Helen Birch – författare

Just Add Watercolour is an innovative and accessible guide to this most dynamic of artforms, packed with bite-sized creative painting tips and advice, offering aspiring artists the freedom to dip in and out for practical information or flick through for fresh inspiration and ideas. Showcasing nearly 100 works by contemporary artists across a range of different styles and approaches, Just Add Watercolour highlights and examines the different techniques, qualities and effects relating to each piece.Organized into chapters according to medium and materials (e.g. traditional watercolour, gouache, digital, mixed media) artwork is featured large and luscious, accompanied by extended captions, insightful tips and practical advice. A visual index at the front of the book enables the reader to easily identify a specific painting, style, colour or subject matter.Throughout the book, useful information and practical tips are provided on a wide range of topics such as tone, perspective, colour and much more besides. Readers are encouraged to discover the various ways in which similar subjects and styles are executed by different artists, while also being inspired to use the tips in the book as a way of building on their existing skills. Offering a bold, refreshing change from other run-of-the-mill art books, Just Add Watercolour adopts the unique approach of accessing practical information via the images, focusing on the way subjects can be treated using a range of different watercolour techniques, rather than looking at how to master one single style.

Petite in size but packed with inspiration, Just Draw Botanicals presents 90 beautiful, contemporary botanical artworks in a range of media and styles.Each spread includes a stunning work of art paired with a discussion of the artist’s approach to creating it, including the techniques employed. At the bottom of the page, find tips on the tools, materials and methods used to make the piece.A hyper-realistic blackberry, a watercolour sketch of a bunch of mint in a glass, a detailed scratchboard study of three pussy willow twigs, a tribal-style pattern inspired by different leaf shapes, an abstract image-transfer print of a milkweed plant… the techniques and subjects covered are diverse. With these and more artworks – created in a variety of media, including watercolour, coloured pencils, oil, pen and ink, mixed media and pencil – explore: Shape, form and lightHarmonious coloursContrasting elementsFine detailCapturing movementCropped compositionsUsing negative spaceAnatomical accuracyA visual index is included at the front of the book so you can easily skip to a style or colour palette that interests you. At the back of the book, find an overview of materials and tips for using them; a list of further resources, including books and websites; and two additional indexes, one by artist name and the other by subject.Whether you are an artist looking for fresh ideas for creating botanical art or simply enjoy looking at nature-inspired images, this portable volume is a rich resource.

Renowned botanical artist and professional gardener, Carolyn Jenkins combines her love of art and gardening to create stunning compositions (often very different from traditional botanical painting) with vibrant colours that leap from the page.The first part of this book – Botanical: Grow – explores time well-spent in the garden and covers much of the traditional details of botanical painting, from observation to capturing light, colour and texture. The second part – Contemporary: Paint – explores how Carolyn works with photography, using the computer to help with crop and composition, achieving maximum impact and creating luminous paintings that shine from the page. Her stunning illustrations are full of vibrant colour, and her larger-than-life artworks have gained an enthusiastic following on Instagram. This practical guide contains all the techniques and practice you need to create beautiful botanical art, plus step-by-step photography, crop, composition and photoshop demonstrations, to bring luminous colours, textures and impact to your own work.

Dibujar puede ser tan sencillo como coger un lápiz y un papel. Pero existen infinidad de trucos y técnicas que pueden multiplicar exponencialmente el potencial creativo. El collage digital, las capas combinadas, los acabados contrastados, las líneas superpuestas, los juegos con la escala, el papel recortado...Helen Birch ha recopilado en este libro más de 80 técnicas de dibujo exponiéndolas a través de brillantes ilustraciones de algunos de los artistas más importantes del momento. Un magnífico compendio gráfico que funciona no solo como guía práctica para comprender y jugar con los fundamentos del dibujo línea, color, tonalidad, etc. sino también como desafiante estímulo para descubrir sus posibilidades retóricas y comunicativas.

Tras el éxito de Dibujar, Helen Birch nos sorprende con una nueva guía dedicada, esta vez, a la infinidad de trucos y técnicas que esconde la acuarela. Y lo hace con la misma y exitosa fórmula de su libro anterior: recopilando más de 80 recursos plásticos, realizados con acuarelas y técnicas mixtas como gouache, tintas y pinturas acrílicas, y explicándolos a través de los magníficos ejemplos de algunos de los artistas más reconocidos de la ilustración contemporánea.Este pequeño manual, accesible e innovador, no solo nos revelará la gran cantidad de estilos y procedimientos que tenemos a nuestro alcance sino que nos retará a explorar el infinito potencial creativo de una de las técnicas más lúdicas y fascinantes que existen.

Con su fórmula infalible ya utilizada en Dibujar y Acuarela, Helen Birch nos regala una nueva guía de técnicas artísticas centrada, esta vez, en el objeto artístico más fascinante la figura humana y explicada, como siempre, a través de la obra de ilustradores de primer nivel. El resultado vuelve a ser un equilibradísimo compendio de teoría y práctica donde recursos que van desde aprovechar los bordes del papel o restringirse al formato tríptico hasta realizar bocetos rápidos o utilizar colores planos son explicados con acertados ejemplos de los artistas más vanguardistas. ¡Otro imprescindible de la serie para aprender de forma práctica técnicas básicas y recursos sorprendentes!