Aug 09
With its rich colour and widely varied landscape, Ireland is bordering on artistic overload. At first glance, the idea of reducing a whole country down to five paintings (you get the usual pre-printed tracings that come with this series) sounds like a definition of the absurd, but Terry has picked subjects that capture the essence of what Ireland has to offer: a mountain, a castle, a seascape, cliffs and a townscape detail. What you finish up with is as much a good primer in many of the subjects you might want to tackle in any situation as it is a practice run at a location where you might well be wondering where to start. Just remember to stock up on that Emerald Green, to be sure.
* Artbookreview.net *
Oct 09
This latest no-nonsense guide to painting in watercolour provides six pull-out tracings, so that readers don't need to rely on their drawing skills. Beginners to watercolour will find that Terry's teaching style encourages them to have a go and try for themselves. Lovers of Ireland, whether they're Irish or have happy memories of holidays, will want to reproduce the five iconic Irish scenes in the step-by-step demonstrations. There are six tracings, one for each of the five demonstrations and one bonus tracing.
* Machine Knitting Monthly *
Nov 09
This is the latest title in Search Press' Ready To Paint series. If you are a tyro painter who finds drawing difficult yet wants to get some practise with the painting part then this is for you. Now you can get to grips with both, by tracing and learning how to not only construct the painting but see how simple drawing can be if you are only using it as a framework for painting rather than as a finished work in its own right. These books are not about tracing and filling in outlines but getting to understand how a picture grows through a series of stages. There are a good number of these, all shown with short captions and in full color each adding a small detail and explaining what is happening. Each project also comes with a useful list of which brushes and colors to buy, the size of the finished piece and lots of tips germane to the subject. There are six pictures depicting various views that sum up the beauty and uniqueness of Ireland. These range from mountains to cliffs and a bay, to a fine Georgian doorway in Dublin. When you work on each painting you will learn different skills each time in order to depict a variety of surfaces from painted wood to rocks, Ireland's wonderful forty shades of green to the sea. This series is highly recommended for anybody starting out in watercolors needing to see what their work looks like before getting further into this absorbing hobby.
* Myshelf.com *
