Contemporary Color Theory: Watercolor Flowers Review & GIVEAWAY

It's a New Release! Contemporary Color Theory: Watercolor Flowers: A modern exploration of the color wheel and watercolor to create beautiful floral artwork by Manushree Mishra. You may know her as The Whimsical Creative on Instagram. She's a full-time artist living in Bangalore, India. The first part of her book looks at color theory beginning with value scale. The initial practical exercise asks you to create a value scale. Do this to learn about the range of values a single color can produce and water control. After that, review some basic color terms, color temperatures, and characteristics of color (hue, tint, tone, and shade). The second part of her book explores color mixing - starting with color bias. Exercises involve creating color wheels. The objective is to understand the role color bias plays in mixing color. Next, study the following color schemes - monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split, triadic, tetradic, and square color schemes. Learn how to make a variety of color-mixing charts and mix neutral, vintage, pastel, and moody colors. Discover ways of coming up with paint color palettes. Explore communicating emotions through color, become a color collector and keep a color journal. The exercises focus on color and mood. The goal is to understand their relationship. Get comfortable using your paintbrushes by practicing some basic brushstrokes. The aim is to improve your paintbrush control. Compose an abstract art piece using all the different brush marks and strokes you can make. Learn about and practice four watercolor painting techniques, wet-into-wet, wet-on-dry, layering or glazing, and lifting. The third part of her book features seven step-by-step watercolor painting projects. Put what you've learned and practiced to use. Warm up with the first project, a eucalyptus sprig, then a rosemary sprig. Each project builds upon the last. Next, combine small flowers with eucalyptus and rosemary leaves, to create a wreath. Four floral compositions follow. Gain confidence with color and strengthen your painting skills! I've learned a lot simply by reviewing this book. See excerpts and the complete table of contents below. Walter Foster Publishing released this 128-page paperback on July 5, 2022. Get your copy below!

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.72 x 1.14 x 27.94 cm (8.55 x 0.45 x 11 inches)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Tools & Materials

Before We Begin

The Magical World of Color

Color Temperature

Color Harmony & Color Schemes

The Joy of Exploring & Mixing Colors

Curating Color Palettes

Watercolor Techniques

STEP-BY-STEP PROJECTS

Eucalyptus Leaves

Rosemary

Monochromatic Leaf Wreath

Joyous Bunch

Cluster of Forget-Me-Nots

English Roses in a Terra-Cotta Pot

Spring-Summer Floral Bunch

Acknowledgements

About the Artist

From Tools & Materials.

From The Magical World of Color.

From Color Harmony & Color Schemes.

Color Theory & Mixing

Have you ever struggled with mixing the exact color that you’ve imagined? Perhaps you’ve poured your heart and soul into a painting—created a good base drawing and a balanced composition—only to realize that the colors look awful together? If you find the subject of color theory and color mixing intimidating or complex, the good news is that it’s easier than you think!

Watercolor Preparation

As you prepare to paint artwork featuring watercolor florals, it’s important to have not just the right tools on hand—you also need to know how to use them. Learn how to prepare your paint, including how much water to use with your watercolors, and also get an introduction to color values.

Exercises

Create a value scale, color wheel, and color mixing chart to assist you when you paint your own watercolor florals.

Step-by-Step Painting Projects

Explore different types of leaves and foliage elements, plus vibrant, multicolored florals. Leaves are so versatile, as well as easy and fun to paint. Experimenting with different greens, blues, and yellows using the wet-into-wet technique makes for beautiful leaves. When painting a freestyle floral bunch, you usually need three elements: the primary flowers, the stars of the bunch; some fillers to add visual interest; and foliage to tie all the elements together.

This is my value scale practice. I became so engrossed in painting I lost track of time and space. It's my first time doing this exercise.

Contemporary Color Theory: Watercolor Flowers ISBN 9780760375037 is available worldwide at The Quarto Group. They have generously offered to giveaway a copy! One winner will be selected at random. Open until October 18, 2022. Canadian and US addresses only. Good luck!

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