Color Harmonies: Paint Watercolors Filled with Light

by Rose Edin, Dee Jepsen

Simple secrets for colors that sing Don't settle for colors that just sit there. Inspired by the work of the great Impressionists, Color Harmonies shows you how to use analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel) and their complements to achieve lively, glowing effects. By keeping palette-mixing to a minimum, placing pure color notes side by side, and applying other simple but powerful color tricks, you'll create sparkling passages of color that attract your viewer's eye, engage the imagination, and make your paintings shine. Brimming with 30 years' worth of instruction by a veteran workshop teacher, Color Harmonies offers a strong foundation for artists just starting out in watercolor, as well as groundbreaking advice for advanced artists in search of more effective and personal approaches to color and light.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Drawing

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

( More pictures on my blog )

Here's the watercolour tips and techniques book from Rose Edin, who's a watercolour painter and teacher.

There are watercolour specific tips as well as those that are not, such as composition, creating balance, working from reference etc. The information presented are concise and easy to absorb. Many of her wonderful drawings serve as examples.

This isn't a book for beginners but it serves well as a companion. Reason is her paintings are quite complicated. If you look at the cover, you see this myriad of colours and details going on. Many of the example paintings are like that. You're not supposed to follow along, but there are a few step-by-step tutorials showing how she painted them.

Overall a rather insightful instructional book. It's a nice book to get if you like her art as many of her paintings are printed huge.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful paintings. Clear instructions. Edin's finished paintings look as though she's allowed deep colour to stain the paper in a way that is delightfully random... but when you read the book you realize it isn't - there is skill and intention behind the work and Edin is not guarded about sharing the techniques that achieve this look.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning catalog of work. I found chapter 4 on color theory particularly useful. I’ll happily revisit this book just to stare at the paintings again.

[Sushmitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's one of the bests for me. Period.