Animals in Watercolour

by Matthew Palmer

Published 1 April 2021

This complete beginner's guide to painting animals and birds is ideal if you want to learn to paint in watercolour but are short on time. Broken down into 32 quick and easy paintings measuring just 15 x 10cm (6 x 4in), this basic course will teach you all the skills you need to paint domestic and wild animals and birds, in home settings or in nature.

Best-selling author Matthew Palmer shows you how to paint a diverse range of animals and birds, including a parrot, cat, dog, zebra, stag, cow and swan, and teaches you how to paint realistic markings, fur and feathers, and how to create faces filled with character and personality.

Tracings are provided for all the paintings, including the three projects at the end of the book. Simply trace them off onto your watercolour paper and paint with confidence, without the need to make an initial drawing.

Each painting takes just 30 minutes to complete and teaches you a different technique, so by the end of the book you will be equipped with all the skills you need to complete one of the three full-size projects: a King Charles cavalier spaniel, a snow leopard and a hummingbird. 


This complete beginner’s guide to painting mountain scenes in watercolour is ideal if you want to learn to paint but are short on time. Each of the 32 quick-and-easy exercises takes no more than 30 minutes and will teach you how to use a new technique, or paint a different aspect of a mountain landscape – including skies, moorland, distant trees, rock, stone, and rushing water. The exercises are all worked at postcard size – ideal for a 6 x 4 inch (A6) watercolour pad – and actual-size outlines are included on tracing paper to get you started.

The book is broken down into eight chapters covering all you need to know to create stunning mountain scenes in watercolour, and finishes with three full-size paintings for you to try out your new-found skills; these complete paintings also have an accompanying actual-size tracing.