Colour & Light in Watercolour

In this new and extended edition of her best-selling book in the 'How to Paint' series: 'Colour and Light in Watercolour' (first published 2010), Jean Haines has produced a book even more inspirational than the first. With 40 per cent new material in the form of new hands-on demonstrations, examples of her work and extended text, Jean provides a valuable insight into the materials and techniques she uses to inject colour and light into her stunningly beautiful, award-winning watercolour paintings. Jean's enthusiasm and passion for art is evident throughout the book, which is packed full of ideas, useful tips, expert advice and over 20 step-by-step demonstrations. with subjects ranging from atmospheric winter landscapes to bright colourful cockerels, all painted in Jean's loose and expressive style, artists of all tastes and abilities will not fail to be inspired by her imaginative and exciting use of light and colour.

Summer 2016, Issue 2 This is a new edition of Jean Haine's first and bestselling title.We have included it for people who want to go a little bit deeper into painting and learn more skills and techniques. Just like Paint Yourself Calm, this is also large format and full of colour. It's not intended for absolute beginners but there are certainly no concepts or requirements that make this impentrable to someone new to watercolour painting., July 2016 This is a reissue of Jean's first book which originally appeared as part of a series aimed at beginners. It was never well suited to the format and length always made the artist's work feel constrained. A redesigned and more than doubled extent have give it wings that are more in keeping with her later books. Extended re-issues do not work, authors move on a what they wanted to say on the subject in question was usually there in the original. Additions can feel at best bolted on or, at worst out-takes that should have stayed on the cutting room floor. This emphatically is not the case here. The original has promise and that has been realised now, the result being a triumph., Jean's passion for art shows as she guides you through a variety of exciting projects. With subjects ranging from atmospheric winter landscapes to bright colourful cockerels you are sure to be inspired!, I'm not normally a fan of revised re-issues. Artists move on and what they wanted to say on a subject was pretty much perfectly formed at the time. Unpicking a thread and trying to make it into sommething else all to often lands up with a mess. But... and it's a very big but. Jean Haines and Search Press have done a superb job here. This was Jean's first book and it appeared in a beginner's series to which it and her style, were never really suited. Jean belongs to the broder canvas, as it were and her loose impressionistic style needs room to breathe. Basic instruction and 48 pages felt more like an eagle in a cage - you could see the potential, but not the spread of the wings. For this version which has enlarged the format and more than doubled the extent, there's been a complete redesign that's in keeping with the later books. The paper is bright white just like the original paintings and it shows the colour and its subtle tints, hues and washes much better. The larger paint size means that nothing's reduced down to where you can't see the brushwork. On top of that there's additional material and more demonstrations. This is no longer a book that hints at what might be possible, but one which celebrates Jean's work and what can be done if you're brave with watercolour. The result is a triumph and something you'll want even if you have the first version., Well, this is a first! I've seen books dragged out of well-deserved retirement, kept current by revamped covers and re-issued as "classics", but I've never seen one given a complete makeover that doubles the original extent. I had reservations about this when it first appeared. It's not that it wasn't good, or that I didn't like it, just that I didn't feel that Jean's loose and somewhat idiosyncratic style fitted comfortably into a series of what were largely technical manuals. All that clearly didn't harm sales and Jean has, of course, gone on to become a bestselling and highly respected author. Later volumes have given her work the freedom it needs and it's blossomed as a result. Re-workings of what for the moment we'll call juvenilia are rarely successful. Authors move on, their style develops and things that are largely historical are best left as pieces of history. If that means they're a footnote, so be it. It's often better than being something everyone comes to regret and has to make excuses for later. And now, gentle reader, I'm going to eat my words: both my previous reservations and my suspicion of the re-vamp. This is everything the book should have been in the first place. It hasn't been shoe-horned into a series format, for a start. Series are great and are often a way of introducing new authors who may not have the gravitas to stand alone, but can be carried on by the momentum a series provides and given a toe-hold in the water (yes, I do know that's a mixed metaphor, but it was kind of you to mention it). It's also been completely re-designed and there are vastly more illustrations. Now, it has room to spread its wings and to breathe, which is exactly what Jean's work needs. She's not about small illustrations that populate a detailed text, she's about illustrations, illustrations and illustrations. You need to see her work full-page and preferably on a crisp white background and that's what you have here. I haven't done a word-by-word comparison, but I'm pretty sure this is the original text and it now becomes an adjunct to the pictures, rather than the other way round. The best art books usually lead on the paintings and use the text just as a caption to explain what you're looking at when you need a nudge or it isn't immediately obvious. This is a hard trick to pull off because, if the original book was any good, it'll have been properly put together and be a perfect sphere it's very hard to pull apart. No matter how much you want to, it is, as I've hinted above, usually better to leave well alone and start something new from scratch. So, congratulations to Search Press, whose editorial and design teams are on a bit of a roll at the moment, and to Jean too. With this many new illustrations, she's had a pretty large part in the exercise as well. You need this book.

A member of the Society for Women Artists (SWA), international watercolourist Jean Haines is well-known for her love of her chosen medium. Having lived and travelled in many countries, this popular artist has had the opportunity to develop her skills whilst under the influence of masters from many countries, including Asia, the Middle East and Europe. She studied brush control while living in China and this had the greatest impact on her style. Later, when working with artists from India and Pakistan, she became inspired by the vibrant colours they used. The combination of East meets West in Jean’s style is to be enjoyed. The magical free flow of water and colour straight on to a blank working surface (with no initial drawing) creates amazing results, often leaving her audience breathless with delight. Her paintings can be found in homes all over the world and in 2009 she won the Anthony J Lester Award during the SWA Annual Exhibition, where her work was likened to Joseph Crawhalls of the famous Glasgow Boys group of artists. She regularly writes for art magazines and exhibits in a number of galleries. Her hugely successful workshops are held regularly in the UK, and her 2014 Australia Book Signing and Workshop Tour is already sold out. In 2015 she will be visiting California, New York and St Louis in the USA for an exciting new book launch and book signing tour. Jean lives in Crookham Village, Hampshire.