Customer Reviews

Painting Close-Focus Flowers in Watercolor

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I love looking at this book! For years I have been filing away myriads of floral photos with the hope that one day I might attempt to capture them in paint. I muse over these photos from time to time wondering just how a painter might do them justice. I need wonder no more. In Ann Pember's "Painting Close-Focus Flowers in Watercolor", she has been able to demonstrate a variety of step-by-fluid-step techniques to bring high drama to the world of simple blooms. Her close-ups of hollyhocks, gloxinias; and peonies float upon the pages which are jam-packed with carefully chosen, eye-pleasing colors. Thankfully, the vibrancy of Ms. Pember's palette has been well-reproduced in the printing process. There is so much valuable information packed into this book. One should read it from cover to cover initially to pick up all the helpful hints. What a wealth of knowledge Ms. Pember has shared with her readers including: preferences for specific papers, paints and brushes; how to avoid turning paints into "mud"; and my toughest assignment - how to see shapes and values as patterns; to mention a few. Ann Pember's close-up compositions are outstanding. Even if my attempts pale in comparison to this well-seasoned artist's, she is very encouraging. She reinforces the idea that given some degree of perseverence and practice, we too may develop our own means of capturing nature's beauties "up-close and personal".

I really don't think that any artist can survive with just one book on the shelf. This book is a great resource with beautiful step by step photographs. I recommend it to someone with a little experience and foundation. This book is not too intensive but also does not hold your hand at every step. A resource to add to your library. It helped me relax my style a bit.

Ann Pember, author of PAINTING CLOSE-FOCUS FLOWERS IN WATERCOLOR has a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in fashion design and illustration. Before she became a free-lance illustrator, she worked as a commercial artist for many years. Photos in her book show the professional studio where she works. Technically, her work is nearly perfect. I don't particularly care for her rendering of her subject matter as it stikes me as too "commercial" and not very painterly at all, but much can be learned from her book if you have had no other exposure.

Ms. Pember's background in fashion design and illustration are apparent in her work. She takes the reader from photographs of flowers to watercolors of those photographed flowers in several steps. She reveals how the eye is attracted by asymetry (offsetting of the center) and the placement of elements; how backlighting and focused lighting affect the appearance of the subject; how surfaces and background affect the paint and matter in the execution of a watercolor. She spends some time addressing color, but Ms. Pember is not a colorist. She is more concerned with line and the arrangement of elements in a design.

The end result from my perspective are flowers that are somewhat overcontrolled, although she gives the unpracticed eye the exact opposite impression. In the end, her flowers are contrived and not original. The watercolorist can acquire some interesting tips for creating pleasing paintings, but if producing art for commercial purposes is not your goal you may find Pember's book less rewarding.