Friday, July 2, 2010

Painting the American Heartland in Watercolor

By Diane Phalen, North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio 1997.

Thumbs up. There is a great deal in this book on setting and composition. In the first section P focuses on tools, paints, and some basic methods: including various uses of papers, erasers, palette knife, and nail file, types of washes, glazing, dry brushing, blotting, spattering and several other techniques that are considered by some to be outside the sphere of "genuine" watercolor.

The next section of the book is a set of fourteen painting projects with palate, technique, and steps that the reader is to work through to develope better skills at watercolor and composing scenes of Americana.

The artist's style seems too comic book like for me, but the methods and discussions she presents are very useful.

Yes, I'll try to get this one for my library too.

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