Learn How to Paint Relaxing Watercolours

Cosy Little Landscapes in Watercolour is a beginner book,  to teach how to landscapes in a cosy style, capturing the heart warming feeling of a crisp day in the forest, or the first snowfall of the year.

And with each project being small and simple enough to paint on scrap paper laying around, you can complete a mini masterpiece in an afternoon!

Wander through the woods in projects like ‘dreaming in the forest’ or ‘melody among the trees’. Curl up in delightful villages with the ‘little stone house in the woods’ or camp out by painting a ‘starry night in the desert’, or explore the soft colours of spring with ‘blooming peaks’ and ‘lake of dreams’.

You’ll also learn how to add final details for a beautiful ink and wash look, and find reference photos to guide each brushstroke. To produce paintings to hang on your wall, or shared with loved ones.

Maryorith Moreno is a watercolour artist and teacher, who lives in Chicago, USA.

Vegan Watercolour Paints (and brushes)

If you enjoy painting watercolours, know that some paints are made from animal ingredients like ox fall, Kandahar ink from shellac. Use instead these handmade vegan watercolours, sold in a pretty tin that you can send back for refills, using the discount coupon.

The paints are mixed with a homemade binding agent made from dried resin. Keep away from children and pets.

For (supervised) children, Honeysticks Watercolour Paints are made with food-grade ingredients, sold in a pot with a wooden paintbrush.

Use with recycled art paper. Or a cotton paper watercolour pad (the 300gsm thickness, holds expansive washes, and provides a great surface for detailed painting).

Vegan Watercolour Brushes

deWinton (Yorkshire) makes good synthetic paint brushes, created from sablene, a unique synthetic fibre that mimics properties of sable hair (made by killing weasels, ferrets or minks).

Run paintbrushes under water (agitate lightly) to remove adhesive coating before use,  never leave brushes in water. Lay flat to dry, to preserve shape. 

Choose from:

• Miniature brushes for painting detailed work.
• Bloom Brush Set for painting flowers.
• Watercolour bundle set or watercolour brush set

Natural Earth Paint Watercolour Brushes also use synthetic bristles for watercolour painting. Made with sustainably-grown wood handles and varnished with a nontoxic plant-based resin.

The bristles mimic mongoose hair (a perfect cross between sable and hog in softness, but are animal-kind). The set of 4 includes:

1. Filbert (curved bristle top) #6
2. Round (fine tip) #8
3. Filbert (curved bristle top) #12
4. Bright (rectangular bristle shape) #16.

Learn to Paint Woodland Watercolours

Painting Woodland Watercolours is a book designed for beginner to intermediate artists, to help you capture the delicate beauty of forest flora and faun in watercolour. Through easy instructions, traceable templates and QR codes for video tutorials.

In 20 lessons, learn how to paint leaves, woodland critters, insects, plants, acorns and mushrooms. Along with other forest treasures.

The traceable templates can be printed or downloaded to help you get started, and there are QR codes for video tutorials, if you need them. The author’s detailed instructions and love for nature, shine through on each page.

Rita Gould is an accomplished artist and illustrator, with a deep love for the natural world, and watercolours. Known for her enchanting forest scenes. Originally from Russia, she now lives in England.

Interview with Van Gogh (and other astonishing artists)

Interview with Van Gogh is a wonderful creative and funny book, to teach young readers all about astonishingly talented artists of yesteryear. How did we go from Van Gogh to Trump?

Andy seed has adapted his popular ‘interview with animals’ books into a time machine, to go back and talk to all kinds of figures from history! Get to know 10 famous artists, who briefly pause their creative flow to answer all kinds of (very nosy) questions!

Discover each artist’s truths about their lives.

The book features engaging illustrations and question-answer formats to interview, and includes

• Van Gogh (who only painted from 27 until his death at 37, selling just a few paintings)
• William Blake
• Michelangelo
• Rembrandt
• Renoir
• Monet

Author Andy Seed is author of a popular series of ‘interview’ books for children including ones that interview Australian animals, endangered species and creatures of the ocean!