This was a book I was really excited to read, but I ultimately felt pretty ho-hum about it. I love watercolor painting and I love flowers, so I was looking forward to getting some great tutorials on doing watercolor flowers on my own. That said, I think I'll end up looking elsewhere for most of my inspiration.

Pros: This book is colorful with lots of illustrations. It goes into basics like color theory if you're not familiar with ideas like complementary colors (though really, who isn't?). There are some projects provided and some creative approaches like making watercolor seed packet paintings and using only one color.

Cons: Parts of this book remind me of the technical cooking challenges in "The Great British Bake Off." The contestants get instructions for some antiquated recipe that they've never heard of and the steps are along the lines of: "Step one: make a Victorian Flingopompous. Step two: Bake." She tells you things like "step one: paint a bird" and "step one: paint a flower." As someone with the artistic talents of your average one-armed tree frog, I need a little more than that. She occasionally does this, like she points out that you can press on the side of a large soft paintbrush to make leaf shapes, but other times she doesn't even tell you what kind of paintbrush to use and I get the feeling one type would be infinitely easier to use for whatever flower it is than another.

Also, I really don't like her colors. I know it's about learning to paint flowers and I can use my own colors, but I was just turned off by the looks of a lot of it. She points out the importance of using "ugly colors" for some of the details in order to make your art work best, but I just don't like ugly colors. I don't care if it's artistically improper, I want all pretty colors. :) And a lot of her combinations are just sad to me. I really love vibrant jewel tones and pastels, and it makes me happy just reading some watercolor books because of the colors used. These ones just weren't my taste, so I didn't really want to linger on the tutorials.

Lastly, I really was looking for step by step tutorials teaching me how to paint different flowers. From the title, it sounds like you'll get that. You really don't. There are step-by-step tutorials but they're for projects and some flowers are covered but not all and certainly not like a list. She doesn't even teach you how to make a rose -- not a rosebud, not an open rose, nothing like a rose that I noticed.

This will be a great book for some readers. I'm apparently not a good fit for it, but I'm sure many amateur artists will find lots of great inspiration. You may want to check it out from the library or click on "look inside" online to see if it looks like what you're looking for.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Fun, quirky book of watercolor florals. This book contains beautiful, inspiring illustrations along with project ideas to try on your own. I love the floral monogram and the monochromatic pairing and I feel like the majority of the projects can be attempted by beginners and more experienced watercolorists.

I really enjoyed this book. I've read many art books, and am impressed by the new suggestions the author made. Easy to follow instructions. Highly recommend!

Colorways: Watercolor Flowers is a beautiful instructional art book on how to watercolor flowers by Bley Hack, a professional artist. My first impression of this book was that the style of art is reminiscent of those seen on Papyrus' cards and stationary, which surprisingly the author has worked for. If you like to paint with a retro modern twist this book is for you. This book is geared toward beginners with chapters on material and tools, watercolor techniques, color theory basics, and finding inspiration. Included are twelve tutorials on watercoloring flowers, each one different enough to build and expand your skill. I really love the painting style of this artist and I won't mind seeing more books written by her in the future.

This is a great book for beginner watercolor painters as well as those who already have some experience, but might be looking to try out a more whimsical style. The well-designed layout is colorful, fun and appealing. People who have never painted before will find the examples and explanations of tools, materials, techniques, and color theory, very easy to follow. The author encourages a playful and experimental approach to painting, along with collecting ideas about what to paint. She stresses the value of keeping a sketchbook and to practice painting the component shapes of different flowers – blooms, buds, petals, leaves – then combining them into cheerful compositions. With its fresh approach to painting flowers, this book is a great addition to any library.

I think is a good introduction to watercolouring flowers as a beginner. I want to get into it, I think this can be one that is good for me.

This is geared more towards those new to watercolor rather than someone with a little more experience, but it is still a good book to leaf through. For me, it gave me some new project and painting ideas which was alone much appreciated. If you know someone interested in getting better at watercolor, and especially if they have an interest in flora creations, this is a good place to start!

Watercolor is not a medium I frequently use, for no particular reason. This book definitely has brought forth a desire to give it a try again. While the flower instructions are very cool and are detailed well, that was not the part of the book that I found most intriguing. The beginning of the book goes through different types of watercolor painting and shows the step-by-steps actions that need to be taken to do each type. Basically it's a really great reference book for someone just starting out, with a fairly directed second half that leads an artist to practicing in that direction. Which, in my mind, makes it a great reference book for those just starting working in watercolors. It's actually MORE useful for those who wouldn't normally paint floral arrangements, because then you are practicing following instructions in something your brain won't automatically try to send in a direction you would use in other mediums (all painting mediums are different, and the techniques for all are different). One of the other big pluses for me in this book was the emphasis of the importance of having a realistic visual library when you are first starting out. The advice to go out, take pictures of flowers, just so you can reference them in your own way is, in my opinion, a helpful tip for most painters. Having a reference point you've created for yourself can be extremely helpful.

Thank you Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was vibrant and colorful. It was also simplistic and abstract.
It covered the basics of supplies for beginning painting. The use of color theory and color palettes was also included.

Several suggestions were given for projects, at the end of the book.
Encouraging the artist to look around for inspiration and collect images and color palettes in a notebook was useful.

The information and artwork was very basic. This book would be most useful
for the beginning painter.

This is a very pretty book , with wonderful photos of how to achieve very beautiful and soft watercolor painting of flowers. The book outlines some easy steps to interpret various flowers from the garden, books and anything that provides inspiration. The color section is very informative and shows how color can be used very effective in various ways. The flowers can have vases added, made into bouquet or just combined and used in collage. I would really see some of the full page arrangements made into beautiful soft wallpapers or fabric, they are so soft and whimsical.
If you are interested in learning some more techniques with watercolor this book will certainly inspire with the different color combinations and ways of use of mark making.

This is a wonderful beginner's guide to the world of watercolor. The author discusses supplies and color theory as well as how to go about finding inspiration. She provides step-by-step projects with suggestions for types of brushes, brush strokes, and color combinations. There's even a section on watercolor lettering. The simple style of writing and projects, gives the reader a feel for the medium without being intimidating. #ColorwaysWatercolorFlowers #NetGalley

This is a cute book for anyone new to painting using watercolor. The book offers step-by-step lessons on coloring accompanied by beautiful illustrations. In this book, the author shows you how to paint flowers and leaves, design monograms and create a collage. Recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Walter Foster Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Colorways: Watercolor Flowers is a very inspirational book. The book is divided into numerous chapters. There is an introduction, tools and materials, techniques, color theory, and finding inspiration. There are lots of projects to copy like blooms, buds and leaves. There is a a portion that deals with brush lettering and monograms. My only complaint is the book is limited. When it talks about colorways that is primarily the focus. Warm. cool, dull, bright and combinations of all of them. I thought perhaps there would be a little more detail about making the actual flowers. There were a few examples but if that is what you are looking for this is not the book for you. I am usually very pleased with books from this publisher but feel that this book falls short.
I would like to thank the publisher, author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

True story, after spending a few days experimenting with the first few exercises, I rushed to read finish reading this book because I was SO excited to have an overview and go back to it slowly. I LOVE this book. I received my copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review, and I'm so glad I did!

Colorways: Watercolor Flowers by Bley Hack is a really fun way to experiment and play with watercolors. My daughter and I sat and painted together and reignited my love of watercolors. With whimsical exercises, plenty of room for leeway, and suggestions for playing that produce fun and attractive results, this was just the right balance of instruction and encouragement and freedom.

As a mom, artist, and teacher I am excited to keep painting. This would be a great book to work through in a small class or as a group of friends! #NetGalley #ColorwaysWatercolorFlowers #BleyHack #QuartoPublishingGroup #WalterFoster

This book is aimed at crafters and DIYers rather than fine artists. The author uses stamps, the side of her brushes, and similar objects to create some of her flowers, so no initial painting skill is really needed. She goes more for the impression of flowers rather than accurate depictions, so there's no pressure on beginners. Her interest is more in how the colors look together, so we do get some color theory and some basic watercolor techniques. Her included projects were things like making patterns of flowers on DIY wrapping paper or cards, cutting out watercolor flowers and making them into a collage, or creating a frame of watercolor flowers to put around a photograph. It was not difficult to understand her step-by-step directions. It's a good book if this is the type of thing you're looking for, but it may come across as very basic if you already have some skill with watercolor painting.

I've been posting several reviews on various art forms, and here's another to add to the collection, which will doubtlessly be my last art book review this year. This one, part of a 'Colorways' art series, focuses on the delicate art of watercolor flowers and how to achieve various looks and effects with this ethereal medium.

The author offers hints and tips from her own personal experience, including useful techniques such as wet-into-wet painting, washes, gradations, and glazing, as well as step-by-step instruction on achieving certain effects such as capturing a rose bloom for example, which by any other name still looks as sweet! The book includes advice on how to keep a painting frame of mind when your tools are not to hand - or better yet, when you have a camera to hand to capture ideas for future paintings, and in this day and age, who doesn't have a cellphone camera? Hey if you don't, go get one for art's sake!

The book goes beyond just watercolors and into collage with a step-by-step on creating a picture frame made from a watercolor, and I enjoyed reading this and adding to my stock of general knowledge even though I don't have any immediate plans to immerse myself in this demanding medium. I commend this as a worthy read, and a useful tool for anyone interested in improving their watercolor technique.

I rally enjoyed Colorways; Watercolor FLowers. I am new to art and this book breaks down water colors so they are manageable to a newbie. Her instructions were stress free and helped me created my own flowers and build my confidence.
I truly recommend this to anyone who wants to start with water colors.

Watercolor has always been one of my favorite types of painting. I've always loved that watercolor often gives the idea of something rather than an exact replica - the important parts are there, but it's not photo-realistic. Hack has made creating beautiful, whimsical watercolor flowers approachable for even a complete beginner. Lettering techniques are added to create fun, useful projects. I love the floral frame for photos. This book would make a wonderful gift for someone interested in getting started in watercolor.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

A lifesafer book for someone who want to learn to draw flowers. As a beginner in watercoloring, I found this book soooo helpful. I love it so much. It shows clear steps to draw flowers and friends :D Guess who will be starting to try this one soon? Yeap. You guessed it. ME!

Colorways: Watercolor Flowers
Tips, techniques, and step-by-step lessons for learning to paint whimsical artwork in vibrant watercolor
by Bley Hack

Non-threatening beginner book for aspiring watercolor artists. This book includes an introduction, information on tools and materials required, basic color theory, where to find inspiration and step by step projects that include making frames for photographs, painting then making collages with watercolor flowers, framing words with flowers and how to do so and other fun ideas. The flowers are free-form and not botanical style at all but fun and easy and a great way to begin painting flowers in watercolor. I have a few ideas from the book that I will use this year as I get back into watercolor painting again.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars