The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook

by Gordon MacKenzie

Painting with watercolors gives you endless opportunities to create the world you want. You choose whether to let the sun blaze or the rain pour, to move a maple tree here or make the trail wind over there, to subdue a hillside with quiet greens or make a forest glow with dazzling golds and reds. It's not only a matter of what to paint, but how to go about painting it. This book examines, one at a time, the three major elements of landscape water, sky and land. You will be encouraged to try numerous ways of painting each one. Then you can choose the methods that best express how the outdoors speaks to you.Let this reliable collection of tips, techniques, ideas and lessons be your companion on a sure path to creative fulfillment and better watercolor landscapes.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Reference, Drawing, Crafts

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this gem up through Hoopla after it was recommended in a FB watercolor forum. I wanted to see if it was worth buying and it certainly is. MacKenzie is able to pack quite a bit of information in 144 pages. Everything from tools (watercolors, brushes, paper, palettes) to different techniques are covered. Techniques include the basics like wet-on-wet, glazing, masking, along with negative painting, creating shadows and values and even ways to approach composition. He also goes into how to fix problems. The instructions are easy to follow and all the techniques include pictures of step-by-step instructions along with examples of MacKenzie's own work, so everything is really easy to understand. I'll definitely buy this one once I fully get back into watercolors.

[Marcus Gunaratnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A True Master of the medium and teacher

Just when I thought that I had read it all along comes Mr MacKenzie to prove me wrong and provide further education.
I bought this as another e book for reading off my Android and now it is the first go-to book on watercolour next to watercolor techniques for artists &illustratorspublished by DK,via Penguin publishers.

[Ron Scherzinger]

This is a FANTASTIC book. Besides loving Gordon's style, he provides good information about pigments as to lightfastness, what 2 or more color names are really the same color, etc. The entire book is illustrated with pictures, notes etc done in watercolor. Great for the landscape painter. Gordon has another book, which name slips my mind now. However, he has two books combined into one. I actually purchased it through Amazon. I refer to it as a reference. Search his name.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this before, but I didn't remember much, so I read it again. It has some awesome ideas and helps. I actually learned more reading it this time. I am excited to try some of the examples. I also found out what paints I have that will ruin a painting because they aren't good. Great tips!

[Patricia Garey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a delightful gift! I returned to watercolor seriously 2 years ago. Gordon MacKenzie's Essential Notebook was both a terrific premier and a great source of innovative techniques and ideas. I started browsing the Notebook but quickly began drilling down. I read it cover to cover and enjoyed it immensely!

[Jilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy is a serious mic drop watercolor artist with breathtaking work. Loved reading his take on art and creativity and will refer back to it plenty, I’m sure!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has some very useful information about the properties of watercolor that would take a long time to discover through trial and error. Also a reference for pigments and their properties. One of the better art instruction books I own. MacKenzie has a pretty masking-heavy approach, but he explains other ways to go about it. Recommended!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I hoped for a few more projects to do, but it was mostly small exercises to demonstrate techniques. The information was really useful though, very clear and informative!

[Andria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gets a five star rating because it was the first art book I ever bought before I knew what I didn't know and back when I was game to try anything. It brings back great memories.