Nice book review – Thanks Henry! Glad you liked it!

Henry Malt – book review

  Watercolour workshop- Projects and interpretations

Ann Blockley is one of the most innovative painters around and her work is

both challenging and inspiring.

This is one of her most practical books and includes plenty of exercises and

demonstrations that show you both how she works and how you can get the

most out of the medium of watercolour. It fully lives up to its subtitle, Projects

and Interpretations, providing both examples of Ann’s own work and ideas

for you to work on yourself. Its dedication is to “imagination, integrity and

interpretation, to being true to yourself”, which I rather like.

Ann’s style is very much her own and could be difficult to follow if she wasn’t

so generous with her explanation and instruction. The book is full of advice

and ideas and really does feel like having her at your side while you work.

As you would expect, interpretation is the central theme and Ann includes

photographs of her subjects so that she can show you how ideas develop and

different approaches can be tried. It’s an illuminating insight into a thoroughly

creative mind.

There are four main sections covering Flower and Field, Trees and Hedgerow,

Landscape Features and, finally, Towards Abstraction. There are six complete

projects, as well as sidebars, exercises and technical explanations. All the

main elements of intimate landscape painting are covered.

This is a beautiful and fascinating book that both stimulates and satisfies the

creative imagination

Image from ‘Ann Blockley’s Watercolour Workshop’ book