Watercolour and Beyond

David Bellamy has been a prolific author of deservedly successful books from The Wild Places of Britain through the now somewhat dated Watercolour Landscape Course to others which have concentrated on more specific aspects of the genre.

I think the first thing to say is that, if you’re worried by the “and beyond” of the title and wondering whether David has gone a bit weird, avant garde or experimental, calm yourself – he hasn’t. Nor is this the landscape course rehashed. What we have is, quite simply, his best book and something of a personal manifesto informed by a lifetime of experience. In the introduction, he says that he intends to “illustrate ways in which to make your watercolours glow with excitement; to offer you new methods of working and new ways of using familiar materials”.

Hang onto that familiarity, because we’re still within the realms of the man we know and love. If there are surprises here, they’re all of delight in exploring the possibilities of a medium David says galleries tend to overlook. That’s perhaps more the view of the professional artist, but as well as filtering down, things can also percolate upwards, so let’s champion the grassroots. Yes, the use of plastic food wrap to produce texture or dipping a toe into mixed media are not something we’ve associated with David in the past, but the results are entirely what you would expect.

A small part of me wishes this had come out as a hardback, which would have given it the heft it deserves, but that would have made it more expensive, perhaps unnecessarily. If you’re a fan of David, you’ll buy it on the spot. If you’re in any way serious about watercolour you should, too. Think of it as a new course, one for the dedicated, perhaps advanced, watercolourist from a teacher at the height of his powers. It’s a heck of an achievement.

I have loved working through this brand new book by fellow artist David Bellamy. There are over 100 of David’s beautiful paintings for inspiration and to explore. Loads of advice, you’re learning from one of the best. David has so many books out there already, but this one includes so much in the way of watercolour and mixed media, how to repair paintings, how to use various textures including collage, watercolour ground, how to lay different washes, wet on wet, wet on dry. I thoroughly enjoyed working from his book, trying to replicate his style – its beautiful.

David Bellamy has always been fascinated by the world’s wild places. Highly regarded as a teacher of art, he has a tremendous following among artist and leisure painters, many of whom have attended his extremely popular courses and workshops both in the UK and overseas. He gives demonstrations and talks, produces successful videos, has written many books on watercolor painting and is a regular contributor to art magazines. David lives near Builth Wells, Wales.