The introduction by the author sets up a journey through fantasy history where we remember that fantasy creatures are the stuff born from legends, and inspiration is all around us in the present day. Stephanie is an accomplished artist and painter producing vivid and gorgeous watercolours, and in her book she depicts some of the better known legendary creatures and beasts.
She takes us through the tools of the trade giving good advice to the reader and guiding them through the process of finding out what is right for them. She then talks about different techniques and the book has good photos as guides which combined with informative text is easy to follow. The use of salt and rubbing alcohol is covered as well as a section on different paper types which also instructs you how to stretch your paper if needed. I found this latter piece very useful as I have had disasters in the past with paper buckling when I had thought it was pre-stetched, having forgotten how to stretch it it was a welcome section to read.
Blending, glazing, dry brushing and various other vital techniques are covered in the sections prior to getting to the numerous work-through examples. There are ten pieces for you to try in this book and I must say they are quite daunting at first, I was never expecting to get close to the original. Instead I looked at them as exercises to gain experience of the skills I needed to learn to further my knowledge base and progress as a painter. Watercolours are not for everybody and they are widely accepted as being one of the most difficult and unforgiving mediums to use. This is true but if you're prepared to make mistakes, learn from them and try again then this book will certainly help. Thoughtfully put together and giving great advice for would be fantasy artists I can't recommend this book enough, the section on dragons was a particular favourite as I have a keen interest in them.
You can find this book on Amazon
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