Paint Pad Artist - Watercolour Flowers by Julie King

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The Paint Pad Artist: Watercolour Flowers

6 beautiful pictures to pull out and paint by Julie King

This inspiring watercolour flowers book is part of the exciting and innovative Paint Pad Artist series. Whether a beginner or more experienced artist, you will be amazed at how quickly you will acquire the skills needed to produce beautiful paintings, and with the initial outlines for the six stunning projects provided on watercolour paper, you can start creating amazing works of art straight away.

Written by professional artist and tutor Julie King, this guide begins with notes on how to use the pre-printed watercolour paper to achieve the best results, and how to make copies of the outlines should you want to attempt the projects again.

Following this there is a short ‘what you need’ section, enabling you to gather together the paints, brushes and basic equipment required to start painting, and some brief guidance on general techniques such as how to hold the brush, how to add water to your paint and how to mix colour, plus how to frame and display your finished work.

The six stunning step-by-step projects that follow build in difficulty as you work through the book, introducing new techniques as they are used and incorporating numerous handy hints and tips from the author to help you progress on your painting journey.

The six sheets of watercolour paper are pre-printed with the initial outline drawing for each of the projects, enabling you to start painting straight away and giving you the best possible chance of achieving a successful painting.

About Julie King

Julie lives in Kent. She was brought up in March in Cambridgeshire where she attended Cambridge College of Arts and Technology to pursue a Foundation in Art, followed by a degree in Printed Textile design, at Trent Polytechnic Nottingham achieving a First class (Hons). She then went on to design household textiles, wallpapers and prints for ceramics inspired by her love of flowers.

Following a Certificate in Education, Julie began teaching and inspiring adults to paint in watercolour, not only to share her painting skills but for the benefits of well-being and good health. Teaching venues include gardens, galleries and cruise liners. Julie exhibited at Watts Gallery in Surrey whilst serving as Artist-in-Residence.

Her awards have included the Society of Botanical Artists' Certificate of Botanical Merit for a freestyle interpretation of an iris and the Elizabeth Smail Memorial Award for Colour and Composition while exhibiting at Florum in Kent.

Julie is a regular contributor to the Leisure Painter magazine, and has written a number of art books.

Press

www.karenplatt.co.uk

This hardback book is a combination of watercolour flower painting instruction and pre-dawn sheets of artist quality paper. I am a fan of Julie's beautiful watercolour renditions of flowers. The 6 projects include different techniques and you will use wet-on-dry and wet-in-wet, painting fine lines, gradated washes, glazing and stippling, mixing on the paper, lifting out, negative painting, highlights and shadows, textures with salt and more. The flowers included are Tulips, Hibiscus, Day Lily and Rudbeckia, Clematis, Sweet Pea and Rose. Find out how to use the book, set up for painting, materials, techniques, colour and mixing as well as how to frame your work. Each project has detailed instructions with step-by-step images. In an easy to see box, you'll see at a glance the colours and the size of brush used. Excellent clear photos are used throughout. Recommended for the beginner finding it difficult to get to grips with drawing.

Leisure Painter, December 2018

Aimed specifically at artists who want results fast, the Paint Pad Artist series uses pre-printed sheets of Artists' quality watercolour paper, with initial outlines for each of the six step-by-step projects, so that you can start to paint straight away. Written by professional artist and tutor, Grahame Booth, The Paint Pad Artist: Watercolour Landscapes, begins with notes on how to use the paper to achieve the best results, as well as how to copy the outlines should you want to try the projects again and improve on your first attempts. A section on the materials you'll need is complemented with guidance on basic techniques, before you get underway with the projects, which get progressively harder as you work your way through.

The Paint Pad Artist: Watercolour Flowers is part of the same series. Written by artist and tutor, Julie King, the book follows the previous format - beginning with how to use the pre-printed watercolour paper, discussion of the materials and equipment needed plus guidance on basic techniques - followed by six step-by-step flower projects to work through.

Paint magazine (September 2018)

This new series from Search Press is simply brilliant and brilliantly simple. Take one look and you'll get it immediately.

The idea itself isn't new - if pre-printed tracings sound familiar, they are. The Ready to Paint series pioneered them and ran to titles that covered just about every subject. Here, they've taken things a step further and put the outlines directly onto watercolour paper. All you have to do is follow the straightforward instructions and you can be sure of a successful result.

It doesn't stop there, though. Yes, there are six projects and, yes, they've been carefully chosen to give you as much variety in your subject as possible. However, you don't have to learn everything all at once. Each project introduces a new set of techniques and challenges, so that you'll be looking at washes, lifting-out, aerial perspective or winter trees at different stages. You'll never feel overwhelmed and, because you're working at your own pace, you can practise as many times as you like - the books suggest making copies of the outlines for this purpose.

When you're done, the whole thing packs up to provide a collection you can refer back to when you branch out on your own.

Julie King looks at six different flower types from Tulips and Clematis to Roses and Sweet Peas. She also starts with an introduction to materials, colours and techniques that you won't want to skip - it's short but wonderfully clear. Each of the six projects includes instructions and an illustration for every stage, so that you can see how colour, structure and shading are built up. This is much more than just filling in shapes and a really meaty course in flower painting.

Although these books are mainly aimed at the beginner, the way they're laid out makes them ideal for revision as well. Everything is so clearly explained that you could use them to practise a subject or technique you're finding tricky. I just love them.