First Impressions: Sketching Nature in Watercolor
Watercolor is one of the most fragile and frustrating of media, in which hours of work can be ruined with one brush stroke. Since watercolor books rely heavily on the style of the artist/author, no two books are alike, and new additions to the field are welcome. Ward, whose book teaches the art of quick outdoor sketching, wants beginners to learn how to see and then to experience the freedom of such work--a freedom encouraged by the fluidity of the medium. While some paintings in this vein can stand as complete works, they are meant to be germs of ideas for later, larger endeavors. This is an exciting concept for a book, which works well in combination with more traditional and detailed manuals like Tony Couch's Watercolor, You Can Do It! ( LJ 6/1/87). Koser has created perhaps the most sophisticated and challenging of watercolor books for general use. This intermediate text delves deeply into the intricacies of composition, the science of working with color and texture, and creative experiments with the media. Koser clearly guides and encourages, on one page displaying the three colors he uses for a realistic stone surface, on another demonstrating nontraditional splashes of color for a waterfall. Ward's book makes a good prelude to Koser's, and both will attract wide circulation.- Daniel J. Lombardo, Jones Lib. Inc., Amherst, Mass.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.