Book Review: Anna Mason’s Watercolour World
Today’s post is the first book review in my new category, ‘On the Bookshelf!’ This review is on Anna Mason’s Watercolour World. Anna is one of my favourite watercolour artists and influences, and I love this book! I haven’t posted a book review before, but being an avid book lover, I find it so helpful to read other reviews, so I thought I’d add my own contributions. It seemed befitting to make my first book review about one of my absolute favourite art books.
When I found Anna Mason’s book, I was wandering an art store aimlessly and spotted the gorgeous cover art. I can’t count how many times I’ve sat down just to browse the pages again and marvel over her artwork. A book you read over and over is always good value!
I need to mention firstly that this is not a sponsored post. I’m going to write some posts about my favourite books, influences, etc, and this has always been a standout on my bookshelf. People starting out in watercolour could benefit a lot from Anna’s book, but I’m sure it would be just as interesting, inspiring and useful at any level. She covers everything – finding inspiration, fundamental drawing/painting lessons, and painting details. She also maps out step-by-step methods (with heaps of good photos) for a variety of projects. Overall, her book just blew me away, and I’m surprised I haven’t seen it on more bookshelves. It’s so well structured and beautiful in its layout – clearly a lot of love and work went into its creation. It’s also a large hardcover book, so it’s just a stunning book to have on your coffee table.
I want to help get the word out about how awesome this book is. If she gets a lot of support over it, it might encourage her to produce more beautiful books for us! Online tutorials and blogs are great, but ultimately, I’m a book person. I suppose online content is so popular because it’s so easy to consume quickly, but I find such pleasure in a book. Slowing down life with an inspirational book and a cup of tea is such a therapeutic, calming experience. It’s also a nice way to give yourself a break from all the screens we’re bombarded with from every direction.
Anna’s watercolour style is not too dissimilar to mine, or at least what I aim for in a lot of my paintings. She paints quite finely detailed work with less ‘wet on wet’ washes than some of the looser styles commonly used with watercolours. That really drew me to her work, initially. I love the looser styles as well, and both styles take a great deal of skill in their execution, but I found it a tad harder to find watercolour artists with this style. I find that highly detailed, realistic style to be so mesmerising.
Since I’m mentioning this book, I’ll also let you know about Anna Mason’s website. It has an art school, tutorials and a blog that’s definitely worth checking out. Besides being full of amazing content, the website itself is gorgeous. You can buy her artwork, prints, or even a signed copy of this book directly from her website. I wish I’d known that before I purchased my copy from the art shop!
If you have any favourite books and influences you’d like to recommend, please feel free to comment here! I’d love to hear your recommendations!