Book Review: Painting Nature in Watercolor
Book: Painting Nature in Watercolor Author: Cathy Johnson, Illustrations also by Cathy Johnson
A wonderful resource for nature journallers and sketchers
Painting Nature in Watercolor is another wonderful resource for both beginner and experienced artists and journallers alike. Cathy Johnson is a force in the nature journalling and painting world – if you’ve dabbled in nature journalling, you may have come across her or her work at some point.
She has written a number of excellent books, and this one is an excellent foundational resource for anyone wanting to get into painting nature.
Book cover: Painting Nature in Watercolor
Flip to any page
It is something you can read from start to finish, but like my other favourite nature journaling books, it is also something you can flip to any random page and find something for you to try that day or the next time you head out, something for you to practice, or read learn about.
Cathy Johnson introduces a few media complementary to watercolor in this book – watercolour pencils, coloured papers, ink among others. She starts the book by setting out materials, basic techniques and keeping a sketch book/journal.
Structure of the Book
These foundational topics out of the way, she then organizes the rest of the book into the following chapters:
Woods and Forests;
By the Water;
Prairies,
Meadows and Fields;
Mountains;
Deserts
People in the landscape
Through each of these chapters she takes us through how to paint tree barks and foliage, painting lakes, reflections, the sea, sunrises and sunsets, features, birds, rain, snow, wildflowers, bison, mountain wildlife, rocks, desert plants, desert wildlife, deserts on toned paper, small-scale people, skin tones, hair, canoes, fishing and capturing firelight – this list hopefully gives a sense of the sheer breadth of information in this book. If there is something you’re trying to paint for the first time or paint better, odds are she has covered it in the book.
A page from the forests section in the book - just one of many useful pages
Why I Love it
The first time I picked it up, the page on bark spoke to me. Another time it was her approach to blocking out trees. One day it was her pages on using watercolour pencils which I’d only just started exploring at the time. Her introductory chapters encouraged me to try out different things with ink.
While my attempts at some of the above succeeded very quickly, others did not, but for me that is the most important learning I have taken from this unassuming book – that it is ok to experiment with different media and techniques because the objective is to capture the world around you – the things that jump out at you about the world around you – your experience of the world.
Her often sketchy style and approachable outlook to watercolor painting and journaling gave me the confidence and inspiration to just draw and paint and not worry too much about it being perfect. It allowed me to stop worrying about sketching out my subject in pencil then drawing it in pen or fineliner before adding watercolor which was my previous approach 99% of the time.
Permission to use Sketchbook as Sketchbooks
This book (and the others in my top 3, as well as inspiration from the other resources around the site) gave me the confidence to use my sketchbooks as sketchbooks. To explore, to draw and paint what I see even if it is rough. To try to use different techniques because even if something is not the most detailed, it can be stunningly beautiful and capture the feel of the scene. To explore colour, shape, detail, perspective and distance. To enjoy the feeling of experiencing the world in a different way.
It brought me back to my childhood painting palm trees and the beach on our trips to the beach in Port Dickson (Malaysia) where my object was just to feel the place more fully. It brought me back to writing poetry by the beach in Perth (Australia) where I wanted to capture the feeling of tranquility and openness. It brought me back to creating for the sake of creating and connecting with the outdoors. It inspired me to add different types of sketches on the same pages, to write and make my pages my own, and to just try different ways of painting.
I have barely even scratched the surface of this book, and I am so glad for that – it is the sort of book that just keeps on giving. If you’re not sure where to start with nature journaling, if you’re trying to learn to paint the textures and features of your surroundings better, or even if there is just something you’re not quite sure how to do better (for me it is still capturing the morning and evening light), check this book out – it may just speak to you like it did for me and many others.