This book is not only for "painters" but for all types of creative individuals who want to experience and play with watercolor, whether their background is mixed-media, textile art, journaling, or paper craft. Unlike the typical watercolor text books, this unique, beautiful volume is a field book of inspiration, creative ideas, how to's, and projects, all from an artist's perspective. Each creative exercise features a technique, shows stepby-step photographs, and includes a clever idea for a gift or project that can be made from the painted samples.

Collaboration The Mind's Eye is a collaboration between the artist's emotional response to the poems and the immediacy of the poet's reaction to nature and personal encounters. The Poet Gail Gowers Cotton is a member of the Poetry Society and the British Haiku Society. Her poems have appeared in the Societies' journals as well as in other specialist magazines. She "scatters" her work by leaving poems on buses, in cafes and tucked into library books. The Mind's Eye is her second book. Her inspiration comes from nature and personal encounters including memories of Ireland, Africa, North Wales and visits to Sydenham Hill Woods, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Horniman Museum in South London, where she now lives. The Artist Pat Keay graduated as a painter at the Edinburgh College of Art in 1971. She has worked as an artist and designer in Scotland, Kenya and London and now lives in Worthing. Read more on www.patkeay.com. The illustrations come from Pat's spontaneous reaction to the essence, rather than the detail, of a particular Haiku.

Expressive Sketchbooks shares a host of creative ideas and prompts, tools and techniques, methods for working around obstacles and barriers, and tons of visual inspiration to help you grow in your sketchbooking practice. An expressive sketchbook is a place for you to explore, express, and enjoy your own innate creativity on your own terms. It is a safe playground for the imagination-a place to mess about, play, and experiment-and to gain confidence in your abilities as you develop your skills. Expressive Sketchbooks offers techniques and creative exercises that incorporate mark making, watercolor, mixed media, collage, words and text, and more. It unpacks some of the obstacles and barriers that you may face along the way and offers wisdom and encouragement to help you decide why and how to start your sketchbook and how to develop and expand your artistic practice. This book is packed with ideas and exercises, including: Exploratory drawing exercises How to utilize color in your sketchbook How to create dynamic and varied sketchbook pages How to find inspiration in nature and in your everyday life Ways to mix media and art supplies Ways to kickstart your creativity How to find and develop a process that feels personal to you Through this book, you'll find out what lights you up, what makes you curious and fascinated, and what makes you expansive. Discover how to magnify your creativity and enliven your art skills by using an expressive sketchbook as your daily companion.

Find inner calm and happiness in this beautiful, meditative and earthy watercolour instruction book from nature lover, teacher and artist Inga Buividavice. Art therapy and the act of painting is widely acknowledged to bringpositive mental health benefits, as it helps us centre ourselves, focus our intentions and engage creatively with the world around us. This beautiful guided watercolour book combines these aspects with the healing powers of nature to take you on a journey toward peace and tranquility. Even if you have no experience with watercolours or painting, Painting Calm’s accessible and easy-to-follow prompts will allow you to express yourself and create with ease and joy. Gather inspiration from artist Inga Buivadavice’s beautiful illustrations, designed to capture an emotional connection with the natural world through texture and colour, as you explore:   An overview of watercolour painting supplies and how to use them Basic watercolour techniques and colour theory Exercises for finding inspiration in nature Seasonal projects that include painting trees, leaves, flowers, natural light and patterns found in nature Tips for building a creative practice Discover your inner artist – and forge a new and powerful relationship to nature – in this calming project book, as you watercolour your way to mindful wellbeing.

Colour mixing is a key skill for the botanical artist. In this practical guide, Jackie Isard explains how to observe and use colour accurately. She shows artists how to make informed choices when selecting pigments, as well as how to learn about colour mixing and its application. Detailed instruction and advice are given on understanding colour and pigments. The author explains how to 'see' colour and tricky mixes, from greens and reds to the difficult botanical greys. Includes advanced colour application techniques - colour enhancement, shadow colours and colour temperature transition. Finally, step-by-step guides illustrate how to paint with layers, how to use underlaying colours to enhance, and colour and fine detailing.

Readers discover new insights into the methods of top contemporary watercolor artists with each edition of Splash, now an annual competition with an accompanying book after more than 20 years as a series. Splash 17 will be loaded with more than 125 paintings by more than 100 artists selected from thousands of watercolor and water-media painters across the world invited to submit work for consideration. Each painting will be accompanied by a caption that will show readers something about each artist's processes pertaining to the theme of texture. Entry fee of $30 for the first image and $25 per subsequent image helps defer cost of production; we expect to collect about $40,000 in fees. Call for entries will be promoted in The Artist's Magazine, Watercolor Artist, www.artistsnetwork.com, http://wetcanvas.com and eblasts. Deadline will be December 1, 2014 (earlybird deadline) and December 31, 2014 (final deadline).