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Average Customer Rating:

Some good basic instruction here...

Customer Rating:

I believe this book is good for beginners as it instructs the reader on how to analyze pigments (transparent, staining and opaque)and how they will behave. Most beginners do not know about these pigment characteristics, so from that standpoint alone it is a good investment for your library. It also illustrates the right way to lay in a flat wash and build depth through "glazing". Many of the exercises are beneficial to the reader no matter what approach you will want to take to your own watercolor paintings.

really useful	Customer Rating:
Well-laid-out basic procedures. Two pages in the back which are truly useful checklists for planning and starting paintings. I am excited about applying this method to subjects I have painted in the past.

a fresh, fluid approach to negative painting

Customer Rating:

Linda's work is so bold and fresh it borders on the abstract. The approach is groundbreaking, and the resulting work is rich and fluid and inspiring. The book starts out with suggestions on materials and supplies. She then leads you through very simple exercises to teach the basics of understanding negative shapes. She also provides instruction on modifying shapes, composition strategies, and color. Then she leads you through more and more intricate layers. It's an entirely new way of thinking. I have used these techniques in my own work and with my college students as well. Artists at any level can benefit from her ideas. (I also took a workshop from her and highly recommend her as an instructor.)

a new approach	Customer Rating:
This author takes watercolor to a useful and understandable technique for the person new to this media. Her directions are clear, consise and knowledgable. Her demonstrations, while challenging to duplicate, are easy to follow. I highly recommend her book to anyone seeking to widen their understanding of what watercolor can do for their art.

Fascinating

Customer Rating:

This is an original book that will expand your painting skills by providing you with techniques to approach painting through negative spaces. Everything is explained meticulously in step by step diagrams that leave nothing unclear. It is a valuable addition to painters who want to expand their repertoire of skills. However, the technique explained in this book, fascinating as it is, has its limitations, as it can only work in pictures where the negative spaces are darker than the positive ones (you will understand how and why when you read it). Should the painter want their negative spaces to be lighter in color than the shapes depicted, this technique would not work. Maybe it is a first step and the author, or somebody else, can expand the possibilities of this technique further; what we learn in this book is certainly not the last word on negative-space painting. The author explores mostly landscapes, and the results of her specific approach gives results that are highly original, but that have a specific eerie-spooky character. Since I haven't tried applying the technique yet, I cannot tell whether that eerie quality is an inevitable consequence of that technique, or is it the result of the author's/painter's specific choices, and whether a different painter could get results of a totally different quality. Despite these limitations, it is a very useful approach to get to know, especially for painters who do not just want to learn a new trick, but who also want to learn how to see in new ways. Highly recommended.