Watercolor the Easy Way: Step-by-Step Tutorials for 50 Beautiful Motifs Including Plants, Flowers, Animals & More

by Sara Berrenson, Better Day Books (Primary Contributor)

Step-by-step instructions for 50 beautiful paintings including plants, flowers, animals, & more!

Love the look of watercolors but think you lack the skill? Think again! With Watercolor the Easy Way, you will paint beautiful masterpieces following the author's simple instructions. You'll learn to mix colors, apply brush strokes, and paint beautiful pictures in only thirty minutes or less.

• 50 beautiful pictures to paint in 30 minutes or less.
• No separate pad needed; you can paint right inside the book!
• Learn-at-a-glance instructions help you get started quickly.
• 50 patterns included!
• Brush recommendations, color mixing instructions, paint palettes, and all the basics included!

Each of the 50 tutorials is broken down into key steps so you can clearly see how to begin your painting, layer color, and add detail. Also included are hand-drawn patterns that can be traced onto your watercolor pad, brush recommendations, helpful hints, and color palettes. Best of all, the projects can be completed in 30 minutes!

Experience the magic of watercolor, spark your creativity, and discover your inner artist with this beautiful book.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Crafts

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2020

About the author

Sara is a Southern California artist specializing in watercolor. Her aesthetic has been described as uplifting and colorful, with a dash of whimsy. Sara is passionate about painting and hopes to inspire others to discover the joy of watercolor. Her paintings can be found on various products in home decor, gifts, and stationery. Some of her retailers include West Elm, Pottery Barn Kids, Target, HomeGoods, and Bed Bath & Beyond. On the weekends you can find her at the flower mart taking photos for her next watercolor, or at the Rose Bowl Flea Market scouting out antique furniture and vintage fabric.

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this watercolor book and may buy a copy for our family. It's exactly the kind of watercolor tutorial book that I'm always looking for. The projects are simple but gorgeous, and Berrenson gives step-by-step instructions so the reader can be successful duplicating each design. She also doesn't tell you that you need expensive paints or any kind of specialty supplies, just paintbrushes, paints and a few optional things. She goes into good detail about how to do wet on wet, dry on wet, and other style of painting to get great results.

There are 126 paintings to duplicate. They tend towards whimsical and pretty designs -- a donut, flowers in a mason jar, an old fashioned bicycle with flowers in the basket, close ups of fruit, a Christmas tree strapped to the top of a Volkswagon bug... Many would be good for wall art, homemade cards or just fun projects.

We are an art-loving, craft-loving family and I think this book would be perfect for some fun kitchen table art projects with the kids. It's also wonderfully suited for adults of all different skill levels. Highly recommended.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Watercolor the Easy Way is a tutorial and technique guide by Sara Berrenson. Due out 14th Jan 2020 from Schiffer on their Better Day imprint, it's 128 pages and will be available in paperback format.

The format is easy to follow and the tutorial projects are very attractive and useful. The introduction and technique tutorials (~20% of the content) cover tools, materials, and techniques such as wet on wet and wet on dry painting. The intro chapters are followed by 50 step by step tutorials for various motifs (mostly botanical/natural - all of them are simple and lovely).

All of the tutorials contain a full size line-drawn template, tools and supplies and a color palette. Step by step tutorial instructions are provided in color as well as written instructions. Special tips, alternative methods, and other info is provided in sidebars throughout the book.

There is no index, however, there is a full color gallery listing of the projects in the table of contents.

Well made, very high quality, this book got my fingers itching to get my supplies out and have a go. This would make a superlative gift for anyone who wants to do watercolor; many (most) of the projects are accessible for anyone. These would make lovely cards, placecards, framed pieces, etc. Lovely. Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

What a beautiful step by step guide this book is! It's well presented, easy to follow and has over 100 watercolour projects to try that are simple but beautiful and start easy to slightly more complicated.
This book is a great guide and I'm going to look at buying a paperback copy to keep and use as soon as I can afford to do so.

[Mary Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm not Henri Matisse but I'm certainly more talented than I once believed. This book was so much fun, very insightful, and can teach anyone to comprehend the basics of watercolours. Sara Berrenson covers a lot of ground in this lovely book. After reading a few instructional pages I was happily dipping my brush into water, blending colors, and painting little green brush strokes all over the place. Who knew painting leaves could add hours of entertainment to my life! Ok. It wasn't hours, but I did want to paint all 50 tutorials in a day. It was possible to paint one lesson in thirty minutes or less. Berrenson gives step by step instructions, with patterns any amateur can trace onto their pad. Sara never leaves one hanging. She offers tips/recommendations on proper brushes, light strokes, color swatches, and basic blending. Every tutorial shows the artist's completed watercolor. Motifs cover flowers, leaves, fruit, and more.

I used to paint with acrylics in my younger days. Loved it! Not sure why I put my brushes/paints away. I need a hobby other than reading. Painting agrees with me (as long as it isn't on kitchen cabinets). There's something very liberating about it. It kinda makes my heart happy. I need a happy, healthy soul. This book is a great starting point. Watercolour 101. Get inspired. I sure was.

Sara Berrenson is a painter and illustrator who's collaborated with West Elm, Pottery Barn, Trader Joe's, and Mattel. Book can be preordered at Amazon. Release date: January 14, 2020



*ARC courtesy of Better Day Books and NetGalley.

[Viviane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every single illustration. They are explained in simple steps, which is going to help me greatly since I am a beginner. There are also great tips and techniques to help understand color theory and what supplies to get when you are starting. 

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been trying watercolors off and on for a while, just through trial and error. Which is super frustrating! So I was interested to read this book, "Watercolor The Easy Way" by Sara Berrenson. By the time I was finished with the introduction, I understood how to paint one color on top of another without blending the whole thing and how to blend if that's what you're trying to do. Berrenson does a great job of explaining the techniques to someone just starting out with watercolors - she makes it sound downright possible! The rest of the book is filled with how-tos for painting various items, particularly lovely flowers and plants. I love that each instruction includes an outline, for those drawing challenged in the crowd (myself included). If *I* can learn watercolors with this book, I can highly recommend it to anyone interested in this medium!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to preview an advanced digital copy of this book.

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆ | Easy art projects for watercolour beginners

🎨 basics of watercolours
🎨 step-by-step guides
🎨 wide variety of projects
🎨 easy to follow

I think this is my 3rd book about watercolours and each of them starts with the basics (wet-on-wet technique, wet-on-dry, etc…) so initially, I meant to only skim this part but I was nicely surprised that I still got to learn something new.

I had a lot of fun practising those; however, I treated the paintings more as doodles and not separate pieces of art.

I didn’t even use proper watercolour paper and just painted them in my art theory journal (yes, what a crime!) so, of course, not everything turned out perfectly.

I would say it’s more for beginners but more advanced students can use it to unwind so if you’re stuck between bigger projects and just want to have some fun like me it’s a great book!

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros:
- Beautiful graphics
- Colour charts
- Simple instructions
- Easy to understand basics including techniques for layering and blending, strokes, and other assorted details
- Includes 50 assorted tutorials
- Includes brush recommendations

Cons:
- Did not read well on a Kindle device at all
- Reads overly simplistic at times - give me just a little more detail, please
- While lessons/tutorials are simple, a level of artistry is needed. I'm not sure my palm trees wouldn't look like pine trees - this is not a recommendation against the book, but a comment on reality.

Summary:
This is a beautiful non-intimidating introduction to the art of watercolour but does not guarantee success. I will be purchasing a hard copy to add to my craft shelf and with practice, hope to develop some skill and can only hope that my creations will one day look as lovely as Sara's artistry.

[Judy Christiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have looked through many "Beginning" water color books at various stores. I found this book, and as the title says, it does seem to be "the easy way". I am a beginner and I need clear instructions, very simplely stated, and I need the drawings to be beginning level also.

I have done 5 paining so far from this book. I really like the designs shown to be painted and hope to do them all, learning more as I go along. I have to admit when I saw the elephant, I knew I had to purchase this book!

I will give shout out to Michaels craft store where I found this wonderful book. I paid full price, which is an oddity for me, since I always look for sales. That should explain how much I recommend this book!

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Better Day Books for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

What a charming watercolor book. It was colorful and clearly illustrated.
The tutorials were simple yet useful for greeting cards, gift tags, and miniature
paintings.

Each ‘lesson’ was complete with suggestions of colors, paint brush size and type, tips, and a line drawing of the subject matter. It also included simple steps for completing the project.

The first part of the book contained basics relevant to watercolor painting, in general. If someone was a beginning watercolorist or was just thinking of dabbling in this art form, this book would be perfect! This book would be useful in my art library and I think I would refer to it often. It is a great jumping off point for expanding your painting skills.

[Marcy Graybill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley. This is an excellent book for those beginning in watercolor painting. It has tips on types of paints, papers, and even drawings for people to use to create the suggested projects. I thought her information was well written and usable for even those of us who have done some dabbling. #WatercolorTheEasyWay #NetGalley

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a superb book for anyone wanting to learn about watercolouring and where to start!!

Its full of great ideas and helpful tips breaking each step down into easy to follow simple steps. The photography is fantastic as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Better Day Books for the ARC.

[Kyle Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful introduction for someone willing to try their hand at watercolor. She provides great elementary instruction including a starter palette, brush selection, and starter techniques. My favorite part is the drawings. There is a page with only an outline that allows you to trace onto your own watercolor paper. The page following then provides step-by-step instructions on how she would paint it, including what technique to use (wet on dry, etc.) and when to let it dry. Her style is very organic, natural, and pretty, though it may not suit everyone.

My one complaint about this book is that it is overly simplified. While this is the "easy way," there is such a thing as too little instruction for a beginner, particularly for such a tricky medium like watercolor. I wish there had been a little more explanation in her beginning pages (only 1/5 is straight instruction, the remainder are images with basic steps). For instance, you can trace her designs using tracing paper, but how do you transfer it to watercolor paper? Do you erase the pencil marks? What does watercolor do to lead or graphite? How can you tell if a color is warm or cool? What if you can't afford six brushes, what is a good size to start with? How do you know if you are using too much water?

Overall, I still think a beginning watercolorist could benefit from this book, especially if you aren't sure what to paint or aren't a great drawer. Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of the ebook from NetGalley. Because it was an electronic copy, I was unable to test out the exact images she provided.

[Nicolette Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m no artist but with this book I feel like I could be! The book starts with some easy to follow techniques. Water colours can be tricky so seeing how to mix and layer colours really helped me. The book also teaches you the difference between wet on dry and wet on wet to get those amazing details (something I never knew about water colours). Once you get the hang of the basics you can jump into the tutorials with step by step guides to create a watercolour picture for yourself. I started with the popsicle but looking forward to working my way to the festive car. For anyone who wants to start creating watercolour masterpieces, this is the book for you!

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for inspiration and I found it. 50 step by step projects, there’s something for everyone here.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love watercolors and I love making small sketches with watercolors so this book is my happy place. If you've never ever touched watercolors before or if you've dabbled a little but haven't really done much, this is the book for you.

The author starts with a few very simple watercolor tips and tricks, some color theory and then it's all about the specific tutorials. She has a drawing you can copy for each motif and then walks you through how she's coloring it both highlighting the specific colors she uses, and showing which steps she does first and how she layers.

There are a wide range of motifs: a lot of beautiful flowers, some fun animals, and ordinary things like bikes and food, etc. This is a great book for you to sit with and try a handful of examples at a time. It's simple, rewarding, quick and enjoyable.

huge thanks to netgalley and Better Day Books for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this tutorial book. FYI it didn’t view in Kindle app so I had to resend it to pocketbook. But once I could go through it I am just in love. I really recommend this for beginners. it really breaks it down and simplified the wet and dry techniques. It also has some really great lessons in here that are both fun and beautiful. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review. I would most definitely by this as a gift.

[S Tondra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author did a great job of teaching the basic techniques for watercolor and is a perfect introduction book for beginners. There are quite a few tutorials and great examples you can follow along with and try out. 5 stars

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watercolor the Easy Way by Sara Barrenson is a beautiful and helpful tutorial that shows readers the steps and techniques to create 50 very on-trend watercolor illustrations.
From tropical leaves and cocktails to animals and holiday themes, the art is lovely and the steps are simple, making it a great starting point for those interested in learning watercolor.
Barrenson details everything from the brush and color pallet needed for a project, to the techniques needed for each step in the process in a simplified manner.
While I'm not sure this will teach how to create a painting of anything from scratch, having 50 exciting projects to practice on seems like a great way to get your brush wet!
Many thanks to Better Days Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great start for beginners trying to learn how to paint with watercolor (which I am). I found the information on paint, brushes, and techniques easy to understand and apply.
She provides a wide variety of objects to recreate from extremely easy to advanced, at least for a beginner. They showcase a wide variety of techniques you can do using watercolor.

I found this super helpful and will be trying out more of the techniques and templates she provides in the future. Hopefully it will help push me to actually practice painting.

*ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.*

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is difficult to rate as it is very much a beginner's book but does not include pertinent information that a beginner would use. I am not a beginner to watercolor so I actually enjoyed the very simple approach and included tutorials, sometimes simple is what you need to get your practice in. However, there is very little information that would help a beginner do the individual tutorials and I can imagine the brief attempt at explaining techniques would confuse newbies a great deal. I do recommend the book for the simple and fun tutorial ideas, but I highly recommend using Youtube or another watercolor book to help you out if you are newer to the art.

Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley & publisher in exchange for an honest review. (They may regret this.) Any and all quotes were taken from an advanced edition subject to change in the final edition.

[Julia Simpson-Urrutia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books that teach painting are very useful, especially for people like me who do not always have the patience to listen to teachers on YouTube whose painting style is not quite what I am looking for and who chit chat too long about the weather and their dog's nightmares. This book is close to perfect in demonstrating brush strokes, techniques for color and strokes for plant leaves, flowers, I loved having it on my Kindle because the colors look beautiful with the backlit screen. The author provides loads of little lessons in showing how to effectively paint a spray of flowers or pineapple. The ease with which the student can flip through the lessons and find the one that is best suited to desires and temperament is not to be undervalued. I have wasted hours of my life listening to painting teachers only to ultimately find that nothing that was said truly benefited me. This book provides stages of a painting and ideas, brush strokes, techniques for achieving different illustrations and a palette of the necessary colors for pictures of flamingos and turtles. I loved reading about the salt technique. I adore this book and I thank #NetGalley, #BetterDayBooks and #Sara Berrenson for making it available! This will help me a lot.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I jumped at the chance to preview an ARC of Watercolor The Easy Way by Sara Berrenson. I am a subscriber to a monthly watercolor kit over the last year and was excited to see another artists' style and instruction. What I found was a great guide to several designs complete with instruction for a reader to create themselves. The book starts with suggested materials to complete the projects and then specific colors and techniques are discussed for a finished piece.
My excitement quickly faded though as I realized the designs were almost identical to many of the previous projects I have had in my monthly subscription through another artist. Even the tutorials themselves are put together in a way that resembles the tutorials I own. These designs are simple enough for a beginner and useful to those who are more experienced as well. My average rating is a direct result of what I found to be a lack in originality based on the projects in the book. Many thanks to Better Day Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Doreen Prentiss Gabriellini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watercolor the easy Way by Sara Berrenson is an absolutely wonderful and creative book! If you have an inspiration to dabble and/or learn to use watercolor paints I would highly recommend this book. The instructions are wonderful and easy to understand. The illustrations are beautiful and clear. The supply list is very simple and does not encourage the purchase of extensive materials.
This book makes me want to go get started on my watercolor adventure! The entire book is encouraging, positive, and allows the beginner to feel confident enough to try this technique. My only suggestion as a beginner to watercolor is that when giving instructions for a particular project (which there are 50+) the author doesn't suggest what size and type of brush to use. Everything else is clearly laid out. I would highly recommend this book. Well Done!
I would like to thank the author, Better Day Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great place to start for beginners! I could easily see this working as a craft series program for adults or teens at my library. They definitely take me longer than 30 minutes, but I am a complete newb. I will definitely be adding this to my personal collection.
I really love that it includes a blank sketch if each image so that if the actual act of drawing the image is where you struggle you would be able to copy/trace it. Clear directions that still allow for experimentation that are beautifully organized and photographed. The wide variety of subjects (mermaids, lemons, telephone, etc) ensures that there is something for everyone.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid crafter, I am always on the lookout for new books to add to my crafting collection. This one is a keeper for sure. The author teaches the reader to paint many different kinds of flowers, foods, and animals using watercolor paints. The book begins with some color theory then shows wet on wet and wet on dry techniques. This book was fun and could easily be used with children, for fun or for part of a homeschool art curriculum. Highly recommend this one.

[Jenny Houle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breakdown of tools, techniques and color theory all included to help even a novice easily follow along. Traceables included for each project so that one who is not comfortable sketching has the added tool. And a variety of different projects that use all the techniques shown, really allowing for the budding watercolor artist to learn and grow in their skills.

[Patricia Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a book to "read", although there are great instructions. It is a set of tutorials that look like I will have a blast going through. The format is easy to follow and the tutorial projects are very attractive and useful. The intro chapters are followed by 50 step by step tutorials for various motifs (mostly botanical/natural - all of them are simple and lovely).

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good basic book for those with no experience. Nice layout and explanations of a few techniques. Includes lots of practice examples like flowers, birds, donuts, plants, more. Good stuff.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

[Bloodorange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good instructions, and everything sets up even a totally unartistic person like myself for success, given that one has a box of western-type watercolours (the very good Russian ones seem to have a different pallette) and good brushes.