Friday, July 2, 2010

Dreamscapes Myth & Magic: Creating Legendary Creatures And Characters In Watercolor

One of my favorite mediums to work in is watercolor.  The fluidity of line, the soft, subtle shades of color that can be achieved and ability to blend colors so smoothly together make it a wonderful way to paint.  However, it is one of the most difficult painting mediums to master and takes a good deal of skill. Unlike oil paints that you blend colors and make corrections over an extended time or acrylics that dry quickly and can be easily corrected by painting over mistakes, watercolors are far less forgiving.
A great deal of pre-planning must be made in order to assure a viable final watercolor painting.  There's only so many corrections that can be made despite the quality of the paper painted on or the pigments used.  Overworking of watercolor muddies an entire painting.  Only by carefully applying pigment in planned layers can a final product be successfully created.
Dreamscapes Myth & Magic: Creating Legendary Creatures And Characters in Watercolor by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and published by Impact Books!, provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a successful fantasy watercolor painting beginning with pencils, the proper way to lay down colors and in what order and the final 'tweaks' that make a genre painting a success. 
The author provides lessons on illustrating and painting a myriad of fantasy settings, creatures and characters accompanied by precise informative text and tips.  It's a great instructional book on how to create beautiful and lush fantasy watercolors.

No comments:

Post a Comment