Review
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July 14 The Modern Flower Painter by Anna Mason
reveals every aspect of the delicate world of flower portraits in
watercolour. From gathering your reference material and holding
the brush, to mixing colours and setting up your studio, nothing
is left uncovered. Six step-by-step projects are each accompanied
by outline drawings, tonal notes and colour swatches to help you
mix the correct colour and tone. Anna is an award-winning
botanical artist and experienced art tutor, so the instruction is
clear, inspiring and challenging. * Leisure Painter, The * May 14
The first thing you notice about this impressive book on
watercolour flowers is the warm-hearted nature of Anna Mason.
Anna has developed a six-stage process that really works. Plus
this book is full of professional tips. There's information for
beginners but also a challenge for those with some experience.
There are step by step projects and gorgeous finished work. This
is a beautiful book and Anna's warm personality and immense
talent shines on every page. Highly recommended for any
watercolour flower painter and botanical artists. * Karen Platt
Yarnsandfabrics.co.uk/crafts * October 2014 This book covers
every aspect of modern stye botanical flowers painted in
watercolours, from tips on gathering materials to how to handle
the paint. There are six projects in the book, each shown
step-by-step with outline drawings, tonal notes and useful colour
swatches. From delicate bluebells, exotic orchids, feathery
tulips, papery poppies, and romantic roses, all build into a
fantastic guide that will inspire and challenge the experienced
watercolour artist, while also drawing in and reassuring the
complete beginner. * My Weekly * November 2014 This comprehensive
book provides a little more detail in the method of painting than
some previous guides to botanical illustration. Anna's six-stage
process starts with the highlights, which are usually at the
centre of the main flower and works outwards from there, adding
tones and contrasts before putting in the final details. In the
demonstrations, each stage may have more than one step, so there
are no large jumps that leave you wondering what happened in
between. There is a good balance between the basics of flower
painting and the specifics of individual examples. The book is
nicely places between the introductory guides and the more
advanced titles that assume a considerable degree of prior
experience and sometimes sacrifice detail for quantity of
subjects and species - Henry Malt. * Artist, The * May 14 The
first book from regular Artists & Illustrators contributor Anna
Mason highlights her refreshingly contemporary approach to
botanical painting, which sees many of the subjects appear to
bloom before your very eyes. Anna begins by laying out her
thoughts on paint consistency, brush techniques and mixing hues,
giving newcomers the building blocks required to tackle a full
painting with confidence. By the completion of the six
step-by-step projects, you will be surprised at how far you have
progressed. * Artists & Illustrators, The * May 14 As this is one
of Search Press' occasional hardcover books, expect a visual
treat and something rather special. Flowers lend themselves to
lushly illustrated large format books like this one and this book
lives up to its subtitle of "creating vibrant botanical portraits
in watercolour". The book is in two halves, firstly getting to
grips with the materials and secondly several staged paintings to
work through. You can find some outlines at the back to trace so
here is a nod to the popular Ready To Paint series that ought to
work well with beginners, and those new to watercolor. The
pictures here are well described as portraits, and combine the
botanical appearance of old prints with a modern, vibrantly
colorful approach. There are all the usual features in here from
what you need to buy to color wheels, perspective, mixing colors
etc, as well as intriguing sections on learning to see, getting
the paint consistency right, laying out a palette and creating
tone and hue. I don't think I have seen such an in-depth look at
the medium before and it certainly bears reading and having a go
even if you think you are past that stage. The author then shows
us her six stage method of painting and works though a picture of
a rose, before going onto the six staged projects which are
handily arranged in order of difficulty. If you can't get onto a
real course here is the next best thing. * Myshelf.com * November
2014 This comprehensive book provides a little more detail in the
method of painting than some previous guides to botanical
illustration. Anna's six-stage process starts with the
highlights, which are usually at the centre of the main flower
and works outwards from there, adding tones and contrasts before
putting in the final details. In the demonstrations, each stage
may have more than one step, so there are no large jumps that
leave you wondering what happened in between. There is a good
balance between the basics of flower painting and the specifics
of individual examples. The book is nicely placed between the
introductory guides and the more advanced titles that assume a
considerable degree of prior experience and sometime sacrifice
detail for quantity of subjects an species. * Artist, The * Apr
14 This really rather attractive book is pitched somewhere
between the basic guides to flower painting and the more
technical botanical illustration works. Anna Mason's technique
involves a six-stage process that starts with the highlights,
which are normally in the centre of the flower, and works
outwards, adding details, tints and contrasts so that shapes and
depth are built up progressively while preserving the main form.
There is also plenty of information on painting methods and the
use of colour, but these assume a reasonable a of basic
knowledge, so that you don't spend half the book wading through
stuff you should know already. The overall approach is busy and
varied and the concentration is on the painting rather than the
flowers - that's to say, it's about creating a work of art rather
than a specific species. There is, however, plenty of
variety (more than varieties) and examples of different flower
types, shapes and colours. If you're looking for a book that
takes you on from the basics but isn't obsessed with botanical
details, this would be perfect. The demonstrations, while working
within the aforementioned six-stage process, have a reasonable
number of steps so that while you're not shown every brushstroke,
neither are you pitched from one completed section to another and
wondering how you got there. * Artbookreview.net * October 2014
Anna Mason is an award winning artist and is a board member of
the Society of Botanical Artists. Here she shares her methods for
painting modern, botanical-style flower portraits and the book
gives detail of Anna's six stage watercolour process. The
included six step-by-step projects had an outline drawing, tonal
notes and colour swatches. The book is a good guide that is an
asset to a complete beginner but also challenges the experiences
watercolour artist. * Cake Craft & Decoration *
About the Author
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Anna Mason grew up surrounded by the lush English
countryside and has always been inspired by the intricate detail
and colourful beauty in the natural world. Completely
self-taught, Anna has developed a true-to-life painting style
that she wants to share with as many people as possible. It is
her mission to get as many people enjoying the therapeutic
benefits of watercolour painting as well as getting the kind of
results they want. Anna won the Royal Horticultural Society's
Gold Medal and Best in Show award 2007; has paintings in the RHS
Lindley Library Collection and also the Shirley Sherwood
Collection; and was the Grand Prize Winner in International
Artist Magazine for Strawberries Everest 2011. She was elected to
the Society of Botanical Artists 2013, and was a juror for the
Denver Botanic Gardens and the Guild of Natural Science
Illustrators (GNSI) exhibition s, Birds & Pollinators Art
Serving Science 2013. She lives in Surrey and teaches at RHS
Wisley & West Dean College.