Hi, friends! My Stunning Watercolor Skies review would have come sooner had the book not been sold out on Amazon despite preorder! Thankfully, Chapters has stock and I was able to get a copy. I have been enjoying the projects so far. If you are like me, no longer a beginner but leaning toward intermediate, you might really enjoy this book.
The Author
Prior to this book, I did not know Rachael Mae Moyles. I primarily learned watercolour from youtube and I did not find her there. However, she has an Instagram account under Proximae Artistry if you want to look her up. She is also on Facebook.
Contents of Stunning Watercolor Skies
I have just started to feel very good about my loose watercolor florals, and I wanted to challenge myself to do landscapes. Moyles’ style really inspires me and I wanted to paint these projects. Take a look at the table of contents to see what’s in the book:
As you can see, this book has 163 pages, and the first 31 pages are for beginners. There are some helpful colour mixes from P. 28-31, for shades specifically mentioned in this book.
If you don’t have professional paints like Daniel Smith or Winsor & Newton, I do have some similar shades from Rosa Gallery Watercolour that are very close to the shades used in this book. For example, Rosa Gallery’s Black Green shade can substitute for the Pewter shade in the book, and Jade Green can substitute for Perylene Green.
Stunning Watercolor Skies Book Review
As a watercolor tutorial book, Stunning Watercolor Skies is well written and gives detailed step-by-step instructions with a corresponding photo for each step.
Moreover, the tips and suggestions are helpful too, and they apply not just to the projects in the book but to other paintings as well.
Furthermore, I find most of the projects attractive and interesting to paint.
A Minor Gripe…
This is a very personal thing but I did not like that all the step by step pictures in the book were taken at an angle. None of the step by step pictures showed the painting in its entirety. It’d be easier if the photos showed the painting straight on. So if that bothers you, beware.
Here are a few paintings I did from the book:
If you are a beginner, this book may not be the easiest to paint from. I think this is a good book for intermediate level. Apart from the first few projects, the rest requires some previous experience with watercolour and layering, which may not be easy for a beginner.
By the way, I find that 100% cotton paper is essential for landscape paintings in watercolor, especially when you paint skies. Wood pulp paper, for example, will dry too quickly and leave hard edges.
Overall Review of Stunning Watercolor Skies
This is a solid watercolour instruction book packed with beautiful projects. I would not recommend this to a beginner, though. This is a book for intermediate level watercolourists who like landscapes. Since books for intermediate level are lacking, Stunning Watercolor Skies fills that gap and makes it interesting for someone who is past the beginner level and wants to build on their skills. I enjoyed this book and I hope you will, too.
