Just Add Watercolor

Lately, I am flexing more of my creative muscles.  I've been dabbling in my old sketchbooks and drawing.  Naturally, drawing got me thinking about painting again.  And being the super cautious and thorough me, I got a book to refresh my memory before diving right into it.

Just add Watercolor  by Helen Birch is a little book (about the size of a Kindle), but it packs a whole lot of information as well as inspiration.  It's got 87 pages of different paintings in various styles by artists from all around the globe.  In not just watercolor, but gouache, mixed media, and colored pencils too.  It's perfect because I haven't cultivated my own style yet and I wanted to see how others treated the medium to their advantage.
Traditional technique books tend to show page after page of still lifes or landscapes that look like the picture they followed, but the pieces in this book are actual pieces of art.  The book also tells you the technique employed by the artist and a tip on the corresponding page to each painting.  I say it's always good to learn the techniques other artists are employing so that you never fall into a rut.  It's not a step-by-step approach, but I don't mind in the least.

Even if you don't intend on painting, it's a good book to keep on the coffee table because it is so pretty!  I really appreciate the way the book was formatted too.  In the beginning, there are 4 pages of thumbnails so that you can easily jump to whatever piece you liked or are interested in.  No bookmarks necessary!  Overall, Just add Watercolor is a great book to get those creative juices flowing.

* I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review