For artists looking to grow beyond the studio, En Plein Air: Watercolor is the definitive resource for experiencing the rewards and invigoration of watercolor painting on location. En Plein Air: Watercolor introduces beginning artists and fine-art enthusiasts to the core concepts of painting on location. This guide will have you fully prepared for a day of painting outdoors. Inside, you'll find a comprehensive list of what to pack to maximize your time, learn how to choose a subject and interpret it for a composition, discover how to deal with the challenges of shadows and shifting natural light, and hone your watercolor techniques. The collection of step-by-step projects will help you gain new artistic skills as you create unique, dynamic artwork outside the studio. Perfect for artists looking to break outside the norm, En Plein Air: Watercolor is your complete guide to experiencing the unique rewards of painting on location with the invigorating medium of watercolor.

Provides techniques in outdoor painting, including equipment, color usage, and subject focus.

"Many painters enjoy working outdoors when the weather is good (and they need to know how to deal with it when the weather changes)! This book includes the best instruction on the special challenges of painting landscapes outdoors from a variety of the best plein-air artists working today in all major media-oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic and gouache. - Materials, site selection and practical tips - Values, shapes, composition, color and elements of landscape painting - Bringing outdoor studies back into the studio - Complete start-to-finish demonstrations - Hundreds of gorgeous images"--

Watercolor is a magical and often challenging medium. Once mastered, it will reward you with the pleasure of creating striking works of art of infinite variety. This book is a culmination of many years of teaching. Through it, I set out to clear up widespread misconceptions about painting with watercolors. These common confusions hold watercolor artists back from achieving their full potential. Full of practical advice and techniques, my aim is to simplify watercolor painting to assist you in your personal watercolor adventure. Enjoy the journey!

Thanks to overwhelmingly positive responses to the demonstrations in my first book "Mastering Watercolors - a practical guide," I've created this 124-page manual of how-to demos. Here you'll find twelve new step-by-step paintings with reference photos and plenty of images to guide you through each piece. I've also included a section on watercolor basics and materials (11 pages) similar to what was in my first book for people who have not read it. An additional chapter covers what to consider when working from photographs. An ideal follow-on from "Mastering Watercolors - a practical guide," this book is especially suited to people who can't attend regular classes with a professional tutor. Watercolor is wonderful and challenging medium which, like most creative pursuits, develops with regular practice. Happy painting! Joe Cartwright

For the last ten years, urban sketcher Marc Taro Holmes has been on a mission to travel the world drawing and painting on location. Thousands of loyal readers worldwide have been following his award-winning blog at CitizenSketcher.com, learning from his freely shared articles featuring hundreds of sketchbook drawings and watercolor paintings, his first-hand experiments with field-sketching gear, free downloadable art-workshops, and numerous over-the-shoulder, step-by-step demonstrations Along the way Marc wrote the instant classic: The Urban Sketcher: Techniques for Seeing and Drawing on Location (4.6 stars 180+ reviews). Marc is also the presenter of two online courses: Travel Sketching in Mixed Media and Sketching People in Motion (available from Craftsy.com). With his latest book, Direct Watercolor Marc brings you a retrospective collection of over eighty of his watercolor paintings, painted side-by-side with fellow urban sketchers in ten different countries. This is the work of a plein-air painter at the top of his game, seen for the first time as a single body of work, and accompanied with his latest thoughts on the medium of watercolor. Also included - six completely new step-by-step demonstrations, systematically explaining his deceptively simple approach to painting. Marc shows you how to paint rapidly, with little or no preparation and the minimum of supplies, unlocking the secrets of spontaneous, expressive watercolor, with a unique personal vision. Whether you're already one of Marc's readers or are about to discover his boldly expressive approach, Direct Watercolor offers you the keys to unlocking your own adventures as a sketchbook artist, traveling watercolorist, or unconventional studio painter. Please note: This ebook version of Direct Watercolor is only suitable for full-color displays such as the Kindle Fire, or the Kindle app for tablets, phones, laptops, and computers.