Trace and Paint Flowers
Ready To Paint Series
Wendy Jelbert, Michael Lakin, Fiona Peart and Wendy Tait

Search Press
3 January 2012 (US 1 May 2012) / ISBN: 9781844487271
Non-Fiction / How-to / Art
Amazon US - UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Here is another entry in the popular new Trace and Paint series, which combines the work of four previously published titles in the Ready To Paint series. Choose from four distinctive styles and fifteen staged projects with tracings plus three extra tracings to tackle on your own.

I like the combination of different styles in here; everybody is sure to have their own favorite. There is the dreamy wash style of Wendy Tait, the looser, luminous shapes of Fiona Peart, the bright backgrounded outdoor pictures of Wendy Jelbert, and the very 18th century botanical studies of Michael Lakin. Three of these artists use watercolors, while Wendy's choice is acrylics. You will find a lot to learn as you paint if you work through each picture, the very best way of learning surely, as it is so hands-on and immediate. At the beginning is the invariable guide to what to buy and why, this time giving each artist's choice of colors and whether they favor pans over tubes. The same goes for papers and brushes, which are helpful as then you know what to buy in order to work in your chosen style. As usual, all of this information is as brief as possible, allowing lots of room in this book for those intricately staged projects. I wish they had had books like this when I was learning to paint! It really does take much of the guesswork out of the process as well as being fun; you can even sell your finished masterpieces for charity.