Oil Painting Step by Step || Noel Gregory, James Horton, Roy Lang & Michael Sanders

I’m pretty sure that this is a bind-up of eight short guides that have been previously published – I certainly recognise Roy Lang’s Sea & Sky in Oils, but publishers are getting a lot better at the stitching-together trick these days and it’s really quite hard to see the joins here. At a mere £12.99, though, it’s hardly worth quibbling in the face of the huge variety of material you get.

Because everything runs together so neatly, it’s best to look as this as a compendium of single-subject demonstrations, albeit a themed one. Turning the pages more or less at random reveals all sorts of useful information on subjects such as on skies, light, reflections, choosing a subject, underpainting and glazing, as well as a good selection of demonstration paintings on subjects including flowers, landscapes and water.

The individual volumes were definitely something to work through, but I rather favour serendipity here. Just let the book fall open and read from there; it’s full of wisdom and good advice.

Mediterranean Landscapes in Watercolour (Ready to Paint) || Geoff Kersey

Once again, this consistently strong series goes for the location approach, offering something that, if nothing else, is guaranteed to appeal to the armchair traveller. As ever, though, there’s more and, if you want a guide to painting landscapes that are more than just a broad canvas, you’ll be hard put to find better. Geoff paints five nicely varied scenes including a quiet village corner, a Tuscan farm and an idealised beach. There are tracings for all of them and the usual highly detailed set of demonstrations.

	Ready To Paint Mediterranean Landscapes in Watercolour Book with Geoff Kersey

Coastal Landscapes in Watercolour (Ready to Paint) || Tony Cowlishaw

Tony Cowlishaw is a new author to me, but a worthwhile find. He has a soft, delicate touch that eschews (here at least) strong colours and his style should gain him many fans. With the usual tracings and step-by-step demonstrations, the book features five typical, not to say iconic, English coastal scenes and is an excellent primer in painting this kind of subject.

	Ready To Paint Coastal Landscapes in Watercolour Book with Tony Cowlishaw

Painting Sunlight & Shadow with Pastels || Maggie Price

There I was, saying pastel books are a bit thin on the ground and here’s another one! And one that goes deeper than the usual general technical manual as well.

That this is an American publication is only apparent in some of the faces and maybe some of the colour choices – continental light is brighter than the more muted colours we’re used to in Britain. However, the principles are sound and the author has a lot to say which she communicates well. The step-by-step demonstrations are relatively short, but are balanced by good accompanying text and nice large illustrations that allow you to see what’s really going on. There’s a good range of subjects which are mostly landscapes but also include figures, water and boats. Each section is devoted to a particular way of handling light – painting reflected light, making the shadow your subject – so that there’s never any doubt about what you’re doing. The final chapter, The End is Only the Beginning, includes work by several other artists, serving to increase the scope and authority of the book as a whole.

As an instruction manual, this can’t be faulted and, as an extension of the literature on pastel painting, it’s invaluable.

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Adventurous Watercolours || Jenny Wheatley

I’ve been aware of Jenny Wheatley’s work for almost as long as I’ve been involved with art publishing, so it comes as something of a shock to realise that this is her first book. As such, I think it’s reasonable to describe it as “long-awaited” and it’s to be hoped that it will achieve the success of the other overlooked artists that Batsford have started bringing to a wider audience.

Jenny has an assured style that relies heavily on colour, using often quite muted washes over a background tone. It’s one of those styles that’s so idiosyncratic that it’s hardly to be recommended that the amateur should try to copy it and this is, indeed, certainly not an instruction manual. However, if you’re intrigued by some truly original work and want to know more about how Jenny approaches her subjects, that’s exactly what you’ll get here. For those who want to explore further, as well as the quite detailed discussions of Jenny’s working methods, there are also several step-by-step demonstrations that show exactly how she builds up her multi-layered images.

As his name now appears on the cover, it’s worth mentioning the input of Robin Capon, who has been behind a lot of the Batsford output of recent years and provides the words that go with the pictures. It’s down to him that so many people whose talents are mainly in the visual field have turned out to be quite so articulate when it comes to be putting pen to paper.

All in all, this is a book which is going to fascinate the serious student of watercolour.

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Watercolour Rivers & Streams (Ready to Paint) || Keith Fenwick

The thing about water is that, if it isn’t moving, it’s stagnant and the trick for the artist is to convey this sense of movement in a static medium. Mostly, it’s about the highlights: where to put them and how many to include. Once you’ve got the idea, it can become straightforward, but getting there is what takes time.

Even without the pre-drawn tracings that are the main feature of the Ready to Paint series, this rather excellent little guide would be the perfect primer in getting it right. Keith is an experienced artist and demonstrator and he knows exactly what to include to make sure you understand first time.

The book includes a good selection of types of water from fast to slow moving as well as settings and seasons so that you have a choice of context. Overall, it’s superb value.

	Ready to Paint Watercolour Rivers & Streams Book with Keith Fenwick

The Natural World in Watercolour || Jean-Claude Chaillou

Well here’s something refreshingly different. Translated from a French original, this is a look at the more intimate corners of landscapes in an attractively loose style that should suit the British eye. A series of nine demonstrations looks at landscapes and waterscapes, producing really rather charming results that provide a perspective that’s often overlooked.

	The Natural World in Watercolour Book with Jean-Claude Chailou