Tony Cowlishaw is a new author to me, but a worthwhile find. He has a soft, delicate touch that eschews (here at least) strong colours and his style should gain him many fans. With the usual tracings and step-by-step demonstrations, the book features five typical, not to say iconic, English coastal scenes and is an excellent primer in painting this kind of subject.-Artbookreview.net If you are going on vacation this summer and are a beginner artist here is a book that you might want to pack in your luggage. As ever, this book contains six tracings along with everything you need to record those elusive seascapes to remind you of your seaside sojourn. This really is a book that tackles the subject as a separate entity with its own delights and difficulties. The wide expanse on view, the changing light, tides and the qualities of watercolors are all mentioned and make this type of painting unique. After all, when faced with a town or country scene it won't be changing physically before your eyes unlike a beach with the tides! The five projects cover different times of the day, getting effects such as light on water and exploring topics like composition and golden section (you need to know what this means, this is how to use your knowledge). Subjects for paintings include a dramatic coastal castle, marshlands, fishing boats, cliffs and a barge scene showing different aspects of the British coastline scenery. I particularly liked the artist's treatment of this subject as something totally different from landscape painting and if you want to paint this type of picture this is a good book to start with. It certainly offers plenty of advice and hands-on experience.-Myshelf.com It's a change to have a book on coastal landscapes. Usually we get wood and trees - which I love or seascapes involving just sea and sky but not actual seascapes with additional features - boats, castles, windmills. As Tony says in the intro one of the difficulties with seascapes is the vast vista and choosing what to use and what to leave out. Many people feel they have to add everything they see and remain true to the view yet selection creates the better works and here Tony has done the selection so we can learn how to choose and see what being careful in what's included will create a more pleasing artwork. Tony gives an overview of all the materials needed for each project including the colours he uses which is useful. I note his works use a very soft subtle palette - this will appeal to many though personally I like a bit more drama and colour - horses for courses and all that. The end results with soft colours like these are gentle quiet paintings which are what many people aspire to. Tony says its important to plan carefully each aspect of the painting - something I admire but find very difficult - I'm a bit of a suck it and see painter and my hands with a brush in them tend to take on a life of their own and not wait for the brain and the planning...one day. The five inspirational projects included in the book use a variety of different subjects to provide a broad spectrum of artworks with differing atmospheres. They are very easy to follow as Tony clearly explains and illustrates each step. The bonus tracing at the end has no instructions and by following the techniques used and explained in the demo paintings it allows the artist to bridge the huge gap between following a demonstration and setting out full fledged into creating one's own work. An inspiring book for any artist containing useful information for seascapes with an added focus with superb, absorbing demonstrations.-JeannieZelos.com
