Paul Mellon (1907--1999) assembled one of the world’s greatest collections of British drawings and watercolors. In his memoirs he wrote of their “beauty and freshness… their immediacy and sureness of technique, their comprehensiveness of subject matter, their vital qualities, their Englishness.” This catalogue celebrating the centenary of Mellon's birth features eighty-eight outstanding watercolors from the fifty thousand works of art on paper with which he endowed the Yale Center for British Art. The selection spans the emergence of watercolor painting in the mid-18th century to its apogee in the mid-19th. These works highlight the diversity of British watercolors, showcasing both landscape and figurative works by some of the principal artists working in the medium, including Thomas Gainsborough, Thomas Rowlandson, William Blake, and J. M.W. Turner.

English landscape watercolor painting, a perfect marriage of genre and medium, entered a lively period of experimentation in style and content during the second half of the nineteenth century, with rich and diverse results. Through all the changes of style and technique and all the debates over the appropriate use of the medium, it was watercolor's ability to convey the timeless truth and reality of the natural world that mattered to artists, critics, and audiences. British watercolors of the Victorian period continued to observe an essential humility before nature; they remain fresh and compellingly immediate because they derived in the first place from the artists' heartfelt communion with the elements of nature. Victorian Landscape Watercolors begins with a consideration of the continuing influence of the great generation who earlier in the century, during the extraordinary parallel rise of watercolor and landscape painting, had established the landscape watercolor as a major British contribution to the arts. The second chapter examines the role of the landscape watercolor in the aesthetic thought of John Ruskin, whose critical voice played a dominant role in shaping that art. The third chapter looks at the place of landscape within the watercolor societies and its development as it appeared in their annual exhibitions. The final chapter deals with the tug of new and old, foreign and native in the later Victorian period. The book also features 126 watercolors, from public and private collections in America and England, all reproduced in full color and accompanied by individual commentaries. Among the 76 artists represented are David Cox, Sr. and Jr., Walter Crane, William HolmanHunt, Edward Lear, Samuel Palmer, James Mallord William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, and Ruskin himself, along with dozens of lesser-known masters of the medium. Victorian Landscape Watercolors is published in conjunction with the first exhibition to survey this period of this particularly British contribution to the arts; the exhibition, organized by the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, will also be seen at the Cleveland Museum of Art and in Birmingham, England.

A generously illustrated gathering of many rarely-seen watercolors by a painter best known for his oils who was also a master of the very difficult medium of watercolor. The book includes 150 4-color images, along with an introductory essay and brief section introductions.

In Creative Watercolor and Mixed Media, popular watercolor artist, instructor, and author Ana Victoria Calderon shares her simple step-by-step techniques for painting exciting and colorful motifs by combining watercolor with a variety of other user-friendly materials. Start with the essentials—paint, paper, and brushes—then learn about the featured mediums for mixing, including masking fluid, gold leaf, bleach, salt, and alcohol Take a step-by-step look at fundamental watercolor techniques Learn to paint a variety of striking organic motifs and surface effects, including stirring skies and clouds, sparkling galaxies, flowing oceans, and dazzling crystals Find great project ideas for stylish gifts and stationery Whether you're new to the medium or are looking to add new techniques to your watercolor practice, go grab a brush, paints, and some easy-to-use materials and take a beautiful creative journey with watercolor! Perfect for all skill levels, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.

Welcome to your watercolor happy place! The world of Danielle Donaldson is as wondrous as a jar full of fireflies. Her whimsical illustrations are known for their offbeat color combinations, artful arrangements and endearing quirkiness. In this book, you'll learn how to partner with the wonderfully spontaneous medium of watercolor to create your own brand of magic. Start by creating a handmade journal, then follow exercises and start-to-finish projects to fill it with illustrations that are small in size but big on color. Along the way, Danielle shares her fresh takes on color theory, perspective, composition and more. Designed to get your brush moving, this book makes practice feel like play. It's a one-of-a-kind journey for any artist wishing to tap into the utter joy of watercolor painting and make it a cherished part of your daily life. Inside you'll find: • Imaginative techniques that help you override perfectionist tendencies while making the most of watercolor's unpredictable nature • An inventive approach (using scraps of paper, ribbon and other ephemera) for more creative color choices • A simple strategy that makes drawing new subjects less intimidating and more fun • Sweet ways to add hand lettering to your artwork • Inspirational exercises that make finding subjects to paint as easy as A-B-C "Don't underestimate the giddiness you feel when you mindlessly grab a color and mix it with another and create the most beautiful wash ever!" --p43