Watercolour and Beyond

Discover a world of innovation beyond pure watercolour with over 60 exciting approaches and exercises from the master of watercolour landscapes, David Bellamy.

‘In this book I aim to illustrate ways in which to make your watercolours glow with excitement, offer you new methods of working, and at the same time make the whole experience great fun!’ David Bellamy

'Quite simply, David Bellamy's best book and something of a personal manifesto informed by a lifetime of experience... It’s a heck of an achievement.' Henry Malt - artbookreview.wordpress.com

David Bellamy is a successful and long-standing authority on the landscape in watercolour. Throughout this book he shares his extensive knowledge and experience and encourages confident artists to explore the boundaries of watercolour and forge new creative paths for themselves through experimentation.

Alongside over 100 inspiring examples of David’s work there are more than 60 innovative approaches and exercises, with tips, visual examples and step-by-step technique, throughout the following sections:

1. Starting traditional (exploring pure watercolour): Approach the basics in a new way – gain experience using just one colour, work with a limited palette, then tackle the striking results you can achieve with harmonious colours.
2. Developing your style: Through short step-by-step techniques and plenty of finished, fully detailed examples, learn how to combine watercolour with gouache and use additives, inks, collage, pastels, stamping, gesso, watercolour ground, different surfaces, and found materials to create atmospheric, innovative results, for example for suggesting distant rain or creating dramatic sunlight effects.
3. Interpreting and altering your subjects: Discover how to change the light or colours in a finished painting, introduce features that are not present or emphasise those that are, exaggerate perspective, or turn part of the composition into abstraction. Discover also how to alter, rescue and improve a painting where you may have a problem, or decide to change a passage on a whim.
4. Taking it further: The final section is devoted to projects which you might like to consider – or what to do with your painting skills: personal projects that may relate to your family, your holidays, volunteer work, or perhaps involving the local community or a special cause.

Watercolour and Beyond is an innovative, practical book, aimed at equipping landscape artists of all abilities with exciting new ideas and techniques.