes his watercolour different from others. Because of the contrast, his paintings are bold and emotive.

This 128-page hardcover book features a selection of his works. The majority are paintings of cityscape and restaurants, and other miscellaneous ones on people like dancers and others going about with their work on the streets.

Because of his colour choices, many of his paintings are quite dark. The text covers his painting philosophy. What I enjoyed reading more is the story behind each painting.

There are some step-by-step demonstrations included to give us a look at his process, where he starts from, the colours he uses. It's not tutorial style or very technical. Some examples are quite rush, like the one on an Australian landscape which just has 4 pictures to completion. He uses a lot of wet on wet but it's not adequately explained with regards to how he actually applies them to create his unique style.

Overall, it's an inspiring book but it's more for those who like his style, and certainly not a beginner's book.

[Gr_reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonny

👌👌👌👌superb
Great one Like it very much. Such a great learning material for all aspiring artists of water color painting.

[Kunal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting n Informative

Alvaros book Beyond Technique presents a lot of passion for watercolors taking out fear n other negatives. Thanks Alvaro Castagnet!