The Modern Flower Painter: A Guide to Creating Vibrant Botanical Portraits in Watercolour

Author(s): Anna Mason

Art & Design

Anna Mason's exceptional floral artwork has won awards from the Royal Horticultural Society, International Artist magazine and seen her elected to the prestigious Society of Botanical Artists. In this book, she shares her innovative watercolour technique so that you can paint flowers in her clean, crisp style. The book covers every aspect of painting modern botanical-style portraits of flowers, from tips on gathering your reference to Anna's six stage watercolour process. There are instructions on setting up your studio and how to produce the detailed drawings. Each of the six step-by-step projects is accompanied by an outline drawing, tonal notes and useful colour swatches so that you can compare the tone and hue of your mixes to Anna's own. This all builds into a fantastic guide that will inspire and challenge the experienced watercolour artist, while drawing in and reassuring the complete beginner.

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October 2014 Anna Mason is an award winning artist and is a board member of the Society of Botanical Artists. Here she shares her methods for painting modern, botanical-style flower portraits and the book gives detail of Anna's six stage watercolour process. The included six step-by-step projects had an outline drawing, tonal notes and colour swatches. The book is a good guide that is an asset to a complete beginner but also challenges the experiences watercolour artist. Cake Craft & Decoration Apr 14 This really rather attractive book is pitched somewhere between the basic guides to flower painting and the more technical botanical illustration works. Anna Mason's technique involves a six-stage process that starts with the highlights, which are normally in the centre of the flower, and works outwards, adding details, tints and contrasts so that shapes and depth are built up progressively while preserving the main form. There is also plenty of information on painting methods and the use of colour, but these assume a reasonable amount of basic knowledge, so that you don't spend half the book wading through stuff you should know already. The overall approach is busy and varied and the concentration is on the painting rather than the flowers - that's to say, it's about creating a work of art rather than recording a specific species. There is, however, plenty of variety (more than varieties) and examples of different flower types, shapes and colours. If you're looking for a book that takes you on from the basics but isn't obsessed with botanical details, this would be perfect. The demonstrations, while working within the aforementioned six-stage process, have a reasonable number of steps so that while you're not shown every brushstroke, neither are you pitched from one completed section to another and wondering how you got there. Artbookreview.net November 2014 This comprehensive book provides a little more detail in the method of painting than some previous guides to botanical illustration. Anna's six-stage process starts with the highlights, which are usually at the centre of the main flower and works outwards from there, adding tones and contrasts before putting in the final details. In the demonstrations, each stage may have more than one step, so there are no large jumps that leave you wondering what happened in between. There is a good balance between the basics of flower painting and the specifics of individual examples. The book is nicely placed between the introductory guides and the more advanced titles that assume a considerable degree of prior experience and sometime sacrifice detail for quantity of subjects an species. Artist, The May 14 As this is one of Search Press' occasional hardcover books, expect a visual treat and something rather special. Flowers lend themselves to lushly illustrated large format books like this one and this book lives up to its subtitle of "creating vibrant botanical portraits in watercolour". The book is in two halves, firstly getting to grips with the materials and secondly several staged paintings to work through. You can find some outlines at the back to trace so here is a nod to the popular Ready To Paint series that ought to work well with beginners, and those new to watercolor. The pictures here are well described as portraits, and combine the botanical appearance of old prints with a modern, vibrantly colorful approach. There are all the usual features in here from what you need to buy to color wheels, perspective, mixing colors etc, as well as intriguing sections on learning to see, getting the paint consistency right, laying out a palette and creating tone and hue. I don't think I have seen such an in-depth look at the medium before and it certainly bears reading and having a go even if you think you are past that stage. The author then shows us her six stage method of painting and works though a picture of a rose, before going onto the six staged projects which are handily arranged in order of difficulty. If you can't get onto a real course here is the next best thing. Myshelf.com May 14 The first book from regular Artists & Illustrators contributor Anna Mason highlights her refreshingly contemporary approach to botanical painting, which sees many of the subjects appear to bloom before your very eyes. Anna begins by laying out her thoughts on paint consistency, brush techniques and mixing hues, giving newcomers the building blocks required to tackle a full painting with confidence. By the completion of the six step-by-step projects, you will be surprised at how far you have progressed. Artists & Illustrators, The November 2014 This comprehensive book provides a little more detail in the method of painting than some previous guides to botanical illustration. Anna's six-stage process starts with the highlights, which are usually at the centre of the main flower and works outwards from there, adding tones and contrasts before putting in the final details. In the demonstrations, each stage may have more than one step, so there are no large jumps that leave you wondering what happened in between. There is a good balance between the basics of flower painting and the specifics of individual examples. The book is nicely places between the introductory guides and the more advanced titles that assume a considerable degree of prior experience and sometimes sacrifice detail for quantity of subjects and species - Henry Malt. Artist, The October 2014 This book covers every aspect of modern stye botanical flowers painted in watercolours, from tips on gathering materials to how to handle the paint. There are six projects in the book, each shown step-by-step with outline drawings, tonal notes and useful colour swatches. From delicate bluebells, exotic orchids, feathery tulips, papery poppies, and romantic roses, all build into a fantastic guide that will inspire and challenge the experienced watercolour artist, while also drawing in and reassuring the complete beginner. My Weekly May 14 The first thing you notice about this impressive book on watercolour flowers is the warm-hearted nature of Anna Mason. Anna has developed a six-stage process that really works. Plus this book is full of professional tips. There's information for beginners but also a challenge for those with some experience. There are step by step projects and gorgeous finished work. This is a beautiful book and Anna's warm personality and immense talent shines on every page. Highly recommended for any watercolour flower painter and botanical artists. Karen Platt Yarnsandfabrics.co.uk/crafts July 14 The Modern Flower Painter by Anna Mason reveals every aspect of the delicate world of flower portraits in watercolour. From gathering your reference material and holding the brush, to mixing colours and setting up your studio, nothing is left uncovered. Six step-by-step projects are each accompanied by outline drawings, tonal notes and colour swatches to help you mix the correct colour and tone. Anna is an award-winning botanical artist and experienced art tutor, so the instruction is clear, inspiring and challenging. Leisure Painter, The

Anna Mason grew up surrounded by the lush English countryside and has always been inspired by the intricate detail and colourful beauty in the natural world. Completely self-taught, Anna has developed a true-to-life painting style that she wants to share in order to get as many people enjoying the therapeutic benefits of watercolour painting as well as the results they want. A member of the Society of Botanical Artists, Anna has won numerous awards for her painting. She lives in Surrey and teaches at RHS Wisley & West Dean College.

Introduction 6 About the author 8 Material 10 Getting started 16 Reference material 18 Setting up your workspace 21 Drawing 22 Painting colour 26 Learning to see 28 Working with watercolour 32 Painting tone 34 Painting hue 38 Mixing hue 42 Brush techniques 48 Holding your brush 50 Applying the paint 50 Painting flowers 56 The six stages of painting 58 Flower portraits 70 Step-by-step project: Clematis 72 Step-by-step project: Viola 78 Step-by-step project: Cosmos 86 Step-by-step project: Tulips 94 Step-by-step project: Oriental Poppy 102 Step-by-step project: Dahlia 114 Outlines 124 Index 128

General Fields

  • : 9781844488636
  • : Random House Inc
  • : Random House Inc
  • : 1.8
  • : September 2014
  • : 280mm X 216mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : January 2014
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Anna Mason
  • : Hardcover
  • : Hardcover
  • : 1404
  • : 1404
  • : English
  • : English
  • : 751.42/24343
  • : 751.42/24343
  • : bl2016003585
  • : bl2016003585
  • : 128
  • : 128
  • : 250 colour
  • : 250 colour