I bought this book because I wanted to better understand how to apply light and shadow in paintings. This book gives you a basic overview of how light behaves in different indoor and outdoor settings with good description. What I like the most about this book is the fact that it explains different kinds of light in nature, and how to observe and apply the color changes to object's surface because of the behavior of the light. The highlight of this book is the first chapter, which the author sets up something akin to a isolated scientific lab to explain the behavior of light by isolating objects and guides reader to a detail dissection of the anatomy of light and shadow, which is something so helpful to understanding light and shadow that I think is worth buying this book just to look at these few pages! I learn some very important key points about the behavior of light that I didn't notice before, which is basic knowledge that every good artists should know, for instance, the way light reacts with surfaces, and how color changes because of reflected light, which I found the explanation to be very informative and educational.

Subsequent chapters devote to much further the concepts in the books. A couple of step-by-step case studies of paintings by different artists lead readers from start to finish, which allows readers to see how to actually apply the theory in an actual setting (I have always found the best way to learn art is to observer how the good artists do it). The book is easy to follow, with good qualites reproduction of example of paintings, and explanation along with pictures easy to understand. The book is about 124 pages long, ALL color pages (no black and white pictures anywhere, which is good!). This book is designed for anyone who wants to have a better grasp of using light in their art.

I had borrowed this book from the library and liked it so much that it's now on my wish list so I can add it to my own reference library. The explanations are clear and the examples beautiful. I especially liked the analysis of Zoltan Szabo's use of light and shadow. This book led me to be more observant in looking at light and shadow, helped me understand what I was seeing, and will help me use that understanding in future paintings. I'm anxious to see the author's book on textures also.

The book is comprehensive indeed, but as a BASIC course, the book seems to assume some level of previous art experience. I had questions about brush care and other small details which were not covered.

This book is very beginnerish, but is good as a reference for the more experienced artist. It covers a little bit of everything for you and is inspiring. I am glad I own this book. In fact, the spine on it is almost worn out from using it so much.

Inclused useful information about basic materials and techniques. Excellent chapter on mixing colors. Good information about design, value, and saving whites. Chapters on landscapes, plants and flowers, water , the figure and portraits.

My first impression of this newest Splash was "Wow!" I was impressed by the sheer gamut of paintings from super-realistic to abstract. I found the abstract selections particularly appealing and useful.

But at second glance, I was not convinced this would help my painting enough to justify keeping the book. I think I got more out of Jeanne Carbonetti's books (Tao, Zen, Yoga of ...series) and of Watercolor Bold and Free.

So, if you want a good selection of examples of art focusing on the use of texture, this is a good selection. If you have a wide library of watercolor books already, this may not be anything really that new.

As an established commercial airbrush artist, just beginning to dabble in watercolor fine art I found "Splash 6" very inspiring. It has opened my eyes to the amazing potential of watercolors and I highly recommend this book to fellow artists and lovers of fine art.

I was given this book just two weeks ago, but have already been through it several times. As its title suggests, it does indeed focus on depicting texture in watercolors, but I kept forgetting that as I turned each page and was stunned by the incredible artwork. I liked this book the most because of the diversity of paintings included. It has examples of serious, whimsical, traditional, avant-garde, representational, abstract... You name it! It helped open up my mind as to what watercolor could be.

The only negative thing I have to say is that I feel a little intimdiated about picking up my brush again. I was telling my watercolor teacher that I know I can never be as good as these artists. She said, "Yeah, when I saw this book, I thought, 'Why bother?'" But she is picking up her brush again as I am, and we have a wealth of new ideas and techniques to try out.

My nine-year-old niece was even impressed with this book!

The original focus of this book was said to be art selected from the annual Arts for the Parks contest in Jackson, Wyoming, but that idea got lost somewhere since some paintings are not from national parks and paintings from parks have no notation to tell you which park is depicted. I have been following the Arts for the Parks for a couple of years and I find some of the omissions pretty glaring. Why do we get six paintings by Jim McVicker and not one by Ronnie Barnes? Three David Tutwilers and no Shirley Cleary. Three Dempwolfs and no Lanford Munroe. There are many beautiful paintings in the book and the artists comments are interesting and informative. The picture cropping at times is brutish and the desciption of one painting is obviously of another.A good book in spite of the editing.31/2 stars for the art and 1/2 a star for the publisher.

What a beautiful collection of art work form the years of the Art of the Parks contests. No matter what style the paintings are, the compositions are outstanding. Nice picture reproduction with a short relevant text with each entry.

This book is a collection of flower paintings by different artists. It is beautiful to look it. The artists describe the technique they used, their materials,and the process of the painting. I find it enjoyable and liked the idea that it had many mediums. A nice gift.

As well as a good place to see different styles displyed together but it would have been nice to include some art-in-progress info on the various artists so the reader could see the different techniques in action. Overall, though, the quality of the artwork is amazing and a wonderful book to look through when you are looking for inspiration.

Part of a series, Keys to Painting Fruit and Flowers compiles some of the best lessons from various North Light published books. For those who can't afford to buy each individual book this one is a good substitute. There is a bit more emphasis on the "Flowers" than the "Fruit" but I suspect this is because flowers are the more popular subject of the two. The first chapter concentrates on drawing and composition, two skills which are the foundation of good art. Thereafter one chapter each is devoted to watercolor, colored pencil, acrylic, pastel and oil with the final chapter showing several demonstrations in some of these media with full paintings featuring flower arrangements or interiors laden with flowers (The chapter title is Painting Luminous Florals). The last few pages feature a gallery of floral and fruit still-life paintings in a variety of media.

The book is a disappointment. The paintings are well reproduced, but for the most part they are undistinguished, pedestrian pictures by new and [one hopes] developing artists. Not master of the genre is represented. No Kinstler, no Sanden, no David Green, no Gordon Wetmore, no Jack Beal, nobody. Sorry, there are better coffee tables books available. No John Singer Sargeants here.

My other review was too harsh. I'm afraid I initially expected a book geared to painters of portraits rather than viewers of portraits. I've since had an opportunity to spend some time with the book and it wears well. Sorry painters and editor.

I really enjoyed the book, especially the portrait on page 132, since it is me in the painting. It brought me a lot of happiness to see my portrait in this magnificent book. Special thanks to the artist, my very good friend Tom Joyce. I hope you read this message so you will know that you are very special and talented person...love, Cristina

Very disappointing!!! Messy layout,...mostly mediocre artists who write just as poorly. What substance there is could have been covered in one of their two page magazine articles. And what's with all those pretentious triple barreled names?

Rachel R Wolf used a simple approach to deal with the painiting of the seascape. Not only the painiting of the sea is dealt with but the items that interact with the sea are also discussed. Items like boats, shorelines, people, animals, birds etc that compose the picture are discussed.

Mix media are also explored in the book. The autheor used different media like water colour, oil ink and pastel to illustrate how to bring out the mood for the various coposition. It also discuss how some of the tips to help overcome mistakes and mask its effects.

I go to Maine every year to paint the wonderful rocks and seas and boats. Seeing a sailboat from the safety of the shore (Iget seasick on a boat), doesn't give you nearly the perspective nor information that this book gives you. I have it, I've read it, I've used it, and now I'm sending it to a friend who loves to paint seascapes also.