I started my watercolor journey back during Covid and I am always looking for books and tools to expand and improve my skills. I enjoyed this book for its creative and simple design, practical application and just an all around good time

A beautifully presented, beginners guide to painting with watercolours. Covering everything you need to know about getting started with watercolours. Before getting into the projects, there are a range of clearly explained technique practice exercises, each accompanied by a video that can be accessed by scanning the QR code on the page.
The author has a lovely, encouraging voice, giving the reader permission to experiment and play with paint.
In the second half of the book are a wide selection of projects including a gift tag, bookmark and greetings card. At the end of the book are some templates if required.
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to give watercolours a go.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I am not artistic, but I would love to learn watercolor painting, and so I reviewed this new book. The title is so accurate! Author Nicki Traikos lays out clear guidelines for materials and supplies, techniques, and project ideas. The accessible book is attractive and focused. No, it does not teach advanced techniques or theory, but just what you need to succeed at your first attempts. I liked the format so much that I gave a copy to my teenage granddaughter, so that we can create watercolor paintings together.

Wonderful source of information and inspiration for anyone interested in learning to watercolor. With the help of techniques shared here I was able to enjoy the creative process and learn new skills. This is a great resource I will come back to time and time again.

Watercolor Made Simple is an absolutely gorgeous book that will motivate and inspire you to start painting. The book is pleasing to the eye and easy to follow. I appreciate the templates in the back of the book, which allow you to focus on your watercolor technique and not having to be concerned with drawing. If you are new to watercolor, or have some experience, this is a great book for you.

I was so excited to see this book because I've been wanting to learn watercolor for ages and recently was gifted all the supplies but had no idea what to do with them. This is such a great guide for beginners, it's easy to follow and very interactive and fun. I already feel more confident and I can't wait to learn even more!

This was a really great book to teach watercolour. With a range of activities on blending and using different amounts of water, it was definitely targeted towards beginners.

This was a NetGalley review.

I continued my learning journey through visual arts with this book dedicated to watercolor. Aimed for beginners and mid-level hobby painters, the book helps to approach this technique with confidence an ease, with step-by-step guidance on a big array of topics, from choosing your colours to patterns. I also appreciate that it does have explicit video illustrations of different chapters and techniques explained in the book, that can be easily accessed via QR Codes. The directions are easy to follow and the illustrations are also appealing. A recommended book if you want to make the best of your winter vacation, alone or as part of a family activity.

Reading Nicki Traikos’ fabulous ‘how to’ guide, “Watercolor Made Simple: Techniques, Projects, and Encouragement to Get Started Painting and Creating —with Traceable Designs and QR Codes to Online Tutorials,” is an essential for beginner artists desiring to learn how to use the often tricky techniques of watercolor painting.

Just reading this book made me excited. I immediately wanted to breaking-out my pencils, paint trays and paper because Traikos’ tips are so encouraging and easy to understand. One huge mistake that I’ve always made with watercolors, being untrained in the process, is not building layers of color nor painting from light shades to dark—which Traikos demonstrates in repeated tutorials.

She also reiterates frequently that beginners should continually practice techniques like painting lines, shapes, color combinations and hue densities. In addition, readers are encouraged to remember that each time that we paint, it is practice.

Consequently, don’t get frustrated if a work isn’t perfect. Traikos also offers great tips for recycling less than great paintings by cutting them up into gift tags, bookmarks and greeting cards. These are just a few examples of innovative ideas proposed in this short, but extremely helpful resource to watercolor painting techniques. It’s one of the very best examples of a ‘how to’ reference that I’ve had the privilege of reading.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Artist and Author Nicki Traikos, and Publisher Quarry Books for this advanced reader’s guide (ARC) for review.

An amazing book for anyone interested in beginning watercolor. Simple enough for older children but great advice for adults too.

This is a great intro to the watercolor book. I love the extra in the book that helps in different areas. The author did an excellent job of describing different things dealing with watercolor painting. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to start watercolor painting.

Watercolor Made Simple offers good instructions for creating more advanced beginner works. Nicki Traikos's book is for new painters who are familiar with the work of Peggy Dean and the classes she teaches.

Thank you NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry, and Quarry Books for this arc!

5/5 stars

This is perfect for anyone wanting to start watercolour painting, and for those of us who used to do watercolour painting all the time but haven't in years and don't want to take classes for just a refresher haha! This is laid out in a concise and thorough manner, explaining things easily and without sounding snooty. I enjoyed this and can feel my dried up creative juices start to flow again! Fantastic guide!

A great instructional book for watercolor! This book gives a straightforward, but detailed overview from needed materials, methods, and a variety of beautiful projects. Stunning, colorful, step-by-step pictures accompany the projects. A perfect guide for beginner watercolor artists!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

This is a beautiful and helpful book. Unfortunately it was archived before I could finish reading it so I am unable to write a full public review.

Starting to paint with watercolor without any guidance and being completely self-taught is not an easy thing. Trust me, I know.
For someone who is just starting to get into watercolor this book is a must-buy! It goes over everything I had to learn by trial and error, so it will take you so much less time than trying to go about it on your own like I did. I have experimented painting with acrylics, gouache, pastels, fabric paint, and a little bit of water soluble oil paint. And all of the aforementioned have their own individual intricate techniques and tricks. I was pretty much blind going in all of those. But watercolor was the one that I struggled with the most. I simply loved the way the finished paintings looked, but it was very, very hard not to do something wrong and mess up a painting in the middle of the process.
Watercolor is fickle and hard to control (it's basically pigmented water), so it can get challenging at times, even though that same characteristic is also what makes watercolor so fun and beautiful! If you know what you are doing.
This book accompanies you through all the techniques you need to master before you start actually making full paintings, using all the colors and doing it with complete confidence.
I wish I had found this book before I ventured alone into this amazing form of art, but I'm happy artists who want to start using watercolors have such a complete but full guide to help them through now.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarry Books for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review.

As an artist and owner of an art driven business, I have read a of of calligraphy books and drawing books but never a watercolor one. And I'm glad i started with this one. The author breaks every little step down, and makes it look simple while acknowledging that it takes work and practice and to not hate what you begin with. One of my favorite parts was to give yourself permission to make bad art. As a perfectionist but also an artist, i absolutely agree and love that sentiment!! But what sold on the book even a step further was pertaining to the fact that i don't fully believe you can learn art from a book. I am hands on but i also like watching videos or seeing someone visually show me the steps. And i think the author is the same way because she included QR codes to each of the steps so that you can watch a video of her performing the steps she has explained. Genius!!! Great book!

This book is great for watercolor beginners and intermediates. It goes through every step of the watercolor process, from basics techniques and color theory as well as a variety of projects to how to use pieces you dont like, and protecting and framing them.
I've beeing using watercolor for years and I’ve skimmed through a lot of watercolor books, but this is the first time i’ve seen a book with QR code that links to video tutorials on the basic techniques, I wish it was also available for the painting projects. The also has tracings of the projects, so it's perfect even for people who don't know how to draw.
Thank you to netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the arc

I am a beginner watercolor artist and found this book to be both beautiful and extremely helpful! The fundamental basics of using this medium, the step by step color theory explanations and the fun and simple projects to try, all combine to make this an ideal visual reference book to get you started in this form of art.

I found the bright, clear pictures to be stunning and easy to follow. Now I need to get my hands on a hard copy so I can use it over and over again!

Thank you Netgalley and Quarry Books for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Love this book, some great ideas on what to paint, as well as how to paint it. Can’t wait to try these out.

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