Archive for category Author: Wendy Jelbert
Flowers (Trace & Paint) || Wendy Jelbert, Michael Lakin, Fiona Peart, Wendy Tait
Posted by henry in Author: Fiona Peart, Author: Michael Lakin, Author: Wendy Jelbert, Author: Wendy Tait, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Trace & Paint, Subject: Flowers on December 5, 2011
This is a bind-up of material that has previously appeared in four of the Ready to Paint series. Apart from the portmanteau price, which is pretty good value, the different here is that, instead of tracings, you get outlines pre-printed on plain paper that are really quite difficult to transfer. If it’s this aspect that you really want, then I’d recommend giving this a miss and shelling out for the original books. However, if you think you can dispense with the outlines, then the executions are very nicely done and you can certainly learn a lot about flower painting – I’ve recommended at least two of these before.
Handbook of Watercolour Tips and Techniques || Arnold Lowrey, Wendy Jelbert, Geoff Kersey, Barry Herniman
I don’t normally review bind-ups as I’ve usually covered the individual volumes previously. Sometimes, though, there’s a particular reason: the single books are no longer available, the anthology is particularly good value or maybe there’s some kind of health warning.
This one falls into the latter category. Be aware that this particular collection has appeared previously, but in a larger format. If you’ve already got a similar sounding book by the same four authors, don’t assume that this is more in the same vein, it’s the same thing.
I have to confess that the reason for issuing it in a half-size format eludes me and there doesn’t seem to have been any change of layout either, they’ve just shrunk the pages so that, unless you have 20:20 vision or some very strong reading glasses, you’re going to struggle with it. It’s also quite heavy and you need to break the spine in order to see the whole of each page properly. Even then, it’s a bit of a wrestle to get it to lie flat.
If you want Arnold Lowrey on starting to paint, Wendy Jelbert on working from sketch to painting, Geoff Kersey on perspective, depth and distance and Barry Herniman on mood and atmosphere, go for the full-size compilation, which appears to be still available. It’s a bit more, but it’s worth it.
Wendy’s Top Tips for Acrylic Artists || Wendy Jelbert
Posted by henry in Author: Wendy Jelbert, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Top Tips, Subject: Techniques on December 14, 2010
I’ve waxed enthusiastic elsewhere about this series and I’m not about to change that. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this is probably the best one so far. Wendy’s main strength is the small detail and the intimate corner and this is well suited to a book of, well, small ideas.
In this book, she deals with acrylic both in impasto, imitating oils and thinned out as a wash, imitating watercolour or gouache. Because of this split personality that the medium has, what she says is also relevant to what we might call the parent mediums. In other words, if you paint in any brush-based medium, you’re going to find plenty that’s useful here. You’ll also probably find that this is less of a guide to painting like the author and more one that just tells you how to deal with things like trees, water, boats, skies, texture – well, you name it, it’s probably here. Wendy’s approach is almost entirely subject-based, but she does also find space for things like scumbling, drybrush and texture and there’s the usual index to help you find your way around.
Definitely one to recommend.
Acrylic Painting Step-by-Step
Posted by henry in Author: Carole Massey, Author: David Hyde, Author: Wendy Jelbert, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press on October 13, 2009
This is one of those bind-ups of smaller titles that Search Press does from time to time and does rather well. It’s not at all obvious that this is a collection of books which have previously appeared in the Leisure Arts series and material which would normally repeat from one to the other has been removed so that, for example, you only get one introduction to materials, not several authors saying virtually the same thing. I’d tell you how many different books you get for your money if I could but, frankly, I can’t spot the joins. At £12.99, they’re excellent value for money as long as you don’t already have a comprehensive collection of the originals.
Creative Acrylic Landscapes || Wendy Jelbert
Posted by henry in Author: Wendy Jelbert, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Tips & Techniques, Subject: Landscape on August 21, 2009
The Tips & Techniques series provides an excellent variety of extensively illustrated demonstrations frequently focussing on quite a narrow subject area. The advantage of this is that you can pick exactly what you want without having to wade through the author’s obsession with something in which you have no interest, at the same time giving yourself a deep immersion in a single topic.
There’s a good variety of subject matter here and Wendy offers tips covering all the main landscape elements as well as techniques for recession, colour and perspective. Overall, it’s excellent value for money and something you should find yourself coming back to again and again for both advice and inspiration.
Flowers in Acrylics: Ready to Paint || Wendy Jelbert
Posted by henry in Author: Wendy Jelbert, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Ready To Paint, Subject: Flowers on June 9, 2009
After a bit of a wobble over Venice, Wendy is back to form and well within what I think we all regard as her comfort zone.
The book follows the by now well-established Ready to Paint format, with a series of six pre-drawn tracings that combine with detailed demonstrations of how to paint them. As with previous volumes, however, the result is very much more than a beginner’s painting-by-numbers exercise and turns itself into one of the best introductions there is to painting flowers in the increasingly popular medium of acrylics.
Venice in Acrylics: Ready to Paint || Wendy Jelbert
Posted by henry in Author: Wendy Jelbert, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Ready To Paint, Subject: Buildings, Subject: Venice on March 19, 2009
OK, now I’m beginning to get scared. This series has turned out much better than I’d expected and has gone down very well with painters in general. Much of its appeal lies in the excellent execution – done badly it would have been barely more than a glorified painting-by-numbers game, but the idea of being freed from the tyranny of the initial drawing has worked and that’s good. But tracings of a real place? Isn’t that cheating?
Well, maybe, but Venice is the Mecca for the artist and not everyone can get there, so the idea of an armchair guide does make sense. How you explain the resulting artwork on your wall is up to you; Wendy’s keeping schtum on that one.
The five demonstrations will give you a good selection of the classic Venice scenes, including the Rialto bridge, the Grand Canal and the inevitable gondola. If you want to paint Venice and your travelling is all done firmly from your armchair, look no further, the world is coming to you. If I have a quibble, it’s that the finished results look, frankly, a bit amateurish and not totally up to Wendy’s usual standard, which is a shame, because there’s a market for the definitive Venice book and I’m just not sure this is it. Pity.
Watercolour Doors & Windows: Ready to Paint || Wendy Jelbert
Posted by henry in Author: Wendy Jelbert, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Ready To Paint, Subject: Buildings on November 6, 2008
This series just gets better and better and is branching out into areas that others don’t touch.
Having given us what is one of the best guides to painting trees there is, we now have this on those little details that can make a building, even one that’s really only in the background, believable. The thing about a window is that it’s not just a square hole in a wall. It has depth, which gives it shadows and the glass reflects in quite specific ways, which often turn out to be quite a complicated graduation of hues of Payne’s Gray. Doors are the same, except that, even closed, they have to give a hint that they lead somewhere. If you don’t give your openings character, your building will look flat, deserted and dead.
On top of that, doors and windows have all kinds of furniture – shutters, hinges, porches – often with flowers growing round them – and frames of brick and stone work. There’s a lot to get right and Wendy is well known for doing just that.
The Ready to Paint series is based on a set of very detailed step-by-step projects for each of which there is a pre-printed tracing that frees you from the need to get the drawing right before you can start and allows you to concentrate on the use of colours. It’s not a substitute for good draughtsmanship of course, but it does mean you don’t have to be learning two things at once. If you’re beyond the stage of what amounts to advanced painting by numbers, don’t dismiss this little book, though, because it contains a wealth of information that goes quite a long way beyond what it initially sets out to do.
Water-Soluble Pencils And Other Aquarelle Media || Wendy Jelbert
Posted by henry in Author: Wendy Jelbert, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Watersoluble Media on May 9, 2006
A larger-format reissue of a title that first appeared in 1994, it’s good to see that this little classic remains available.
Although, at the time, there had been demand for a guide to the then relatively new watercolour pencils, the truth was that this was never really going to need much more than a magazine article or a chapter in a larger book. However, by combining pencils with a look at water-soluble pastels, Wendy did manage to get a small (48 page) book out of it and to cover pretty well all of the information that’s needed for a general introduction to the medium.
Known for her mixed media work, Wendy was the ideal person to write this book and she also shows how water-soluble media can be combined with other techniques rather than being used solely on their own. Short step-by-step demonstrations cover subjects including flowers, landscapes, trees and people and the limited space means that nothing is ever over-stretched, but is rather kept well onto the point. As an easily-followed introduction to water-soluble media, it’s hard to fault and stands the test of time well.
Year published: 2006 (originally published 1994)
List price: £7.99
