Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

This book takes you from the studio into the outdoors. It explains the materials needed to be able to set up and paint outside. It encourages taking only the items you need rather than carrying a heavy bag all day. The artist/ author describes the type of paints, paper, and brushes he uses and this is helpful to the beginning watercolorist.

This book focuses heavily on drawing in a fairly detailed way before beginning to paint. That might frighten some beginners off if they don’t feel their drawing skills are adequate.

My favorite take away from this book was painting and including people in your paintings. I find that challenging and the author did a nice job of walking you through this process.

This book would be a great watercolor book for the artist’s reference shelf. The
exercises would be ones to come back to, and practice, time and time again.

Very interesting, still have to try out all the tips that are given.
But I'm looking forward to trying it out.

The book looks great with a lot of pictures and I like the personal way it is written.

I have always found watercolor rather tricky to use, there is a special mindset to painting with watercolor than with other mediums, and painting outside adds to this challenge.
This book is a good all round book, it covers the basics such as equipment and materials followed by use of a sketchbook including some step by step projects to try.
This is is followed by chapters on drawing on location, drawing techniques, capturing details and compositions including light and color. And finally the transition of taking the painting from the field to the studio for completion.
A good book without being to step by step processes.

En plein air refers to act of painting outdoors where the artist’s subject is presented in full view. The book by Iain Stewart begins with a list of materials and suggested tools. As usual, it is recommended to find what we are most comfortable with. I find it interesting to know what others use to create their art while trying to figure out what works best for myself. Who knows, some of other artist’s favourite tools could become a staple in our own favourites if we ever get the chance to try them out!

In the book, the author shares his painting processes, which I found helpful. When we are brought through these images and accompanying text, there is an emphasis on perspective, and the author points out things to look for, such as vanishing lines. For a beginner like me, these points are incredibly informative as it helps me figure out what to take note of. The images offer a clear picture of what to focus on and how to achieve certain effects.

Overall, the book is packed with helpful watercolour tips for beginners and for those who are seeking to improve their own techniques.

This book reminded me of the similarly useful guides shared by artist Devin Elle Kurtz on Instagram and Twitter, though her guides tend to focus on digital art.

It is one of the volumes that conquers you beginning from the cover. Gorgeous loose style in watercolour, on location, the book contains useful tips for this difficult task.
It is written in a personal way, the author tells about his experience including mistakes and gives practical advices.
The step by step tutorials are not very many, there are four cityscapes (two modern. two old cities), a floral still life and a ship in the port scene, but there are many examples and tips that probably will compensate for this.

lovely art tutorial book! Well put together and good demonstrations. I haven’t done much painting on location and my watercolor tends to get overworked and muddy so I hope to use some of these techniques later this year when it is warmer (while being safe and wearing a mask out in public, of course!)

There are several demos of quaint towns and villages, a couple for larger cities, a flower demo, and some cars and of course boats. Some composition tricks are added as well as a few warm up exercises and a material list at the beginning of the book.

The artist uses many Daniel Smith watercolor paints, but you could substitute student grade paint or other artist brands—although for more specialized colors obviously the results won’t necessarily be the same. Honestly I would be more concerned about having good watercolor paper than what brand of paint you have at first. 👍🏻 If you can’t swing a full palette of professional watercolor paint, stick to introductory warm and cool primary colors. Just those six tubes of paint will help you immensely with learning mixing techniques. (Speaking as an acrylic artist here who has dabbled in wc.)

In any case the author has several good watercolor tips useful for beginner to intermediate painters. Here’s hoping for successful paintings for everyone!

I am only a beginner in watercolor painting, but this was immensely helpful for me. The layout of the book starts with the sketchbook and how to plot out the image, and then moves through the topics in the order that would be important for painting. He has a lot of helpful tips and tricks on the way, and also has detailed explanations for how to achieve the foundational techniques of watercolor (like a graded wash).

One of the best things about this book is the series of paintings that Stewart goes through step by step. As a beginner, I always wonder how certain looks are achieved, and it's helpful to me to see the process laid out so clearly.

I have never painted ein plein air, but after reading this book, I not only would like to give it a try, but feel empowered to do so. Highly recommend this book for anyone else who is interested in watercolor, but needs some further instruction.

Thank you to Iain Stewart, Walter Foster Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and honestly review this book!