I thought I would do a few posts with my top books for those beginning to jump into the art world. I’m sharing the top ten books I picked for beginners from my collection.Â
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You can read all the books you want, take all the classes and workshops you want, and buy all the best gear, but your art will only improve if you practice regularly. This book gets you started on that path.
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Caroline Linscott covers a range of popular subjects as she introduces several basic art concepts and painting techniques, all clearly explained and illustrated.
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The exercises are ideal for beginners, and the main projects will also build skills that will help artists improve. A pull-out outline drawing is provided for every exercise and main project, and Matthew Palmer shows step-by-step instructions on how to transfer these onto watercolor paper.
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A series of fun, hands-on exercises help you practice and perfect your strokes—24 mini-demos lead to 9 full step-by-step demos. The lessons you learn by drawing simple subjects such as coffee mugs, clouds and trees will help you take on progressively more challenging matter like animals, still lifes, landscapes and portraits,
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The entertaining, hands-on lessons begin with contour drawing techniques and feature numerous exercises that show budding artists how to make basic shapes and forms.
6.
Beautifully presented instructions and illustrations show you the fundamentals of watercolor for beginners. In five different lessons, mix colors and try various brushstrokes and washes. Learn how to choose and assemble your supplies and paint using color theory and composition techniques.
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The eight lessons are carefully constructed to build the necessary techniques, one step at a time, by first starting with simple tasks such as creating and painting flowers with just a few petals and gradually leading up to more complex works with multiple flowers and colors.
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Botanical artist Harriet de Winton shows you how to paint modern watercolor artworks to treasure and share. This book aims to expand readers' repertoires into fauna and flora, with easy-to-follow instructions for a variety of difficulty levels.
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This book can teach anyone to draw (yes, even you!) Carrie and Rick Parks can help. As award-winning teachers, they have a proven game plan for helping artists of all levels overcome common problems and see immediate improvement in their work.
10.
For those who want a bigger challenge and enjoy figure drawing, Christopher Harts shares his "foolproof" method; even beginners can quick-check the proportions of their head and figure drawings, identify errors, and swiftly fix mistakes.