Take Three Colours: Watercolour Lakes & Rivers

Even if you have never picked up a paintbrush before, professional watercolour teacher and artist Stephen Coates will show you how to paint lakes and rivers in watercolour using just three brushes, three colours, a plastic palette and a watercolour pad.

Using just red, blue and yellow paint Stephen shows you how to paint nine realistic watercolour scenes. There is no off-putting colour theory or long-winded mixing information, just a practical absolute beginner’s course that shows the three colours in action. Build your skills through each of the nine easy paintings, starting from the simplest of scenes and ending with a more challenging, stunning picture you’ll be proud to have painted.

There are step-by-step photographs for each project, clear instruction and advice throughout, and handy tips and jargon busters. Each of Stephen’s finished paintings is shown at full size for easy reference, which you can even use to trace from for a stress-free painting experience.

This is a straightforward, economical, practical progressive course to painting lakes and river scenes in watercolour.

Stephen uses the following paints and brushes in this book: 

• Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolours - Raw Sienna, Light Red and Ultramarine.
• Brushes - Proarte Series 101 round size 2, Series 101 round size 8, Proarte 3/4inch Mini hake flat goat hair brush.

Book Contents

Introduction  6
Using the colours  8
Using the brushes  10
Projects
- Derwent Water  12
- Swans on The Broads  16
- Highland Lake  21
- Autumn Trees by the Riverside  26
- Eilean Donan Castle  32
- River Tweed in Winter  38
- River Brathay  43
- Bridge over the Stream  49
- Brograve Windmill  56
Transferring a drawing  64