Ready to Paint

Artbookreview.net:The Ready to Paint series comprises a number of painting projects, each described in some detail and including an outline sketch printed on tracing paper that allows the beginner to start with the basic drawing already done for them. Broadly speaking, this is a grown-up form of painting by numbers and, as a method of instruction, one has to have certain reservations. However, the fact remains that, if you're let down by your drawing skills, then this allows you to progress to the stage of working with colour without falling at the first hurdle. It needs to be said that you will have, at some point, to acquire some skill in drawing as otherwise you'll be condemned to copying forever.As a basic introduction flower painting, even without the printed outlines, this can't be faulted and Wendy Tait is an experienced and capable teacher who has the ability to take you far beyond the scope of the book. If you like the outlines idea (and it has quite an honourable history), this is the book for you. If you don't, but you still want to paint flowers, buy the book anyway; just tear out the tracing paper pages and hide them behind the sofa.Myshelf.com:Have you ever wanted to be able to paint, but been unsure that your drawing skills are up to marking out a picture? Search Press have some up with an excellent notion with their Ready To Paint series of books, giving you the outlines to trace and explaining how a painting is constructed.It's a great way to start, and if you are wondering whether this is a paint-by-numbers or coloring book then think again. How does it differ? By providing you with staged photographs of how to fill in those outlines and explaining what you are doing. This is a book designed to make you think about how watercolors are used and learning all those important tricks of the trade so you are ready to tackle some art of your own. Search Press also has a large range of books on watercolor painting for when you are at that stage, but think on this as a safety net for the absolute beginner. It works too - I can remember coloring books with faint outlines designed to be used in this manner that got my own artistic juices flowing in a way that a blank sheet of paper does not. Have a go and see what I mean.Cake Craft & Decoration:This book takes away that 'blank page' fear, as all the drawing has already been done for you. Use the nine reusable tracings to transfer the flower to paper (by rubbing with a spoon or similar implement) and follow the detailed step-by-step instructions (up to 30 per flower) to paint a floral masterpiece.A Good Age:People often want to take up painting when they retire and have more time. Others start sooner, once their kids are grown and in school. The drawing part of painting can be hard for beginners - enough of an obstacle so they give up or never get past painting by numbers.My friends who paint have always had a natural ability. They drew as children. I don't have that at all. Now two new books promise to make watercolor painting easier for beginners by following what I call an old-but-new approach.The A""Ready to PaintA"" series from Search Press in England is designed so that novice painters can pick up a brush and create appealing paintings with easy-to-follow tracings. The tracings can be reused. The idea is that you gain confidence as your hand-eye coordination is trained, by following the tracings, while you have some pleasing results to motivate you to keep trying.A""Watercolour FlowersA"" by Wendy Tait has nine reusable tracings to pull out. A""Watercolour LandscapesA"" by Terry Harrison has six reusable tracings to pull out. Both are to be published in June.The artists explain how to compose a painting with simple instructions and tips. Both Tait and Harrison are authors as well as artists.The Leisure Painter:The author, Wendy Tait, offers her readers practical advice - from arranging and simplifying floral subject matter, to capturing its essence in watercolour. After listing and describing her art materials, she deals with transferring the nine tracings in the book to the readers' art paper and then painting them in watercolour. She selects five of these and describes in 20 to 30 step-by-steps how she develops them from the preliminary drawings to the finished paintings.This book offers useful instruction on painting flowers, although more help and advice on working from nature would have been welcome.Ray Campbell Smith The ""Ready to Paint"" series has one unique feature: all of the painting exercises have a bound-in plastic tracing page for those who want to learn to paint but have difficulty drawing. Each slim volume provides clear, step-by-step instructions for five easy projects. Tait is an artist, greeting-card designer, and watercolor painting instructor. These are fun books, somewhere between paint-by-numbers and freehand art. Though the tracing forms are reusable, they pose problems for libraries with high circulation.-Library Journal USA Would you like to learn to paint but can't rely on your drawing skills? These great books provide no-nonsense advice and easy to follow instructions making painting accessible for people who have never had the confidence to try before. They include outlines of five paintings to pull out from the centre of the book, with clear instructions and step-by-step photographs on how to transfer the outlines on to watercolour paper and then how to create beautiful watercolour paintings.-The Times