watercolor instruction book for kids?

December 5, 2007 9:34 AM

Can anyone recommend a watercolor painting instruction book for children?

My seven-year-old stepdaughter asked for a set of watercolor paints for Xmas, and her dad wants to get her a painting instruction book as well. She's very patient and has some talent in art. She also enjoys step-by-step drawing books and likes to draw from photographs. We want a book that she can use by herself (which she would also prefer, as she's private about her own work processes). She reads above her grade level, so reading complexity is probably not a big issue, as long as it's in the high-elementary-school range.

Google and Amazon are not being too helpful. The one book that I thought might be worthwhile (Lothar Kampman's The Children's Book of Painting) is long out of print and the used copies aren't in great shape). Input from art teachers or artistic parents would be greatly appreciated.

posted by dlugoczaj to media & arts (5 comments total)

I enjoyed this one by Klutz when I was in middle school; it includes a nice set of watercolors and has special pages so you can paint right in the book.
posted by phatkitten at 10:24 AM on December 5, 2007

One thing to consider is this:
Watercolor is a difficult medium because it's translucent, so you can't fix mistakes. To make really good watercolors requires a lot of thinking ahead, so you leave the white spaces white, and don't slop the blue into the space where you want the orange to be. It's used a lot in schools because it's very cheap and very easy to clean up, but it's hard to make good pictures with it unless you are already skilled at mental composition or drawing with a pencil (that is, unless you can pencil out where you want the colors to go ahead of time -- basically making your own coloring book).

That said, it's wonderful for technique; especially encourage her to play around with different levels of wetness on the brush, levels of wetness on the paper before applying color, and mixing colors. One fun trick is to put down a wet coat of blue or black, and then sprinkle chunky salt on it. As it dries, little white stars will appear around the salt crystals.

Gouache is a more opaque form of watercolor; I've never used it. Tempera paint (often used in schools) is more opaque, so it's easier to change your mind later. Acrylic is even more opaque, but once it dries it is like plastic so if she's at all messy that would be risky. Oil takes forever to dry, so it's possible to go back the next day and change your mind about something. But I wouldn't recommend oil at this stage because of the mess and the chemical thinners used.

When I was a kid artist I loved getting paints in tubes (high-end water color, as well as acrylic and oil paints, come in tubes), and special paper. Watercolor especially needs thicker paper, because it's so wet that regular paper will curl up.

About getting paints in tubes: some colors may have heavy metal ingredients, or other things that may be iffy for a young kid. Check the labels and ask at a knowledgable art store. Watercolor paints in a box are actually quite flexible and useful, so don't write them off; but for a special "big girl artist" treat when I was a kid, the tubes seemed like a whole new level.

The best drawing book, if she is serious about wanting to build the skills to make realistic-looking art: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. If she is the type to really follow through and do the exercises in a book, this book is hands-down the one to get.

Looking at the top 20 or so adult watercolor instruction books on Amazon, I'm seeing several that seem like they might be good choices. I'm leaving aside ones that are heavily focused on buying lots of supplies, or on advanced techniques for weir textures or specific subjects like landscape. I think you want a book that will give her good examples of basic watercolor techniques, and give a bit about composition, color choices, and other art basics. Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner looks like it would be a very good introduction, so long as she wouldn't be insulted by the title. The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook seems to have a ton of good stuff, though maybe not as much step-by-step basics stuff. Klutz Watercolor for the Artistically Undiscovered looks like a fun, lighter book - more kid-friendly illustrations and exercises maybe. First Steps: Painting Watercolors also seems good.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:59 PM on December 5, 2007

For kid-specific books, your best bet might be to go to your local art store and either ask what they recommend, or just look through their stock of kid's instruction books yourself. You want appealing pictures that illustrate a range of techniques -- the finished pictures don't matter as much as the in-progress pictures.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:28 PM on December 5, 2007

like the klutz too, a lot
posted by starfish at 7:58 PM on December 5, 2007

Right now I'm leaning toward Klutz (I should have known; we have multiple Klutz books in our house and we adore them). Other suggestions are still welcome . . .
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:17 AM on December 6, 2007