Reviewed by annieb123 on
Celestial Watercolor is a tutorial technique guide for watercolor and gouache using a constellation theme. Released 2nd April 2019 by Quarto on their Rock Point imprint, it's 128 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats. The ebook version includes a handy interactive table of contents and hyperlinks throughout.
The book's introductory section includes a short artist's statement and background from the author followed by a chapter on techniques and tools (circa 27% of the page content). The rest of the book is broken into chapters with earth/air/fire/water signs and a short astrological description of each. The constellation drawings for each (see cover) are provided in a skyscape painting. There is -very- little step by step tutorial or technique advice in these sections beyond what's provided in the first chapter. The art is inspiring and undeniably beautiful, but unless the reader has a good grasp of technique previous to using this book, it'll be a challenge to produce any painting similar to the provided artwork.
The final chapters are seasonal paintings of skies with constellations along with moons and some landscapes.
The author is generous with advice about which specific tools and supplies she uses to achieve her paintings, which is nice. Definitely inspiring to look at, and it would make a superlative gift, I just don't really think that 'learn to paint' is part of the remit for this particular book.
The text is sparse, but encouraging and accessible.
Three stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 5 July, 2019: Reviewed