Watercolours in a Weekend: Pick Up a Brush and Paint Your First Picture This Weekend

This instruction manual aims to teach a total beginner the essential skills to be able to paint a complete watercolour picture in a single weekend. The book is structured around six short courses for painting popular subjects, each designed for the complete beginner and demonstrated by some of the most popular artists practising today. Every course starts with practice exercises, covering a range of watercolour techniques, to be completed on the Saturday. Clear instructions accompany step-by-step photographs, and technical information is given in special feature boxes. Readers are then ready to complete the full watercolour painting on the Sunday. The step-by-step demonstrations for the paintings use only the techniques already learned from the exercises, and a palette of mixed paint and a colour swatch accompany each step. The projects in the book can be followed separately, as the exercises within each course are a direct preparation for the effects used in the painting. Working through all six courses should provide a thorough grounding in the essential techniques of watercolour painting. At the start of the book readers are introduced to the medium of watercolour and given suggestions for the essential paints, paper and brushes needed so they can get started with the minimum of expenditure. The book also features a two-page "gallery" of paintings by contemporary artists at the start of each course - all the paintings relate to the specific subject matter of the course and show the range of styles and techniques available.