I have no art background. I just love art. I found this book extremely informative and super well written. Col0r theory has so many useful aspects of life outside of art; design, interior paint colors, etc. Loved it the photographs were fantastic.

Contemporary Color Theory: Watercolor Flowers is an excellent book for bussing artists who want to learn how to blend color and paint beautiful flowers. It is a great learning tool for brush technique and illustrates how to let the paint create the image. A fun book for new artists.

I love this book. Perfect for a beginner. It's not merely step by step, but goes extensively into Color Theory which helps you balance the color and hues in your work. It's an important step and shows the difference between a flat work and one that pops.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of Contemporary Color Theory: Watercolor Flowers!

Color Theory is such an intimidating subject, but Manushree Mishra helps really break it down! There's a hefty section discussing Color Theory and dives into putting together amazing palettes for your work. Following that information, there are floral-y projects to help put what you learned onto paper! This is a book that's definitely worth including in your art reference collection.

I love learning about color theory and this book is gorgeous and detailed. but I'm not an artist so I don't feel like I could use these techniques, at least not for a while. I'm gonna talk about this to my artist friends and see how they like it though.

Thanks to Netgalley for this advanced reading copy.

Excellent and easy to follow instruction on colors and how to create beautiful florals using them. I loved the brushwork section, as well. Watercolor is not an easy medium to master! This beautiful book makes it enjoyable and satisfying. Recommended for new artists, and this is a good reference for experienced artists, as well. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book overall. It had really good, clear instructions with amazing artwork. The author is super talented!

As an artist, I enjoyed the lessons on watercolor flower techniques. I always find it difficult to work along with the "how-to" without the actual book, but still enjoy trying different techniques as offered in this book. Thank you #NetGalley #ManushreeMishra and #QuartoPublishingGroup for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

My Grandaughter loves to paint and draw so whenever I see a book on the subject I always try to read it. This book is very detailed in its teachings. I say teaching because it is, with words and very detailed photos. I like the fact that there are different types of color wheels and she goes into depth on different shades of color and complimentary colors. The guide on tools and types of paper was very informative. My favorite picture was the wreath. It has all different types of flowers and leaves you can recreate and directions on doing them. Each also has a color palette at the beginning of the lesson. This is a must have for any budding artist who wants to learn watercolor. Recommend for 12 to adult.

Manushree Mishra presents a glorious book detailing the color wheel and watercolor flowers in a step-by-step instruction/illustration guide. She shows basic techniques first, like the use of proper brushes and the strokes they create, the amount of water to add to paint in order to paint a full color scale, how to mix and identify colors by their temperatures, and the creation of different value color wheels. It’s a beginner’s dream, quite encouraging, and incentivizing the beginner watercolorist to try, then try again while keeping a journal of progress to refer to and look back to see how far you’ve come. The instructions are very clear, and the watercolor illustrations are vibrant and quite striking. Many professionals can paint and create their own works, but it takes a special touch to slow down and teach others what you know about your craft. Mishra even gives the ratio of colors for the student to replicate more detailed color mixes (ie, color number one: 1 part, color number two: 3 parts, color number three: 1 part). She even shows her sketches and how she highlights a finished piece with pencil for details if necessary. If you are interested in how watercolors work and how to paint with them, this is a guide that should be in your library.

I have always wanted to create with watercolors after using acrylics for years and then trying oils. Watercolor techniques have always eluded me, especially since I cannot draw very well. Now that I’ve read this brilliant book of color basics and how to use them, I’m excited to once again try my hand at putting brush to watercolors to paper. I am familiar with a color wheel; however I’ve never seen in such detail how to create one, and then how to adapt to create wheels of different mixes of colors to use as a palette. It was incredibly eye opening, and the full-color illustrations make it tangible, as one can immediately see whether they have achieved the desired result. Also, tips on strokes, lines and water control lead to beginning art that anyone would be proud to recreate and to use as a springboard from which to dive into more advanced techniques. I’m thrilled to have received this ARC for review, and look forward with excitement to once again take out my beginner supplies and settle in to practice this new knowledge. I know the in-depth, illustrated presentation and watercolor tips/techniques will serve me well!

I’d like to thank Net Galley, Manushree Mishra, and Quarto Publishing Group USA, Inc. for the ability to read and review this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the ARC. I am brand new to watercolors and have little knowledge. This book was a good walk through of how to approach watercolor flowers. I realized while doing it my quality of art supplies made it difficult to use the book. However, the book is explicit in this saying you need high quality brushes and paint before beginning the projects. Overall, good book just wish I owned higher quality materials to really appreciate the book.

I love that we can constantly keep learning. There’s always something new. This book was a great addition to my watercolor stash. It helps you to truly grasp the color pallet and how your paints will work for you. The Color therapy is perfect in this book. I still have some more to do but I truly feel this book ignited my love for my watercolors all over again. Practicing different strokes, pressure and each one of my pans. I now i’ll have a reference to look back to when creating new pieces.

If your looking for a new book to check out this would be one I would recommend. It’s easy to follow and understand. Wish the flower instruction was a little more beginner friendly. It will limit the audience.

In short:
Did I like it ? Yes!
Did it inspire me? Yes, I’m ready to create.
Would I recommend it? Yes.

C0ntemporary colorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

This book is gorgeous and really gets me wanting to pull out my watercolors. So methodical as it works through color theory but intriguing to the very end. Every exercise is exciting and beautiful even if it’s “elementary”. All the flowers demonstrated are definitely wall-hang worthy. This is one of the best watercolor books I have come across!

Thank you, NetGalley!

4.5/5
I loved it! I learned so much about colors and how to enhance my paintings. I loved the exercises they included that helped me understand the topics that they were teaching. I also cant wait to try more of the step by step projects that they have included, especially the wreath.

I especially like how color is discussed in this book; it basically explained things such as, characteristics and temperature of colors, into easy to understand concepts. I love this book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in watercolors and/or learning more about color schemes.

Contemporary Color Theory: Watercolor Flowers teaches color theory through paintings of flowers. Starting with an introduction that touches on equipment and the basics of color theory, this knowledge is then followed by beautifully painted flowers, a description of the color scheme being used, and a clear picture of a color wheel that gives the reader a visual on how that color scheme interacts with the color wheel. This book then goes into creating your color palette, creating the flowers shown throughout the book, and the techniques needed to do that.

I really liked this book, I have painted watercolours for many years but this was a nice break down of exercises, how to do it step by step which is always a real help.

There was loads to learn in this book, from mixing colours, to why some colours look different when mixed and this is because of them being cool or warm. There was a lot of illustrations in the book which I loved, a lot of talk of paint and then also Mishra discussed the colour pallette and the moods that are created through different colours, I really enjoyed this part of the book and how to create different colours. mixing the exact colours you want which is what makes it differ from others books, it's pretty unique.

I'm definitely going to be giving some of these exercises a whirl especially now I have the extra time over the holidays!

With thanks to Manushree Mishra, the publishers and netgalley for the free ARC in return for my review.

A great book to learn about color theory or sharpen your skill. It has plenty to teach the reader, Enjoyable!

I usually do not post negative reviews online, so my comments are for the publisher most specifically. This book is very definitely for the beginner only. The overview of color theory is basic at best. My review found several problems, for example: Opera Rose PR81:1 is recommended for the split primary palette, yet it is a fugitive color, i.e. non-permanent and will fade. There are superior options out there. A Quinacridone Rose made with PV19 will have much better lightfastness, for example. The "orange-juice" paint consistency noted in the text is commonly referred to as "tea wash". Overall, I'm not convinced of the authority of this particular title and I cannot recommend it.