Book Review: DRAWING TOWARDS WATERCOLOUR Leisure Painter Magazine - May 2005 Reviewer: Theodora Philcox

The book is divided into three sections. The first looks at basic materials and techniques, providing very simple exercises to develop skills in handling the pencil and applying watercolour. Woolley advises the reader to work through the book steadily, to ensure foundation skills are laid. This initial section also explores tonal contrast, colour mixing and various types of wash, before moving into the main section of the book, which works through the various elements of landscape painting.

Sections on buildings, trees, skies, rivers and water, snow, figures and urban landscapes challenge the reader to learn new skills, with each of these topics making very specific demands. The ordeal of perspective, for example, is dealt with first in the section on buildings. The subject is made as non-threateniing as possible, with initial simple exercises, which progress to a full step-by-step demonstration.

Demonstrations, or projects, are a feature of each section, and all start off with a photograph, followed by step-by-step advice on making a working sketch, and then the construction of the painting. It's good to see the two elements of developing a painting given equal space.

Throughout the book Woolley takes opportunities to introduce a range of textural techniques such as using sea salt to create the effects of falling snow; masking fluid to indicate the spray from a wave, and using the texture of the paper with a dry brush for a variety of effects. The final section of the book encourages readers to sketch outdoors and to be critical in their approach to their subject.

Less, he says, is often bet, and with simplification, an air of mystery can enter a composition, giving it greater impact. He shows us how to look with an artist's eye - to absorb detail and then transform it with understanding and imagination.

Theodora Philcox

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