"Many art books offer advice on how to perform the techniques used by creative watercolorists, but this one goes farther by also explaining the "why" and "when" aspects of using these critical skills. Artful Watercolor exhaustively covers the best uses of light and shadow, color values, mixing custom colors, applying washes, and understanding shape, as well as exploring expressions of harmony and conflict, order and chaos within the composition. Numerous exercises and tips help guide readers through expressive detail work, wet/dry painting, and fixing mistakes. "--

"What makes this book special are the high caliber illustrations by an accomplished watercolorist/teacher and a text by a widely published reference author that go far beyond the typical how-to art book. In clear, step-by-step fashion, the authors explain concepts-not only "How" but "Why"-as well as the techniques of watercolor. Instead of just providing examples to imitate, this guide provides the aspiring artist with the fundamentals of light/shadow, shape, value, harmony/conflict, and order/chaos, along with exercises and assignments to make the concepts fully understood"--