I was recently gifted a reverse coloring book and loved it, it's such a fun concept. The art in this one is really beautiful and the instruction is simple and easy to follow. I'm eager to get a physical copy so I can actually use it. Highly recommend this for both beginner and more experienced artists alike!

This is an exceptional book for beginners who want to learn watercolor and ink techniques. It is highly recommended for personal use and gift giving. It offers ideas for ink doodling with splashes of color. Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals is a fun book for budding watercolor artists.

This was a super fun art book. I've just started watercolor and this book has fantastic ideas for both beginners and people with more experience.

This book makes watercolor look easy. The images were beautiful, simple, and creative. I would recommend this read for our art collection, specifically watercolor.

This was one of my favorite art books! It's easy to follow and the simple combination of watercolor of fine black pens make every painting look incredible. Great for beginners and the more advanced as it offers mindful and therapeutic techniques.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This book has you making blotches of color with watercolors, then using a pen to draw the outlines of flowers and leaves within the borders.
I thought that this would be more painting a flower base, then some adding to that with pen.

★★★ ☐☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.

Want to make simple floral patterns in a journal, book, or card? This DIY watercolor manual will give you a fresh start. Learn to use color, brushes, and shapes that convince the eye of flowers.

This is a book you will pull off the shelf when you want ideas, need inspiration, or get stuck.

Simple, pretty, and useful, it's worth adding to your watercolor or scrapbooking library.

For Watercolor Fans
One-line artist, illustrator, university lecturer, and author Heinke Nied presents her book "Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals. Let your creativity and pen flow over delightful watercolor designs", published by Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster. As the goal of the book Nied states: "With this book, I seek to help you relax and enjoy the calming flow of drawing. Let it serve as your meditation practice in your daily life—your island of calm, helping you refuel or discover your creative energy" (p.3). She also challenges the readers: "Let yourself be inspired by the various forms and colors on the pages. Immerse yourself in the world of color, drawing your designs and patterns as you wish. There are no expectations for what the art you create should look like, and no judgment. This book is your place to relax. The result isn’t important here. Discover how to draw new patterns and forms on top of the watercolors, and let yourself be surprised by your own creativity. You’ll see that drawing and doodling will become easier over time" (p.3).
In the first part of the book Nied writes how she begins with Color in Reverse drawings, gives an introduction into tools & materials, inspiration, shapes, patterns, lines, ... The second part of the book offers patterns where the readers can apply the method.
I Just heard about reverse coloring when it was possible to get the ARC. I really enjoyed the book and find the approach quite interesting. The pages in the pattern part of the book are only one-sided which is quite helpful, but it would also have been useful if the pages could be downloaded as pdf or jpg. I highly recommend the book to people who are interested in coloring and who are looking for something inspirational that is different than usual coloring books.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#ColorInReverseWatercolorFlorals #Netgalley

Book Review: Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals by Heinke Nied

Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals is a delightful and accessible art book that combines the beauty of watercolor with the simplicity of one-line drawings. Authored by Heinke Nied, a talented artist and illustrator, this book aims to make art enjoyable and approachable for everyone, regardless of their artistic background or skill level.

One of the standout features of this book is the inspiring artwork it contains. From vibrant flowers and lush plants to intriguing abstract designs, Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals offers a wide range of subjects that are sure to captivate and inspire readers. Each page is thoughtfully designed, with sturdy paper and one-sided printing, allowing you to cut out and display your finished artwork without worrying about bleed-through.

Heinke Nied goes beyond providing beautiful artwork by including helpful instruction and tips on using pens and watercolors. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, the pen and watercolor techniques shared in this book will enhance your artistic abilities and give you the confidence to experiment with different styles and approaches.

The book also offers short primers on tools and color theory, making it a valuable resource for those who want to deepen their understanding of art fundamentals. The inclusion of patterns, tracings, and designs within the book provides further inspiration and encourages readers to incorporate these elements into their own artwork.

One of the unique aspects of Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals is the interactive nature of the book. You are invited to draw your own lines over Heinke Nied's artwork, allowing you to personalize and make each piece your own. This hands-on approach not only fosters creativity but also provides a sense of relaxation and satisfaction as you engage with the art.

The book's versatility extends beyond a traditional art book. The pages can be easily cut out and used as gifts, home decor, or cards for loved ones. This feature adds an additional layer of value to Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals, making it a practical and thoughtful resource for both personal enjoyment and sharing your creativity with others.

Overall, Color in Reverse: Watercolor Florals is a delightful and engaging book that offers a unique approach to watercolor art. Heinke Nied's ability to make art accessible to all shines through in her clear instruction, beautiful artwork, and interactive elements. Whether you're a seasoned artist or just starting your creative journey, this book is sure to bring joy, relaxation, and inspiration to your artistic endeavors.

I love water color painting but never took time to read a book on the technical aspect. This book was super fun and really easy to follow along with. I learned to do a few flowers that I now use in most of my paintings. It even taught me how to do some simple people which I love.

I recently got Into water colour painting and wanted to develop my skills even further, this book is amazing for explaining water colour techniques and ideas!

I highly recommend.

What a inspiring book this is. The joy of this book is that allows great freedom and creativity in your art work.
Start with some splotches of water color on a page, follow this with a fine line pens, markers and brush pens drawings. By incorporate these two mediums together, one can make lovely artwork. And there are instructions on how to draw faces, incorporate pattern, wildlife and botanicals.
Finally there are many pages at the end of the book to you to use and add your own touch onto the water color background. . Thanks you NetGalley and the publishers for the DRC

This is a very different way to approach watercolor florals. I love the patterns provided. The use of color is yummy. I feel there should be more descriptions for each page. I suppose if you are good at looking at something and copying it this would be a good book for you. I would have liked a bit more direction especially when different designs are being shown. I am disappointed with all the patterns without any details given in the later parts of the book.

I would like to thank the author, Quarto Publishing Group- Walter Foster Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m still very new to watercolours, so this book is very helpful for my improvement. I’m looking forward to implementing some of these idea’s.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I have to say, what a lovely idea for a book! The author presents a fun and relaxing approach to creativity where the art itself is already started, you just have to finish it. Recently referred to as "reverse coloring books", this book gets you into the mindset of getting loose and having fun with the watercolor backgrounds you embellish.

The author starts out by showcasing a few examples of their own doodles on top of watercolor blooms. Some of the blooms are more thematically obvious (very clearly aiming for roses, trees, etc) and some are more abstract. Regardless, there was plenty of room for the imagination to play around and variety to keep things interesting.

While a couple tools and techniques were explained, I do think the biggest fault of the book is that I wish there was more! The instructions were rather quick and a bit too surface-level for perhaps some beginners, who may feel very intimidated to potentially 'ruin' the book by drawing in it, due to lack of faith in their skills. (Spoiler: you can't ruin the book! Please draw away!) Some step-by-step images too, though done with one line so I understand couldn't 'realistically' be broken down further, could've benefited from a /little/ more explanation. This is less a "how to" and more a "have fun" type of book, with the examples serving more as inspiration than instruction.

I do LOVE that the author touches on making watercolor backgrounds yourself, so if you end up filling up the pages, you can have a bit more knowledge and confidence in making more on your own. Super glad that was included.

I wish there was a touch more offered in this book, I think that could've made this an easy 5 star perfect book for me, but I otherwise think it's fantastic. Could make for a great gift as well, even to a not-so-artsy person. This could work nicely for meditative doodling, calming drawing time, etc. The book seems welcoming for most all ages.

As I was given a digital copy, I cannot comment on the quality of the physical pages, nor can I take part in the actual drawing process (unfortunately!), but I can say I walked away quite inspired! :)

Greatttt book. TONS of helpful tips for watercolor flowers! I loved the pics and examples! This book is great for all levels of experience and helps even complete beginners create beautiful art

I love the idea of this book, but I do feel it slightly misses the mark in 2 ways. There's lots of nice directions at the beginning, and ideas about what sort of shapes and things you might see in the colour pages, but the pages themselves seem to be one thing or another. They're either "very obviously X" or "random colour blobs".As someone who struggles with original creativity, but can draw, I'd find the 'obvious' pages a bit too simple, but the 'random' pages a bit too obscure.

This would make a nice gift for an older teen or adult who lacked confidence in their drawing abilities, but wanted something more than a standard colouring book, and I suspect that's the market it's aimed at.

A really nice idea, and I will keep an eye out in future for other books doing a similar thing, I'll just make sure to flick through first and ensure it's aimed at who I'm buying for.

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

Beautiful watercolors to doodle one. I love the intro with tips for doodling and different ideas as well as how to use watercolors to create your own watercolor "backgrounds" to doodle on.

Color In Reverse makes watercolor sketching available to the layman with inspiring pictures and ideas. Heinke Nied wants everyone to be able to experience the joy of creating fun art, and in this book she shows a technique of sketching and using diluted watercolors to make free form, cute artwork. This is truly painting outside the lines!

I found the artwork inspiring and oh so sweet! I'm still not sure my drawings would come out looking like this, but I'm inspired to try. There are a lot of photo inspirations, but I would have liked to see more instructions as to achieving these results.

I enjoyed the book, and look forward to trying my own techniques. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to view an ARC of this book!

Beautiful book. It was difficult to use as I had a digital copy. I highly recommend this title in hardcover and will seek one for myself. It is inspiring. I am new to watercolor and can't wait to go more in depth with a hard copy.