Seascape Artist

ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-968-8
ISBN-10: 1-58180-968-9

This is a North Light book as so many are … the pictures are marvelous and very interesting. The book is very well written and if you want to know more about painting water, I do recommend getting this book.

One of the highlights for me was Chapter Three - Puddles, Ponds and Small Lakes. Painting puddles in road ruts for instance can be very challenging and it is nice to see someone discussing them and getting them painted well. Another highlight of reading this book was Chapter Six - Waterfalls. I enjoyed reading the vantage point tips in particular.

Chapter Five had the ocean wave info … it was very good but for me the road less traveled by most art instruction authors was a refreshing view into an artist toolbox and how to create what I can see but perhaps not know how to put into paint on canvas or paper. I did like the info on the sand and how to make it look very real … that will be very helpful … my sand has not been as realistic looking as I wanted so I am glad to have this info on my bookshelf now.

Chapter Four covered Brooks, Streams and Rivers. It reminded me of something I saw years ago while visiting friends in the country. They had a very small shallow but fast moving stream on their property and we would cross over it via the large flat rocks just for the fun of playing on the rocks and in the water … the water was crystal clear and you could see all the tiny pebbles, ground and texture of them both in the shallow water. It would make a great painting similar to one in the book.

ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-964-0
ISBN-10 1-58180-964-6

Mermaids and Mermen are a staple of seascape fantasy art …. put in a few fantastical underwater reef castles or sunken ships, a school of fish or so surrounding single or flocks of mer-people and you have an exciting captivating flowing underwater painting. Or perhaps you prefer mermaids sunning themselves on rocks at the surface, singing and luring sailors to a watery grave [showing sunken ships below the surface would be a nice gruesome touch].

I have not read the entire book word for word … yet … As the title states, it covers Angles, Fairies and Mermaid “worlds”. The drawn/painted angel, faery and mermaid is a major part of those worlds and the artist is a marvelous painter - I am enjoying her artwork immensely and what I have read so far is very thoughtful and useful in improving painting skills or discovering new talents and skills.

There is a lot of material presented in this book and it is presented very well. If you are wanting to paint seascapes that include mermaids and are having trouble resolving some unique to underwater issues (i.e., making flowing dry hair appear “natural” yet convincing for a wet environment instead of painting wet hair in underwater seascapes) … I recommend you read the techniques presented in the mermaid section. The techniques can also be adapted to oil, acrylic, pastel, digital, etc painting mediums easily too.