Unlock Watercolor Mastery with Gordon MacKenzie's Essential Notebook

Chain Wonder: This is the best watercolor book I've read, and the writing and illustrations are off-the-charts good. The minus one star is for the publisher. There are two volumes under one cover here: an early edition and a revised second edition, both of the same book. That's not indicated on the cover, so I had no idea. There is a list of supplies toward the front that wasn't as good (e.g., Daniel Smith paints aren't included in the ratings). I purchased expensive paints using the outdated supply list and regretted it when I got to the more updated version of the same list. Buy the book, but start in the middle and read the second edition first. I've never seen two editions under one cover and don't see the point, other then it was expeditious for the publisher. Reader would have been better served by weaving all together for one cohesive volume. Again, the author is gifted at his art and conveying knowledge, a rare and precious combination.

United States on Sep 08, 2023

FabfiveohFabfiveoh: This is actually two books in one hardcover book:
1) The Watercolorist’s Essential Notebook
2) The Watercolorist’s Essential Notebook - Landscapes.
Well written, beautiful illustrations, good instructions, easy to follow and lots of useful information. Definitely one of my absolutely favorite watercolor books.

United States on Jul 19, 2023

EdgeWise: This was a gift for my Mother for Mother’s Day, she is a very talented artist and Watercolor painting is her preferred medium Or way of painting. Anyway as I said she is very talented and has been painting for a few years now almost every day even though she works full time as a NICU Nurse. She’s told that she’s found the book very interesting and helpful with new methods and techniques that she hasn’t used before and can’t wait to try them out. I feared she would not find much information that she didn’t already know (since she has other books and plenty of experience) but thankfully that hasn’t been the case. I can say that I did plenty of research and review reading before choosing this book, and that it was full of bright glossy pages brimming with detailed pictures and information, a must have for anyone who is interested in learning more about Watercolor Painting or just getting started on their journey of learning about Watercolor Painting, and also a great gift for anyone who is interested in painting with Watercolors!!

P.S. - I wanted to add that the seller I bought this book from -Super Books- took forever(6 days) to ship it out and they packaged it...

United States on May 19, 2023

Sue Gibson: Love it. So many ideas and information packed.

Australia on May 15, 2023

Corey: Bought as a gift and is a great source for painting

Canada on Mar 12, 2023

Jinxed: The media could not be loaded.  Any of the 5 star reviews on here expresses my opinions about this book. Well written and informative. When I started with watercolor I purchased this book along with several other "starter" workbooks and a couple of books by two youtubers I was learning from. Eager to jump into my new paints and create I started the workbooks and read the books and ended up a few weeks later a tad frustrated. The videos made it seem so simple just painting a flower or a tree, mine weren't coming out that way and the wookbooks were helpful but uninspiring, after binging youtube I wasn't any closer to figuring it out. One day I sat down with my coffee and started reading. Well, this book really did answer so many questions, some I didn't even have the "artists" vocabulary to ask really. So.much.info! I'll be using this book a lot!

United States on Mar 08, 2023

Viscardi: Gutes Buch für Anfänger. Grundlagen werden vermittelt und Tricks mit denen man viel Spaß mit Aquarell Farben haben kann.

Eigentlich sind es sogar zwei Bücher für den Preis von eins. Dadurch kommen manche Dinge doppelt vor. Bei anderen Sachen wünschte ich mir er wäre genauer, z.B. zeigen wie die Pinsel bei bestimmten Techniken angelegt werden.

Das Buch hat mir als Anfänger aber nach kurzer Zeit sehr geholfen. Daher verdiente 4 Sterne

Germany on May 15, 2022

HedgeMage: Some reviewers complained that this book is "dry" or "uninspiring". What they really meant is "packed full of useful content".

As a beginner to watercolor without an arts background of any kind, I've picked up more than a few watercolor books lately. Most of them are about 10% how-to-paint, and about 90% mooning on about how wonderful painting is or reassuring the reader that they can try to paint, the world won't end if they make a mistake, etc. In other words, a total waste of any functional adult's time. I already decided to paint, or I wouldn't have bought a watercolor book in the first place. In contrast, The Complete Watercolorist's Essential Notebook is 100% about how to paint.

This is the first book on watercolor that I've been really happy I bought. It taught me several techniques that I'd never heard of, clarified some I was struggling with, and most importantly explained a number of processes and concepts that every book and online tutorial I've found before take as self-evident, such as:

- Deciding the order in which to paint parts of a composition
- When should I let something dry before continuing to paint the next part of the composition, and...

United States on Jul 16, 2021

Yannis Bour: It is a great book for its price. Has all the info to start watercolor from scratch. I would recommend buying it before even spending money on material- I wish I had! Has some useful color charts comparisons for different paint brands. All the popular are there, besides Sennelier and Mijello's mission gold. Also has recommendation for palettes, brushes and other auxiliary material like sponges, masking tapes etc.

Besides material, It demonstrated the basic techniques with examples that promote creativity and crafting - if you are into it. It has some great info on composition and also some psychological support for the "artist". I am sure it will serve me as a reference book in the future.

As a downside, since it's a conjunction of 2 books some sections are repeated but the 2nd time the info is more up to date. Also, it covers the more traditional use of watercolor so if you are looking for a modern look or watercolor sketching there is not much info related.

Having the above in mind, I think this book can guide, inspire, motivate, save time and money to the beginner watercolorist. Also, can serve to an intermediate who wants to go into landscape painting,...

Spain on Jun 06, 2020

Robyn: This book really is the essential handbook for new watercolorists. Per its description, it really does compile years of experience into accessible information. For example, where it talks about transparent, semi-transparent and opaque, staining and non-staining pigments, it also mentions the techniques to which it is relevant. It talks about how certain brushes should behave and that some may be tricky to get the hang of, which is useful for figuring out whether your brush is terrible or you are. It covers little exercises for practicing basic techniques, and explores a variety of tools and ways of achieving interesting and unique results. It also covers how to compose a story in your image, and how to place the things in your picture to create a compelling piece of art.
For beginner to intermediate painters, this book is an indispensable companion to exploring watercolour expression.

Canada on Jul 17, 2019