(Edited from the book flaps)
From Jan Kunz, watercolor artist:
Watercolor is unpredictable, a unique medium that lends itself to all kinds of interesting effects-trying to capture an accurate likeness can be a frustrating experience. But just because watercolor must look fresh and spontaneous doesn't mean you can't approach it with a great deal of thought and care. Here is detailed step-by-step instruction to painting one of the most appealing and challenging subjects in watercolor—accurate, lively and brilliantly colorful portraits.
Illustrating how the different effects of light can express mood in watercolor
and make a painting come alive, Jan Kunz demonstrates a basic fact of outdoor
painting, the "40% Rule": every shadow area is a full 40 percent
darker than the sunlit side. You will see how lights and darks create the illusion
of three dimensions and how you can use the laws of light to render brilliant
darks, various skin tones, and the effect of reflected light. Using a value
scale to determine the brightness of the sunny side and the darkness of simple
shadow forms, you will learn how to portray your subjects as if they were basking
in the glow of warm sunlight—the key to painting radiant portraits.
The author provides a solid foundation for
your venture into watercolor portraiture. You
will examine the forms that compose the basic
head, and the simple geometric shapes that
make up the facial features and show emotion
and character: the shape of eyes and eyelids,
how the eyes open and close, general construc
tion of the nose, lips and their relationship to the
nose, types of chins, and structure of the ear. A
list of dos and don'ts clarifies points to remember when you're placing features.
Jan stresses that painting
a portrait is not a mechanical process, but a dynamic interaction
between two people. You'll learn the importance of getting to know your subject
and the things you must see before you start to paint, in
order to capture his or her personality and
uniqueness. This is where the author introduces her "stop and think" method,
teaching you to make critical decisions before composing
a portrait: Do you want just the head or full
figure, complete scene or vignette, vertical or
horizontal placement? You'll see how she makes
several sketches to prepare for the final drawing, showing the development
from the basic head to final head, and the process of making
a pencil carbon to transfer the drawing to a
clean painting surface.
The final stage of watercolor portraiture, painting the model in full color, is demonstrated with
two different subjects, an attractive young
woman and a happy little boy. Each step is accompanied by an explanation of the colors used
and why. Corrective techniques, such as how to
soften hard edges, are also illustrated here.
Kunz presents four additional portraits in step-by-step sequence from initial drawing to completion. The book concludes with a portrait
gallery, a summary of the painting procedure,
and a checklist, providing you with hands-on
reference material as well as inspiration to start
your own dazzling watercolor portraits.
About the Author
Watercolor artist Jan Kunz received her formal education at the
University of California, but her love affair with
the visual arts prompted'her to seek training in
that field with instructors such as Rex Brandt
and Lester Bonar. She left a career as a successful commercial artist in 1978 to pursue watercolor painting full time. Now residing on the
Oregon coast, Jan paints, teaches, and periodically travels the Pacific with her husband aboard
their charter vessel, the Pelican, documenting
people and places in watercolor. She recently
appeared in her eleventh consecutive Peppertree Art Show in California.
- Hard Cover: 149 pages
- Publisher: North Light Books (June 1998), republished by Creative Catalyst Productions Inc. (October, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN: 0891349340
Reviews
One of the last things I wanted to learn in painting watercolor was painting portraits because quite honestly, I didn't care for it mainly because I didn't know how. But after reading this book, I no longer feel apprehensive about painting portraits. Jan Kunz's book is a terrific instructional guide on how to start, as well as what colors to use and where to use them. The book even includes some step-by-step samples based on real-life models Ms. Kunz has used that you can start off first as a guide.
For beginners, this is a very good book to use to get started.
The best realistic watercolor portraiture resource.
Watercolor artist
Jan Kunz has written a thoughtful, well-organized, presentation
on how to paint watercolor portraits. Her realistic style of painting still
manages to be expressive due to her emphasis on careful planning of how
the image will be painted beforehand, allowing the artist's brush to put
in correct values and hues with freedom and control at the same time. It's
where I look whenever I get in trouble painting a portrait.
Creative Catalyst Productions Inc.
