Watercolour and Beyond

Exploring the Frontiers of Landscape Painting

David Bellamy

$49.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Search Press Ltd
13 May 2025

Painting & paintings; Watercolours; Animals & nature in art (still life, landscapes & seascapes); Painting & art manuals

Discover a world of innovation beyond pure watercolor with over 60 innovative approaches and exercises from the master of watercolor landscapes, David Bellamy.

'In this book I aim to illustrate ways in which to make your watercolors glow with excitement, offer you new methods of working, and at the same time make the whole experience great fun!' David Bellamy

David Bellamy is a successful and long-standing authority on the landscape in watercolor. Throughout this book he shares his extensive knowledge and experience and encourages confident artists to explore the boundaries of watercolor and forge new creative paths for themselves through experimentation.

Alongside over 100 inspiring examples of David's work there are more than 60 innovative approaches and exercises, with tips, visual examples and step-by-step technique, throughout the following sections:

Starting traditional (with pure watercolor): learn how to strengthen your compositions, gain experience using just one color, work with a limited palette, then tackle the striking results you can achieve with harmonious colors. Innovating through practice: through short step-by-step techniques and plenty of finished, fully detailed examples, learn how to combine watercolor with gouache and use additives, inks, collage, pastels, stamping, gesso, watercolor ground, different surfaces, and found materials to create atmospheric, innovative results, for example for suggesting distant rain or creating dramatic sunlight effects. Interpreting and altering your subjects: discover how to change the light or colors in a finished painting, introduce features that are not present or emphasise those that are, exaggerate perspective, or turn part of the composition into abstraction. Discover also how to alter, rescue and improve a painting where you may have a problem, or decide to change a passage on a whim. Taking It further: The final section is devoted to projects which you might like to consider: personal projects that may relate to your family, your holidays, volunteer work, or perhaps involving the local community or a special cause.

Watercolour and Beyond is an innovative, practical book, aimed at equipping landscape artists of all abilities with exciting new ideas and techniques.

By: David Bellamy
Imprint: Search Press Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 280mm, Width: 216mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9781800923003
ISBN 10: 1800923007
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 13 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Introduction 6 Foundations: Exploring watercolour 10 Simplicity What to paint 12 Technique: Washes 14 The power of monochromes 16 Texture 18 Working with harmonious colours 20 Moving into full colour 22 Technique: Wet-in-wet watercolour 24 Technique: Dropping in 26 Colour mixing 28 Technique: Glazing 30 Sketching and reference 32 Sketching in colour 34 Working outside 36 Composition 38 Technique: Using masking fluid 40 The artist explorer: Developing your painting style 42 Finding new approaches Working on different papers 44 Technique: Pouring watercolour 46 Mixing media: Ink with watercolour 48 Technique: Sponging 52 Technique: Stamping 54 Improving your composition Simple devices to enhance your compositions 56 Drama and energy in composition 60 Injecting atmosphere and drama 62 Light and space Technique: Pulling out colour 64 Abstract shadow 65 Colour, tone and space 66 Technique: Negative painting 68 Creating highlights in the sky 70 Technique: Softening edges and strong lines 72 Water Rivers 74 Gouache Mixing media: Using gouache 80 Using gouache with watercolour 82 Figures Character 84 Figures in context 86 Masking Knifework 89 Depicting scree 90 Technique: Scumbling 92 Visual texture Contrast in texture 95 Mixing media: Texture with Inktense watercolour pencil 96 Mixing media: Plastic food wrap 98 Technique: Super-granulations with granulation medium 102 Creative granulating 106 Physical texture Mixing media: Aquapasto 108 Mixing media: Gesso 110 Mixing media: Watercolour ground 112 Watercolour ground with added objects 118 Collage 120 Tissue paper as a base 122 Fresh Directions: Interpretation and alteration 124 Creative interpretation Pushing gouache to the fore 126 Ghosting background features 128 Creating a slightly looser approach 129 Creating patterns with found materials 130 Realistic features with watercolour ground 132 Altering the lighting 134 Shafts of sunlight and texture 136 Bringing techniques together 138 Alteration and rescue How to: Create a completely new foreground 142 How to: Change the perspective 143 How to: Fix problems caused by wax resist 144 How to: Get rid of a prominent eyesore 146 How to: Make good from a disaster 148 New Routes: Beyond wall art 150 Illustrating family events Boer Battles 152 Journal sketching Bavarian Sunshine 154 Enhanced sketchbooks 156 Re-creating history Steam at Aberedw 158 Index 160

David Bellamy has always been fascinated by the world's wild places. Highly regarded as a teacher of art, he has a tremendous following among artist and leisure painters, many of whom have attended his extremely popular courses and workshops both in the UK and overseas. He gives demonstrations and talks, produces successful videos, has written many books on watercolor painting and is a regular contributor to art magazines. David lives near Builth Wells, Wales.

Reviews for Watercolour and Beyond: Exploring the Frontiers of Landscape Painting

David Bellamy has been a prolific author of deservedly successful books from The Wild Places of Britain through the now somewhat dated Watercolour Landscape Course to others which have concentrated on more specific aspects of the genre. I think the first thing to say is that, if you’re worried by the “and beyond” of the title and wondering whether David has gone a bit weird, avant garde or experimental, calm yourself – he hasn’t. Nor is this the landscape course rehashed. What we have is, quite simply, his best book and something of a personal manifesto informed by a lifetime of experience. In the introduction, he says that he intends to “illustrate ways in which to make your watercolours glow with excitement; to offer you new methods of working and new ways of using familiar materials”. Hang onto that familiarity, because we’re still within the realms of the man we know and love. If there are surprises here, they’re all of delight in exploring the possibilities of a medium David says galleries tend to overlook. That’s perhaps more the view of the professional artist, but as well as filtering down, things can also percolate upwards, so let’s champion the grassroots. Yes, the use of plastic food wrap to produce texture or dipping a toe into mixed media are not something we’ve associated with David in the past, but the results are entirely what you would expect. A small part of me wishes this had come out as a hardback, which would have given it the heft it deserves, but that would have made it more expensive, perhaps unnecessarily. If you’re a fan of David, you’ll buy it on the spot. If you’re in any way serious about watercolour you should, too. Think of it as a new course, one for the dedicated, perhaps advanced, watercolourist from a teacher at the height of his powers. It’s a heck of an achievement. -- Henry Malt * artbookreview.net *