Booklist Review

Watercolor's accessibility to beginners combined with its current trendiness make it a prime topic for a step-by-step guide. Self-taught artist and social media entrepreneur Boudon shares detailed recommendations for equipment, paint, brushes, and papers, including advice for balancing quality with affordability. Instructions for palette setup and maintenance, techniques, and tips for achieving desired effects are followed by tutorials for creating an assortment of well-known flowers (rose, peony, carnation, dahlia, anemone, and poppy) and foliage. The final section provides lessons for how to create seven floral compositions suited to a variety of uses and shapes, including a frieze, frame, ball, circlet, streamer, wallpaper-style pattern (but with no repeat), and bouquet. Together, this content provides a DIY method for aspiring watercolor artists to get started, practice, and refine their skills. Includes an index and color photographs of the artwork throughout. Given the popularity of hand-decorated bullet journals, print-on-demand websites where individuals can sell objects featuring their own original artwork, and the current cultural affinity for watercolor art, this book is likely to be popular in many communities.--Anne Heidemann Copyright 2019 Booklist