Your Year in Art: Watercolor: A project for every week of the year to inspire creative exploration in watercolor painting

by Kristin Van Leuven

Overcome your creative blocks and fears and start painting with confidence with Your Year in Art: Watercolor! Filled with weekly art challenges, step-by-step watercolor lessons, helpful tips and techniques, and gorgeous artwork, this follow-up to the drawing-focused Your Year in Art is a must-have for any watercolor artist.

Written and illustrated by Kristin Van Leuven, owner of the popular online art shop Hello Lovely People and author of Modern Watercolor (Walter Foster Publishing), Your Year in Art: Watercolor seeks to motivate and inspire. The book is divided into weekly art challenges and prompts that cover appealing themes like florals, birds, and portraits, as well as inspirational ideas for painting patterns, holiday decorations, scenery, and so much more. Lessons and prompts are guided but invite personalization so you can build your skills while celebrating your own unique style.

If you're a beginning artist, you might feel intimidated by watercolor, a medium that doesn't allow for many errors. However, Kristin Van Leuven makes watercolor fun and approachable with her easy-to-follow tips and free-flowing, expressive style. With her guidance, you'll learn to embrace imperfection and use the lessons as inspiration, rather than something to imitate exactly.

With Your Year in Art: Watercolor, develop your own painting style and express yourself using watercolor!

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

Published July 7, 2020

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a colorful, fun book that gives you a year of watercolor prompts and inspiration. The author starts with a bit of basics about watercolor painting and then provides an assignment a week for 52 weeks. You start small with things like color mixing and using shapes and move on to tasks like painting in black and white, using resists, painting your to do list, painting the sky, etc. Tips and pointers are provided throughout, and there are lots of the author's paintings for illustrations.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Kirsty ❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve downloaded a few books from netgalley to see if i would buy them as I rediscover art and drawing. This is one I will definitely be picking up in print. The colours in this book are divine. I loved just flicking through online. There's a new task each week to help build up both skills and confidence. I have some of the equipment and don't think it will cost me much to get the rest. I loved how the first week was simply play with the colour wheel and see what happens. A beautiful book

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a beautiful art watercolour project book to give you many types of inspiration and ideas.

The book consists of 52 projects to try (one for each week of the year) and starts off with easy stuff such as mixing paints, layering, textures etc and builds up to more advanced projects over-the-counter weeks.

This book is a great project book for all art stages of watercolour painting, from newby ( like me) to more advanced and would make a beautiful present for watercolour lovers.

[Samantha Josephine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one book I will NEED to purchase for my shelf. This is one of THE MOST user friendly watercolor tutorial that I have come across. As an absolute beginner to watercolor, I like the easy to follow instructions on basic water color techniques. There are also beautiful text features with stunning visuals, step-by-step instructions, tips, and even an assignment to work on for the week. A lot of other watercolor books I have looked over are rather intimidating and I feel that an absolute beginner would not benefit from reading. THIS is definitely one to purchase for your self.

Why spend hundreds of dollars on watercolor courses, when you can just spend $19.99 and receive the same lessons?

Thank you to Kristin Van Leuven, Quarto Publishing Group, and NetGalley for this complimentary book in exchange for my honest review.

[Nicoletta LaSirenissima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love to be creative and do stuff.But I am earnestly not very good at it.
I wanted to learn to paint and I always loved watercolours because of the way you could blend the colours and create something unique.
But I always lack the ideas. Do this book was a tremendous help to create some very nice pictures that are worth the space on the wall.
And a bug bonus, my children saw me having fun and wanted to participate.

So a win win situation.

Thanks for letting me read this inspiring book that sparked my creativity.

[JCS · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the lovely book cover that drew me in to read this inspiring guide to watercolour. It consists of a new project for each week of the year. Following an introduction that explains the premise of the book, and a brief guide to selecting tools and materials, it begins the first of five chapters. All of the chapters contain plenty of helpful illustrations and guidance. The first chapter concentrates on basics and these basics are the foundation for many of the remaining projects. There are lots of fun ideas and it definitely makes you want to give it a go. Thank you to Kristin Van Leuven, Net Galley and the publisher, Quarto for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Marzia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what I needed.
I love watercolor but I never learned how to use them properly.
I like the idea of a weekly assignment for every week of the year.
Instructions are easy to follow and the illustration are really beautiful.


Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the book.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of doing something regularly and creating a routine and habit around it. The hardest part of doing something daily/weekly is generating ideas. Coming up with a list of 52 things to do so you can keep learning, expanding and exploring takes time and energy that could otherwise be going into creating.

This book can help with exactly that. The colorful, beautiful, and inspiring drawings in this book come with a different focus/challenge each week, keeping you learning and exploring. Each week is fun in its own way and the variety and depth here is sure to keep you going. The ideas are simple but the art can apply to everyone from a beginner to an advanced artist.

with gratitude to netgalley and Walter Foster Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Donna Mallery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea! Weekly assignments!

I love the idea of spreading out assignments into measurable points. And each assignment is met with instructions that are easy to follow. There are also examples of the assignment techniques often with actual pictures to use as reference. This is mostly simple instruction. The assignments are often strokes or florals. And there are no extra media such as salt. But, I think it’s a great way for beginners to learn about watercolor!

[Mechthild · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that keeps you inspired
Author and watercolor artist Kristin Van Leuven presents "Your Year in Art: Watercolor. A project for every week of the year to inspire creative exploration in watercolor painting", published by Quarto Publishing Group - Walter Forster Publishing. After a brief introduction with information about basic tools & materials and the selection of water color paper Van Leuven has divided the weeks of the year into five chapters: 1) Basics, 2) Jump-Starting creativity, 3) Getting Outside, 4) Making it Personal, and 5) Keeping it Going. Each week contains some basic teaching about watercoloring and the needed examples, some assignments, and often some challenges under the title "Try This!". The individuals weeks are building on one another and present a wide range of sample drawings, some of them based on plants and others on photographs.
The artist has to not that the introduction is very brief. Beginners who need more information about tools & materials need to look elsewhere to find that information. Nevertheless I highly recommend this book because it presents itself with great graphics and designs and examples. It is a great book for beginners and intermediate artists. I appreciated the tips that are included along the way and am convinced that this book makes also a great present for them.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#YourYearinArtWatercolor #NetGalley

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book as soon as I opened the download I loved the vibrancy of the colours and immediately flipped through it all, just mesmerised. Since then I've gone through it slowly twice and I just love it more each time. The author is an artist who loves what she does and has a wonderful way of teaching. Her approach is accessible, really easy to follow (and no that isn't always the same as accessible), the tone is encouraging and supportive. The exercises are easy to follow and the presentation just makes you want to get started straight away. Obviously the idea is do undertake this over a year and for reviewing purposes I've only just started but I can't wait to see what I've produced a year from now.

If during lockdown you've been wanting to get more creative or you just want to explore a new medium, I really recommend this book, suitable for 5 years upwards, its both simple and inspirational. I would also recommend getting hold of the print version as the digital issue was a bit glitchy but that may get sorted out for proper digital release, but its such a beautiful book you're gonna want it in print!

With thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Doreen Prentiss Gabriellini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Year in Art: Watercolor by Kristin Van Leuven. I was excited to read this book as I have always been looking for a watercolor instructional book that would inspire me to finally pick up a brush and try watercoloring. The premise of the book is that there are 52 tasks, one for each week. In week one you learn a task. Week two builds on week one and adds more. Therefore you are building on your lessons. The author continually encourages the reader not to be too hard or critical of themselves and just go with the process.

The colors and projects in the book are awesome. Just paging through it made me happy. There is a lot of inspiration and excitement to be had when reading this book. There are tips and tricks to refer to in each week. I was pleased with the easy to follow step by step directions on basic watercolor techniques. Many other watercolor books seem intimidating and this one does not. I feel that a beginner, as well as, someone striving to improve their painting would benefit from this book. I would definitely recommend this book. Well done!

I would like to thank Quarto Group, the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Barbara K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of a few books I recently borrowed as library books in order to see if I want to own them, to use for my personal practice. My journaling is mostly in written form, but I'm thinking of getting back to some visual journaling, at least some of the time, and watercolor is a medium I enjoy dabbling in.

This book is an excellent resource, for anyone new or returning to watercolor after a long time and wanting to learn a bit more, practice a bit more, or keep doing it as a regular practice, for whatever reason. My reason would be self-expression, but perhaps you want to improve your skills with a more dedicated artful purpose in mind, or you want to try watercolor on your own for a while in order to decide whether to take a class. Whatever your reason, this would be a good jumping off point to learn some of the basics about watercolor, and to get some practice in. I have other books that go into greater depth as far as techniques, color theory, composition, etc. But this still would make a great practice manual for me, at my fairly low level of overall expertise.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed working through Your Year in Art and finished it with a few weeks to spare, some of the exercises didn’t help with my watercolor growth. In some ways, I felt it stunted my growth. Some of my favorite weeks were:
1.) week 6 - building layers
2.) Week 11 - Magic monochrome
3.) Week 12 - playing with negative space
4.) Weeks 18 & 19 - Bug’s eye view and bird’s eye view
6.) Week 21 - one thing - 20 ways (this exercise was just fun)
7.) Week 31 - Dreamy Greenhouse
8.) Week 32 - Cute critters (I based my paintings on recent photographs I have taken)
9.) Week 47 - Design a card
10.) week 51 - Four Colorways (I really enjoyed this one and playing with background colors)

Overall, A good book to either get back into painting as a refresher or to help stimulate creativity or for beginners.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

I love reading and learning from watercolor art books. This book takes beginning lessons seriously by breaking each down into components week by week. This allows the beginning or practicing watercolor artist a chance to work on and master a technique over a short period of time.

It covers all aspects from color theory to more detailed still life and landscape painting. It also gives recommendations for subject matter both indoors and outside.

The illustrations are colorful and helpful. They add much to the instructions in this book. The author/artist encourages the reader to develop their own painting style after practicing the various techniques and ideas in the book.

[Dil Nawaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Year in Art: Watercolor is a beautiful book for watercolor lovers. This is a short, illustrated with practical chapters. After DK Publishers I love Quarto Knows Publishers mostly design books are cataloged in Quarto Knows.

I also have a large all-in-one painting book called DK Painting for Artists. From beginner to advanced levels are all covered in that book. This book is brief; even without practice, you may finish it in one or two hours.

Kristin Van Leuven is an Arizona native who enjoys painting. With the help of Hello Lovely People, Kristin's online art store where she sells paintings, clothes, and more, what started as a hobby that acted as a diversion from real life has evolved into a job.

Recommended.

Dil Nawaz
Karachi, Pakistan
https://ocdil.blog

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun book!

A great physical distancing gift! This book breaks down water color painting skills week by week to help people become artists.

There isn't a lot of basics, but there is information on choosing paper and how to blend colors. Then you can jump into the projects week by week to improve your skills. It feels like something that an absolute beginner might have trouble diving in to just because the first few weeks feel a bit more advanced than water color 101.

Overall it's a great book with beautiful pictures! It's a clear guide for budding artists!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the right book for right now... and/or probably any time. But especially now when we have time to explore our creativity and live our aspirational life--with the right tools! I was curious to see if this book would inspire me or discourage me in pursuing watercolors. I'm no artist but I do wish I could create something using watercolors. I expected to be discouraged, but I love how the book is set up and it feels very do-able even for someone unskilled such as myself. I expect this will fly off the shelves as it is both attractive and useful. It would also make a lovely quarantine gift!
Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy. Now I'm going to order my own copy for keeps!

[Courtney R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Your Year in Art: Watercolor" by Kristin Van Leuven falls short of its promise. The projects lack depth and creativity, often feeling uninspired and formulaic. The weekly format may rush learners, preventing them from truly honing their skills. Additionally, the book's instructional clarity leaves much to be desired, leaving readers frustrated and wanting more guidance. Overall, it's a disappointing attempt at fostering artistic growth in watercolor painting. There are better resources available for those seeking to develop their skills in this medium.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderful and I definitely want to purchase for it for my shelf. This is one of best watercolor tutorial aids that I have found. I absolutely love week 14 black and white. I only wish each project was from start to finish. But honestly the descriptions and pictures are truly fantastic. The nature illustrations are absolutely beautiful and just looking at this book has been a joy.


I received this book form NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Walter Foster for an honest review.
#YourYearinArtWatercolor
#NetGalley

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts with the basics, such as materials and color theory, then jumps right into the good stuff of deciding what to paint and how to translate that to the page. It has lots of helpful exercises that will have you simply picking up the paint brush and playing around with different brushes, different colors and trying different techniques to help you learn how watercolor works and find out what you like. If you want to learn watercolor, this book will have you practicing in no time! Thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

[Zeunicorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book for watercolor beginners. It is nicely illustrated with clear instructions. I appreciated the different techniques presented and all the different ideas. I didn't exactly follow the weekly ideas, I picked and chose what appealed to me but the different activities offered a good basis for inspiration.
I would have liked maybe a little bit more details on materials and the very first steps of starting.

[Stef Bevins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a very helpful guide for those who are a beginner in this specific art medium as well as those who have never dabbled with water color at all. This guide goes week by week with so much information to help you progress as an artist. The different between what you'd likely product at week one versus 52 is astronomical. I think this is a good book for anyone who wants to experiment with water colors.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun daily watercolor activity book. The illustrations are cute and informative. This is a full color activity book that has a watercolor assignment for each day for a year, It explains tools, brushes and techniques starting with the color wheel and gradually getting more complex. I liked the Year In Art - Watercolor so much I bought a copy for my classroom. This book is very inspiring.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books I want to get a "real" book version of because it's just so awesome! A bright and beautiful guide to getting creative with watercolors, I was left inspired to get out my paints and try the fun ideas the author shares. She makes this paint technique accessible and fun. Be ready to go back to this one again and again for inspiration and advice!

[Anya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of reviewing the first Your Year in Art book and I loved the concept so much that I had to request this watercolor edition as well.
This is perfect for beginners and hobby artists who'd like some prompts to get started.
The layout of the book is great, the accompanying illustrations are beautiful and the explanations are easy to follow and precise.

[Cozy Book Spot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book! There's an assignment for each week and they go from basics to more advance. This book is very colorful, clear and the explanations are easy to follow. Every week you will learn something different and I'm so excited to do every task. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

[Jenny Houle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so in love with this book. It breaks down EVERYTHING YOU NEED to really learn watercolor from the basics up, and does it in weekly lessons so that you focus on one skill at a time. And it's easy to follow, which is not always the case in art books in general, but especially in watercolor it seems.

[Jo Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the better books that I’ve read on watercolor.

I can’t draw anything so when a watercolor book ask me to draw or sketch it never comes out right. Like I said this is one of the better books that I’ve read so far on watercolor and I bought two books and I tried this one.

[S Tondra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your Year in Art: Watercolor is a introduction into watercolors. This book gives you a lesson a week to improve and understand how to improve your skills. The lessons are descriptive and easy to follow.

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.