"Watercolor Your Way" by Sarah Gray is an exceptional guide for beginners venturing into the world of watercolor as well as intermediate artists and beyond. Gray skillfully breaks down the intricacies of watercolor painting, offering a step-by-step approach that makes the learning process accessible and enjoyable. The inclusion of techniques such as "wet on wet" and "wet on dry" provides a comprehensive foundation for beginners to explore and experiment with various styles.

One of the book's standout features is its progressive difficulty, allowing readers to seamlessly advance their skills as they move through the chapters. Gray's thoughtful guidance is akin to having a personal instructor, making the learning journey both informative and engaging. This aspect is particularly valuable for those, like myself, who wish to apply watercolour techniques to creative endeavors like bullet journaling and reading journals.

What sets this book apart is Gray's emphasis on adaptability. She wisely advises on materials suitable for each stage of the learning process, advocating against the misconception that beginners must invest in top-tier supplies. This approach not only encourages experimentation but also helps individuals discover their preferred paints and papers, aligning with their unique watercolouring style.

As someone interested in incorporating watercolor into journaling, I found Gray's insights and practical tips invaluable. Her encouraging tone and user-friendly instructions make "Watercolor Your Way" an ideal introductory text for anyone looking to enhance their artistic expressions through watercolour, making it a must-read for both aspiring artists and journaling enthusiasts alike.

There were a couple of typos that I came across in the book, but these didn't detract from the overall readability of the book.

Beautifully illustrated and easily accessible to beginner artists, this guide will provide you with the foundational skills and detail the tools you will need to get started using watercolors as a medium.

I haven't painted in a long time and this was a nice kickstart to get me going again! To be fair, I skipped over the first one and a half chapters, but I think it's suitable for absolute beginners.

There were some fun exercises that built up on each other and were easy to follow along.

The only thing that bothered me is that each chapter had different paints and different papers recommended. Especially beginners probably don't want to invest in a variety of different paints, etc. It's good that you always get an explanation WHY the particular medium is preferable and you can still follow along the instructions with different equipment, but not with exactly the same results, I guess.

I am absolutely in love with this book. It does a wonderful job explaining various techniques for watercoloring. I have put it on my to purchase list.

Watercolor Your Way is a really beautiful guide to developing your skills with the medium. Probably best suited for beginner to intermediate levels, the four sections (Just Starting Out, Building Confidence and Skill, Finessing and Enhancing, and Finding Your Style) combine to form a developmental approach to teaching watercolor painting. The projects included are beautiful, and although they are all themed around nature, there is a lot of variance, from basic florals, to various styles of landscapes, to insects and birds, and even a stunning white tiger! The collection of projects is cohesive but still varied enough to keep you engaged.

You can really tell the author has experience teaching others. Her developmental approach is evidenced not only in the arrangement of chapters and projects, but also in her timing of presenting skills to practice. In my experience, a lot of times watercolor books will have a section in the very beginning that outlines tools and skills all at once, and then they will include the projects later. In Watercolor Your Way, concepts are introduced or expanded upon throughout and alongside the projects. For instance, the author included basic information about the primary colors needed in the beginning of the book and encouraged readers to learn by experimenting and painting. Then, in the third section, color theory is revisited, after the artist has time to play with the basics on their own. I find that to be somewhat unique to this book, and I really enjoy it.

I hadn’t heard of this author before, but now I am definitely inclined to check out more of her work. Definitely would recommend!

*Thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry, and Sarah Cray for the opportunity to review a free eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!*

I’ve so enjoyed learning from Sarah Cray through Let’s Make Art since 2020! Her work is beautiful and she makes water coloring so enjoyable for everyone! This book is just another grand slam from her! It was fun to preview it digitally and I can’t wait to order a paper copy!

Watercolor your Way is beautifully done and very well presented m. I’ve already pre-ordered a copy and I can wait to delve into the beautiful tutorials. The pictures are breathtaking and inspiring. The directions are clear and easy to follow. I wish they were a bit more in-depth but they are well layer out, easy to follow and Will produce great results. I couldn’t be happier.

This is a beautiful watercolor book that gives step by step instructions along with templates and outlines. I love how the book is organized and walks you through starting from with the very beginning of watercoloring. I am looking forward to spending more time watercoloring this year.

Thanks NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for this ARC.

Loved this book, can’t wait to try out some of the ideas and techniques.

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

I have been following Sarah Cray's work for awhile now through Let's Make art and on social media. I love her art and her teaching style, so naturally I really enjoyed this book! I love the positive tone of the book, as well as the colorful, gorgeous images throughout. Sarah really breaks down the medium in a simple way to help even the least experienced painter feel comfortable with starting. I love her 'pep talk' sections of the book to boost morale and keep you going, and I find the shape guides for each project to be an excellent help when approaching a new subject. The book is filled with a wide range of projects from simple to more complex. All along the way, Sarah cheers you on & encourages you to continue trying and learning. As a lover of integrating elements of nature into my art, the botanical projects were my favorites! I did like the animal ones as well. This would be an amazing book to add to my art library and to gift to those interested in learning more about watercolor painting!

Gorgeous paintings, the author is clearly talented and is sharing her hard earned knowledge with this book. It was broken down step by step, but she made it look effortless.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A great instructional book for watercolor! This book gives a straightforward, but detailed overview from needed materials, methods, and a variety of beautiful nature-inspired 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.

I've recently been thinking about getting back into my hobby of water coloring and this book was a great way for me to step back into the fun!

There were a lot of helpful tips and the step by step guides that gave me the inspiration and the know-how to explore my creative side.

I think this book will be helpful to any level of water color painters; from beginners to advanced painters, there's a lot of fun to be had with Watercolor Your Way.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this title early in exchange for my honest review.

Thinking of doing a fun event at our store with this one! Love love it for our corner of the market. Thank you so much for the inspiration & advanced read.

An incredibly delightful tutorial on watercolour and its many techniques and styles!
Written clearly, beautifully illustrated, and encouraging along every step of the way, it was a pleasure to read and an immensely useful reference. I recommend to anyone who desires to step into the world of watercolor, or those who have some experience under their brush but are looking for a good book to lay out many of the fundamentals.
Fun and unique, this is a refreshing and useful guide to those who wish to join the watercolour medium!

Such a great book! I’m a total beginner at water color and this made it so do-able. The projects are easy to follow and I appreciated the videos that were available to accompany the book.

Thank you to netgalley and Quarto Publishing for this ARC.
Sarah Cray creates beautiful watercolors and I enjoyed this book! I liked that there were different tools used and the option to watch videos on the steps described. I learned a lot and am looking forward to trying a few of the techniques.

This watercoloring book is an absolute gem! The artistically curated exercises and step-by-step tutorials make it a joy for beginners and a refreshing challenge for seasoned painters. With vibrant illustrations and insightful tips, it's a delightful journey into the world of watercolors, unlocking creativity with each page turned

I've always wanted to watercolor, and this fabulous how-to book is perfect for beginners and more advanced artists alike. The illustrations are stunning, the projects are easy to follow, and there are templates to help you get started. Highly recommended!

This was a nice refresher for me. I've been wanting to get back into Water Color and acrylic painting. This was a great way to spark that love for it again and super easy to follow and understand.