Watercolor Workbook: 25 Beginner Botanical Projects on Premium Watercolor Paper

by Sarah Simon, Paige Tate & Co. (Producer)

Build your watercolor skills with confidence with these 25 beautiful and beginner-friendly new projects on premium watercolor paper!

This easy-to-use watercolor workbook is filled with unique and beautiful flower and nature sketches that are ready for you to watercolor--no drawing skills required! Each page is specially designed with simple step-by-step instructions so you can easily and confidently paint each project and create artwork that matches the quality of the author's example.

Watercolor Workbook

Artist and author Sarah Simon, a.k.a. @themintgardener, has taught thousands of people how to paint with watercolor. Her first book Modern Watercolor Botanicals provides everything you need to know about the art of watercolor and, now in this new workbook, Simon offers 25 watercolor projects that you can sit down and enjoy painting today!

Genres: Art, Crafts, Colouring Books, Reference

88 pages, Paperback

Published April 27, 2021

Reviews

[Alexander Hagen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do I have a new hobby?

This book goes through all the basics of painting, specifically with watercolor. The writing is very clear so you're not left confused on what to actually do, and it's also laid back so it feels like a friend is telling you all these techniques to paint with these watercolors. I loved the "do it yourself" aspect along the way during the technique section. It doesn't just tell you how to do each technique, it also has a sample picture and a blank picture to paint yourself.

Then comes along the actual pictures given to you at the end of the book, they are so fun and gorgeous. I am so excited to go through all of these and each one. It gives you details on what colors to use on the photos and gives you the example of what the finished one will look like, but I think I am going to be buying many more colors to freestyle.

The pictures will end up used up in a couple of months, but I think I will be keeping the book just for the nice tips and techniques. Loved this and cannot wait to fill out the book.

[Kathleen C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a watercolor class this summer and purchased this workbook to continue my practice. It is a perfect way to spend an hour or so at the kitchen table, practicing.

[TPS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helps to establish the baseline for watercolour painting and progresses through the stages, enhancing one’s own work.

What a wonderful book, alongside this and Emma Lefebvre’s book, I feel I have more than enough to keep enhancing and developing my paintings.

Thank you

[Crista Lash · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I have to say that I will cherish this watercolor book forever. As a complete beginner, it gave me so many valuable tools, introduced me to quality art supplies, gave me confidence (most of my paintings are beautiful!), and brought me pure joy to paint in. (Except for one drawing that was a little hard to see — the lines were so faint it became a bit straining on the eyes!)

Now, for the critiques: suggesting that the paintings in this book take around 30 minutes is honestly a stretch. It took me about 30 minutes just to mix all the shades for each piece — and once setup was done, each painting easily took 2–3 hours to complete. I’ll mention that I am a true beginner, so that might explain the extra time needed.

While I loved learning about color mixing (the palette of blended shades at the beginning of the book is something I’ll keep forever — such great “recipes”), it did involve a lot of mixing and, as a result, quite a bit of wasted paint.

Since starting this one, I’ve picked up several other watercolor books for beginners. While I’ll always be grateful that this was my introduction to watercolor, I’ve found other books — including another one by Sarah Simon — that offer more context, better instruction, different supply options, and beginner-friendly guidance.

My neighbor saw me painting in this book and wanted to buy it too. I ended up talking her out of it — not because it’s bad (it’s beautiful!), but because it’s definitely not a “quick, casual hobby” type of book. It requires patience, time, and real commitment to the craft that many people (including my neighbor) aren’t looking to do with a quick-beginner-friendly-watercolor-instruction-type book.

With all that being said:
Would I do it again? Heck yes I would.

[k mandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am new to watercolor and cannot draw. I love having a workbook format that provides some support in exploring the medium. The paper is certainly not the greatest watercolor paper but it truly is adequate for practice. Nice variety of botanicals. I would have loved is it provided more information on techniques.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong on color theory. Not as much for technique.

[Lisa Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have spent most of my life working in oils. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s I broke into watercolors, but I had no idea what I was doing. Still turned out some creditable work despite that. Recently I’ve wanted to actually learn more watercolor techniques. This book is good for introducing the very basic watercolor techniques which allow for the interplay of light and dark as well as translucence. The drawings are nearly all botanicals, some of which incorporate women, all with their face obscured. The directions and lessons were well written, very clear. I’m marking this down because of the over reliance of Chinese white and yellow ochre, and to some extent black. Both black and white can have a deadening effect. A mixture heavy in white can look chalky. Often when black was called for, I choose Prussian blue or Payne’s grey. Yellow ochre is fine, but a bit much at times. I tended to use Naples yellow more. As I worked through the book, I began to go my own way color wise. Many of the color recipes were earthier than my tastes. Overall, the workbook allows for enjoyable practice with control, shading and layering. Some of the more sophisticated watercolor techniques are not included. One of the great things about the book is that the paper is excellent watercolor paper for a workbook; this explains the price.