City of Solis RPG Archive

Watercolour art: Featuring UK artist David Bellamy

Developing your Watercolours HarperCollins 1997 ISBN 0 00 412757 9 Copyright David Bellamy Buy Developing your watercolours online with Amazon
Coastal Landscapes Harper 2002 ISBN 0007121768 Copyright David Bellamy Buy Coastal Landscapes online with Amazon
Watercolour Landscape Course Collins 1993 ISBN 0004126475 Copyright David Bellamy Buy Watercolour Landscape Course online with Amazon

David Bellamy paints with a passionate wildness, evoking emotion and firing the imagination of the viewer. This book describes a wealth of practical skills he uses to achieve stunning results. When you consider David paints the outdoors 'outdoors' you will appreciate that the techniques he uses have been developed with a fast style of painting that leaves the rugged impression of the subject matter firmly embedded on paper.

These three books teach you so much about watercolour painting. They are fabulous. The only thing better is looking at a Bellamy original, in the flesh (so to speak), in awed silence!

He does not launch straight in, but starts by describing materials and equipment with examples of their uses and the different effects they can produce. He then moves on through sketching and painting on location (with tips and techniques illustrated with photos from the field) to painting in the studio, giving your pictures impact, use of colour, tone and lighting.

From the section: Making Colour Work

Above all though, this book is about making watercolour work for you. There are many step by step practical excercises with fantastic illustrations allong the way showing you how to build up a picture, from all important observation skills, through rough sketches (in pencil and paint) and on to the creation of the painting itself. The demonstrations show paintings in several states of production, with guidance notes and tips on techniques including use of colour, tone, setting and on to mounting and framing.

Demo from the section: Giving your paintings impact

David draws on his experience and discusses exhibiting your work as well as just creating it. There is a wonderful gallery of finished works too, showing his versions of excersises set earlier in the book.

Art, and watercolour in particular, is a very personal thing. David captures the energy and vitality of the environment he paints and his freedom is, to me, very appealing. The books in this series are the most informative and usefull I have ever used, others pale into insignificance beside them.

These three books get 5 star reviews on amazon. they are GREAT BUYS!