Review
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December 2014 Watercolor is the most accessible and
convenient medium for leisure artists, yet it requires great
dexterity and expertise. Trusted and admired British watercolor
artist and teacher Bellamy has authored many outstanding how-to
books explicating watercolor skills, from his Complete Guide to
Watercolor Painting (2011) to titles focusing on various types of
landscapes and "skies, light and atmosphere." In his newest
inspiring and instructional guide, he touts the pleasures of
painting winter scenes, noting the beauty of the season's
dramatic light and how "winter trees take on a different, at
times romantic beauty in their naked splendour" and addressing
the challenges of working in the cold. Bellamy discusses how to
use photographs and the importance of studio sketches. His
step-by-step instructions, illustrated with his own superb work,
are exceptionally detailed in their presentation of brush
techniques and recommended colors for painting certain landscape
elements (trees, water and ice, ains, birds and animals) in
the differently nuanced atmospheres of late autumn, winter
without and with snow (ah, the many shades of white), and early
spring. Watercolorists will want all of Bellamy's books. *
Booklist * October 2014 "To those hardy companions who, over the
years, have endured appalling winter conditions, uncomplaining,
while I complete an equally appalling sketch". This dedication in
the front of David Bellamy's latest book, Winter Landscapes in
Watercolour, made me laugh, but it does emphasise how difficult
painting outdoors in less than clement weather can be. David is
no stranger to adverse conditions, and indeed seems to thrive on
painting the world's wild places. Here he shares his many years
of experience with us, showing how to turn the lack of summer
greenery to our advantage and capture the drama of winter scenes,
working quickly with rapid outdoor sketched. There's practical
advice on working outdoors, including what clothes to wear, how
to find shelter, maybe working from the comfort of your car. It's
all in the preparation: a flask of soup or coffee could save the
day! The book includes four sections: late autumn, winter, deep
midwinter and early spring, and each is accompanied by detailed
step-by-step demonstrations. * Leisure Painter, The * September
2014 For most of the year green is the predominant color when
painting landscapes (at least here in Britain). In winter this
changes and a wider palette presents itself to the artist,
together with some different challenges. Here is a book dedicated
to taking the mystery out of painting winter landscapes. There
are some lovely subjects in here that will make artists want to
seize the nearest brush. Trees in late autumn, studies of
ains and farms and my favorite showing early spring
daffodils by a lonely house on a country road. Before you get to
all that the author has some useful tips on what to buy; not only
for painting purposes but to get kitted up to go out into the
weather and sketch. What to pack, what to wear and how you can
record the essence of a scene without staying out too long and
catching a chill are all covered, as well as indoor sketching
from photographs. In true Search Press style there are four
projects in here to tackle complete with lists of what you need
and staged photographic instructions. There are also tips on
various aspects of winter landscape painting; how to get various
effects, colors to use, drawing trees, figures, animals etc as
well as snow. If you have gone beyond the Ready To Paint series
and are keen to tackle this aspect of landscape watercolor
painting minus tracings this is a useful book to have. *
Myshelf.com *
About the Author
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David Bellamy has always been fascinated by the
world's wild places. Highly regarded as a teacher of art, he has
a tremendous following among leisure painters, many of whom have
attended his extremely popular courses and workshops both in the
UK and overseas. He gives demonstrations and talks, produces
successful DVDs, has written many books on watercolour painting
and is a regular contributor to art magazines. David lives in
Builth Wells, Wales.