Painting Calm: Connect to nature through the art of watercolour

by Inga Buividavice

Find inner calm and happiness in this beautiful, meditative and earthy watercolour instruction book from nature lover, teacher & artist Inga Buivadavice.

Art therapy and the act of painting is widely acknowledged to bring positive mental health benefits, as it helps us centre ourselves, focus our intentions, engage creatively with the world around us.

This beautiful guided watercolour book combines these aspects with the healing powers of nature to take us on a journey toward peace and tranquility.

Accessible and easy-to-follow prompts mean that even those with no experience of watercolours or painting can express themselves and create with ease and joy, following artist Inga Buivadavice's beautiful illustrations, designed to capture an emotional connection with the natural world through textures & colour

Discover your inner artist - and forge a new and powerful relationship to nature- in this calming project book, as you watercolour your way to mindful wellbeing.

• ISBN13: 9780711281844
• Publish Date: 25 April 2023
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: The Ivy Press
• Imprint: Leaping Hare
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 160
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Painting Calm is a tutorial and style guide for natural subjects in watercolor media by Inga Buividavice. Due out 13th June 2023 from Quarto on their Leaping Hare Press imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

The author has an inviting, calm, and encouraging style of writing. The brief introduction includes an illustrated list of tools and supplies and some (very) basic techniques for getting paint onto paper, for sketching, for selecting subjects and other useful information for beginning painters. Chapters with specific tutorials are grouped thematically: foliage, flowers, light, and structure & symmetry. Each of the project chapters contain many smaller mini-tutorials which are adaptable to any number of readers' uses. Most of the tutorials cover a couple of pages and are simple enough to give beginning watercolorists confidence by rendering them as illustrated or adapting them to their own needs. 

The author has also included a number of collage photos for inspiration and reference, including many many glimpses into her own sketchbooks and portfolios.

This is a very pretty book with a lot of useful information and tips for rendering natural subjects with watercolor. 

Four and a half stars. This would be a superlative selection for public or school library, home studio, or gifting.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.