Featured artist Jerry Stitt contemplates that ''A painting is good not because it looks like something, but because it feels like something.'' The difference is passion '' the kind of energy, excitement and pure joy that pulses through every page of this book. A brilliant collection of the best watercolors being created today, Splash 10 explores "passion" through the work and words of 100 top contemporary painters. With each modern-day masterpiece, insightful firsthand commentary taps into the psyche of the artists to explore where their passion comes from, and where it leads them. These artists find the passion to paint in any number of places - a handful of peppermints, a rescued dog named Tugboat, visits to places where "even the walls have personality," and spectacular moments created by the warm late-afternoon sun partnering with rich, cool cast shadows. Some of them find passion in their materials (like rice paper) or in the very act of putting paint to paper, whether it be broad, wet strokes of pure color applied with big brushes and arm-swinging applications, or meditative, economical strokes. This edition of Splash is dedicated to discovering not only how today's artists create great watercolors, but what motivates them to be creative, work in this amazing medium, and portray the subjects they love.

The best of the best--20 years of watercolor brilliance! Over the past 20+ years, Splash has built a reputation as the premier showcase of contemporary watercolor...a gathering place for the best work and freshest ideas from today's top artists. Page by page, the series' 14 editions have painted a masterful portrait of the current state of the medium. Now, Splash Retrospective celebrates the best of the best in one big, breathtaking compilation! Inside you'll find everything you've come to expect from this series: big art (in concept, execution and reproduction value), innovative techniques, and firsthand insight on what fueled the artist. Plus, for the first time, series editor Rachel Rubin Wolf shares her expert perspective on what it is about these paintings that made her stop and take notice. What made them "come alive" and stand out from the thousands that crossed her desk? More than mere technical mastery, she cites such elements as originality, unusual subjects and poses, moments of whimsy...and always, the artist's love and respect for their subject, be it sunflower divas, and exotic locale, a beloved family member, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's an exceptional collection for artists striving to create memorable work, and a simply stunning book to grace the coffee table of any lover of the medium. • 230+ brilliantly reproduced watercolor paintings. • More than 200 artists represented. • A diversity of styles, presented in subject-themed chapters--still lifes, portraits, landscapes, animals and more. • Revealing commentary from the artists and editor.

Three little dolphins find a beach ball and frolic in the waves in this rhyming adventure. Pull out the spine and tip it up and down to bring the dolphins to life!