Colorways: Watercolor Animals

Watercolor Animals is a technique and tutorial guide in the "Colorways" series - this volume is by Shaunna Russell. Released 3rd Dec 2019 by Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 128 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
Most readers are familiar with the Walter Foster technique paperbacks and this one follows the same format. The introduction (ca. 20% of the content) includes an overview of tools and supplies, some watercolor technique (wet into wet, masking, wet on dry, adding white), a short but info-dense chapter on color theory and mixing a palette, and getting started painting. The intro chapters are followed by 12 step by step tutorials. All of them are very colorful and appealing. The use of color is richly vibrant and different (see cover). The tutorials are explained clearly and the accompanying photographs (in color) are easy to follow. Each of the tutorials covers 6 - 8 pages of text and photos. The specific tools and palettes are not inluded but the tutorial photos are clear enough that readers won't have any trouble getting a similar result.

I really liked the explanations for preparing and using a reference photo for inspiration. She includes a very short capsule summary of gridding and sketching as well. Each of the tutorials includes one or more extra technique building points in addition to the artwork itself. Readers will find that working through the book will provide a fair number of technical skill building exercises to add to their repertoires.

This is not, strictly speaking, a book for beginning watercolorists; there's not a lot of hand-holding (palette choices, specific brush choices). There are several tutorials suitable for beginners however, and working through them, I would think that most readers will be able to do a credible job completing the rest without a lot of problems.

Five stars. I really liked both the style and execution.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

I like creative things such as painting and when I saw this, I thought it would be perfect to use with the other watercolour ARC I had also received. This book was really nice to use with its easy steps and I feel like you could apply the steps in this book to other animals that are not in the book

'Rating: 5⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes as I can use this whenever I want to use watercolour
Would I Recommend it? Yes, this is good for people who are interested in watercolour whether they are beginners or not

Colorways: Watercolor Animals is a vibrant and very creative book on learning to paint animals using different colours and techniques to give a contemporary and modern effect. The projects are inspirational and varied and could easily be adapted to put your own twist on the picture. Complete beginners may find it a little challenging due to the limited steps, but could still give it a try. The book is bursting with techniques and tips even if some of them are covered only briefly. Overall am excellent and inspiring book.

There are elephants, parakeets, a unicorn, fish, flowers and bees in this collection of stunning pictures, not to mention the brilliant cat, and the dog. I really love it, and would recommend to any artist.

I've always admired paintings where rainbow colours are used instead of the true colors. They are unusual and beautiful and often are a nice change from the norm.

It was nice therefore to get a look at this book! I'm looking forward to trying the techniques and following the step-by-step instructions to paint animals in a variety of colors! We can practice practice practice till we get it the way we like it. There are a couple of pages of color theory in the book to help us choose colors that complement each other.

I did not really like the color combinations used for some of the projects - just a personal preference - but the beauty of this type of painting is that the choice of colors is totally up to you.

All in all, a really nice book for those who want to paint animals with a difference.

It's the perfect gift for those who relax and have fun with watercolor. It was my favourite things to do when I was little. I really liked the introduction of the book, with all the watercolor techniques and the step-by-step guide.
Such a cute Christmas gift for young adult who loves art!

Colorways Watercolor Animals begins with a discussion of tools/materials and then goes right in to watercolor techniques. Russell explains basic color theory and then you are ready to start. There are 12 projects and each includes step-by-step instructions. These projects include a galaxy whale, unicorn, playful otter and a dog, to name a few. The instructions are very detailed and Russell encourages you along the way. This book taught me a lot in just one project and I intend to work on the other 11. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in watercolors. Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - Walter Foster and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a wonderful and useful book this is for watercolor artists, or anyone wanting to learn. A real eyeopener of blending colours, and achieved a myriad of projects which catch the eye and teach how to paint with watercolour. There are 12 projects in this book, bought to life by the use of various techniques and tools.
I love this book, the instructions are easy to follow and can be adapted to ones own style of painting.

If you like this colorful style and want to learn how to paint vibrant watercolor animals yourself, this is a good starter book. It doesn’t go deep into theory, just enough so that you get the idea bout watercolor techniques, color schemes and values. Basically, the three fundamental subjects to consider when working in this style.

I would say that most of the book focuses on teaching you by doing. Through Shaunna Russell’s 12 step-by-step projects, you’ll be able to paint a galaxy whale, a pair of parakeets in pastel colors, an iridescent beetle, a rainbow colored otter, among other animals.

I wish there were more projects for the multicolored portraits tho, maybe different types of dogs and other pets. Also, a “troubleshooting” or “most common mistakes” section would be nice, specially for beginners. Projects are for all levels. If a colorful dog portrait sounds too daunting at the moment, you can try a silhouette animal first. I really liked that the projects look different from each other in technique or level of difficulty, so you can learn and practice something different with each of them.

I was instantly conquered by the bold colors of the cover, I really enjoyed this book. After the usual materials, tools, techniques and color theory sections, presented in a very appealing way and of easy comprehension, there are many exercises including household and wild animals, among them ones I have never seen in any other art instruction book, like whales, otters and puffins. Easy instructions richly illustrated, great artwork with gorgeus colours, very enjoyable book.