Ebook Lessons in Realistic Watercolor A Contemporary Approach to Painting People and Places in the Classical Tradition Mario Andres Robinson 9781580934459 Books

Product details Paperback 176 pages Publisher Monacelli Studio (April 12, 2016) Language English ISBN-10 1580934455

Lessons in Realistic Watercolor A Contemporary Approach to Painting People and Places in the Classical Tradition Mario Andres Robinson 9781580934459 Books Reviews

• This was offered for reviews through 's Vine program, but wasn't on my list. When I read another Vine review, and clicked on the link to the book, I had to buy It for myself. Something about Robinson's artwork and approach to watercolor was just so captivating, even though I don't paint at all.
  
  The book arrived yesterday and is even more beautiful and inspiring than I had hoped. (You can see his technique in the wonderfully expressive self portrait on the cover). The emphasis here, per the title, is obviously to help aspiring watercolorists to improve with Robinson's "Lessons in Realistic Watercolor in the Classical Tradition" (the emphasis right there in the title on "realistic" and "classical" is important so you know where his interest does -not- lie). He begins with a brief introduction to the history of watercolorists in Europe and the U.S. then describes how he became a watercolorist (after training with oil--bias of instructors was "no watercolor"--and then ten years working in pastel). He includes at least one illustrative watercolor on every open (2) pages, making it a beautiful book. He describes essentials for beginners--work space, color palette, etc. (I even enjoyed his ilustrations of these, all in watercolor).
  
  He lays out the challenges of watercolor and the skills (and patience) needed, plus time and persistence to achieve desired results. (It is apparently a bad choice of medium for a control freak! Very difficult, just as you always read. But he shares an interesting technique that he effectively uses to block the painting first lightly in monochrome palette and then add color. His work is beautiful, so I think anyone would be well advised to give it a try.
  
  I mentioned at the beginning of the review that I don't do watercolor--although I admit this book made me want to try, if time allowed for it. It would be a lovely book just to have and read on it's own, but what caught my interest was as a photographer. The delicacy of light that is captured in watercolor paintings like Robinson's is very inspiring for photography, too. His landscapes and particularly his portraits really inspired me in terms of photography for their expressiveness, simplicity of composition, and use of light in revealing the character of his subject. So, for me, even if I only picked up my camera and never use a paintbrush, this book was both inspiring and helpful. Definitely recommended.
• Gave this as a gift and was thoroughly impressed. Great content and beautiful!
• Wonderful book, teaching a great method of layering.
• I have been an art instructor for the last 22 years, and am always reading about different techniques in a variety of mediums. I hadn't seen a book on watercolor that I could understand (I'm green color-blind) until now. A lot of books focus on palettes that are wide ranging in color, which is frustrating for me. They also do not specifically address the movement, flow, or control of water. However, I found this to be very easy to understand. I was so interested in this book that I found myself reading it from cover to cover in one day, then going back and trying a lot of Mr. Robinson's suggestions in regards to executing a watercolor painting.
  As with any book, you are getting that particular artist's/author's take on the subject. Usually, I read a book, keep what I find useful, and assimilate it into my own process. I find myself referring back to this and feel as if I have unlocked a secret code to having more success in not only my own work, but in the instruction of my students.
• I learned a lot from this book about achieving skin tones with watercolor.
• Given as gift. Big hit.
• a modern day master...
• Us "Art" people like it no matter what medium we use.