Jean Haines' Atmospheric Watercolours: Painting with Freedom, Expression and Style

Description

Accomplished artist Jean Haines shares her passion for watercolours in this wonderfully practical book. Known for her exciting techniques and love of colour, Jean takes you on an inspirational painting journey on which you'll encounter, amongst other things, magical watercolour flow, glorious washes, sunbursts, and a magnificent 'hotting it up' finale. With her simple exercises, clear advice and easy-to-follow projects, Jean pushes the boundaries and will alter the way you think about watercolours and painting for ever. With a selection of popular subjects, including animals, landscapes, buildings,flowers and people, there is something for everyone here, whatever their artistic ability.

Well known for her enthusiasm and passion for art, Jean Haines covers a wide range of subjects in a loose and interpretive style. In the 1990s she studied Chinese Brushwork in Hong Kong, which she now incorporates in her expressive watercolours. Light, colour and sections left to the viewers' imagination play a vital role in her paintings. In 1997 Jean moved to Dubai where she held workshops and courses and participated in many prestigious events at major galleries. Her work soon became collectible and she has since sold many pieces which are now in homes all over the world. Following a short period in both France and Belgium, Jean returned to the UK in 2006, and now regularly exhibits and hosts international watercolour workshops for artists from all over the world. She has won many awards for her outstanding work, most recently the Society for All Artists' Professional Artist of the Year, Experimental and Abstract Award.

Well known for her passion for art, exciting techniques and love of colour, Jean takes you on an inspirational painting journey in which you'll encounter, amongst other things, magical watercolour flow, glorious washes, sunbursts, and a magnificent 'hotting it up' finale. Light and the use of beautiful colour along with the ability to take any ordinary subject and turn it into an extraordinary painting with consistently unique results is what many artists aspire to achieve. Furthermore Jean has the ability to install enthusiasm and inspirational motivation in all around her.-Wey Gallery This book is nothing less than a paean to the wet-in-wet technique. If that's your thing, prepare to be amazed. Jean Haines credits Jean-Louis Morelle, and in many ways this book is the sequel to Morelle's remarkable, but very technical work, showing the wealth of creative possibilities the technique offers. A lot of the images here are barely recognisable and yet you instinctively know what they are. I wish I knew how, because this is Impressionism taken to its logical conclusion and reminiscent of some of the later work of JMW Turner. You will have to take it from me that 'First signs of a face appearing magically from a first wash of watercolour actually is a piece of pure alchemy. This is an extraordinary book.-The Artist Dear Jean, I know we have never met but i wanted to write to express my thoughts to you. I received your stunning new book today and I simply cant wait to try out some ideas. I began working as an artist a year ago after a lot of personal trauma. Over the years I have dipped into a lot of art books, but I have to say that this is the most inspiring and liberating book that I have ever seen. Thank you so very much, and i wish you every success. Yours in gratitude, liz Bolloten-Customer This is one of those books where the above-the-title billing for the author is actually more than just a conceit. To call this book just "Atmospheric Watercolours" would completely miss the point. Atmosphere is one of the hardest words to define in relation to art. On the one hand, we all know what we mean by it: it's the sense of time and place that can be achieved by the use of washes, glazes and wet-in-wet, but also by composition and colour choice - pretty much the standard technical arsenal, in fact. On the other hand, it's a woolly term that really means nothing except that the work has an essential quality of je ne sais quoi. So that's a good start, then. And what do we actually have here? Well, it's easy to say what Jean Haines' work is. It's definitely well into the spectrum of abstraction, and she uses a lot of washes to create a sense of what her subjects are about, more than just what they are. Is this "atmospheric"? Not really, if you buy my definition, but do please feel free to come up with a better word. I do think we're getting there, though. I don't think this could really be classed as an instruction manual, even though there are plenty of demonstrations and lots of discussions of how Jean works - for someone with such a personal style, she's actually very good at this part. Yes, it's practical, but the approach isn't half so much do-this, do-that as an analysis of Jean's own working methods and, through that, showing you how you can achieve not so much the same thing, as something similar. This is perhaps a first, and an invaluable aid for anyone wanting to move beyond representation and to develop their own way of describing what they see. If this sounds like the heart of abstraction, it is, and this book is probably one of the best ways of learning about a technique that so frequently defies description and really has to be absorbed rather than learnt. If you've followed what I've said, then I'm pretty sure you'll like the book. If not, proceed with caution; it may be that you're not ready for it yet - but persevere!-Artbookreview.net Nothing short of fantastic. I first fell in love with Jean's work when she wrote 'Colour and Light in Watercolour', I thought it was wonderful and still do. Yet with this new book, we've moved on ten steps ahead. You have to buy this book if you are remotely interested in watercolour. Known as a difficult medium to master, Jean shares her knowledge and style so that we can learn and improve. Her loose style won't be to everyone's taste, but you don't know until you try it. Painting this ways liberates your art. The book covers many subjects including flowers, portraits and animals so it has wide appeal. It will take you from first steps yet is still suitable for experienced watercolorists. I love it.-Yarnsandfabrics.co.uk/crafts This is one of those books that you can't help but pick up and flick through even if you are not a watercolourist. Beautifully put together with wonderful images throughout, with 176 pages full of tips, techniques, watercolour secrets, and chapters with titles like: Glorious washes, Magical water flow, Sunbursts, Hotting it up, Fabulous effects, and Suggestive seduction, etc, how can anyone not be enticed to want to read this??? Even though I have only skimmed through this book tonight, I already know this book will more than satisfy that hunger I have for this style. I will savour and enjoy more slowly the wonderful 33 image step by step showing how to paint a historic door in Venice, a 28 image step by step showing how to paint a three sheep composition, sections on textural effects with cling film and salt, etc, and lots... and lots more... I know this book will never make it to my art book shelf as it will be in constant use with me referring back to it frequently.-lauramoorewatercolourart.blogspot.co.uk Encouraged by the saying 'don't be a sheep, be unique', Jean Haines hopes to bring the best out of all artists by being more creative with the colours they use, the freedom of their brushstrokes, or simply an attitude of mind. Techniques, such as using your brush to its full potential, applying washes and, in particular, using colour, are described in great detail with many step-by-step examples and projects to follow. If nothing else, Jean's work is sure to inspire you to let go of some of your inhibitions. It simply dazzles on the page and makes you want to grab your brushes and get going straight away.-Leisure Painter