Books in print
Ann has published many books, writing about her philosophy and teaching her creative techniques. Here are the titles currently in print.
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NEW - Creativity Through Nature
Published by Batsford on May 13th 2021
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Available internationally from Amazon
A passionate and purposeful book on finding real creativity through nature.
An essential book for our times and all artists at whatever level. In her most passionate and personal book to date, acclaimed watercolour artist Ann Blockley takes both budding and more experienced artists through a series of ideas for working with nature in its widest sense to nurture our creativity, inspire us, make us more sustainable artists, and replenish energy and flow when our artistic streams run dry.
In Go Outside and Play , the author exhorts artists to recapture a fun, no-pressure way of being outside and use that feeling when creating. In Connecting Materials to Place she creates her own paint from the local pond. In The Slow Movement , the artist reveals her year of working on a specific local hedgerow and painting a series of different interpretation in its every-changing detail. She created regular creative rituals, using her weekly playing card as a starting point for a new painting to reflect the season each week. She reuses old paintings, and tissue and paper wabi-sabi style to create new textures and even new paintings.
Including work from other artists as well as her own, she shows the ideas and work from textile and mixed-media artists. From allotment inspiration to reusing old painting and from nature prints to the alchemy of found materials, this is a journey to find new creativity through our connection with our natural world.
Watercolour Textures
Published by Harper Collins
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Available internationally from Amazon
Published by Batsford
This inspirational book covers a wide range of unconventional techniques, including work on a variety of surfaces, painting over gesso or collage, manipulating watercolour with a range of tools and using unusual materials such as salt and clingfilm. Subjects range from landscapes and buildings to flowers and animals.
Experimental Landscapes in Watercolour
Published by Batsford
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Available internationally from Amazon
Published by Batsford
“This is a book you have to buy. I don’t care what you give up so that you can have it, it’ll be worth the sacrifice. It’s on another plane.”
Henry Malt art book review.net
Ann reveals the secrets of her atmospheric, inspirational landscape paintings, which really push the boundaries of what can be achieved with watercolour. Packed with stunning examples of her colourful, atmospheric work, this book encourages you to experiment with the same techniques in your own painting to develop a personal style. Experiment with a range of innovative and exciting techniques, from expressive mark making and flowing watercolour to building a range of textures using unusual materials such as granulation medium, sand, salt, cellophane and found objects. Techniques covered include combining waterbased paint and ink with other media such as gesso and collage to create dramatic effects; manipulating paint with materials such as plastic wrap; tearing, layering and reassembling paintings into watercolour collages; and developing textures and marks made using fabrics and organic materials.
Packed with practical advice on thinking creatively and how to develop semi abstract textures in your paintings, Ann Blockley’s glorious book is an inspiration to all landscape painters and the ideal companion for watercolour painters who want to take their work a step further.
Experimental Flowers in Watercolour
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Available internationally from Amazon
Published by Batsford
The theme of the book is the exploration of new exciting ways to stretch the boundaries of watercolour and the importance of stepping outside one’s comfort zone in order to develop as an artist. Ann experiments with a variety of new methods and ideas to explore traditional subjects with a contemporary twist. The book mixes a variety of loose ,expressive styles, collage, mixed media and some semi abstract interpretations. Flowers are looked at both with and without backgrounds and there is a section looking at painting wildflowers in the landscape.
Ann Blockley's Watercolour Workshop
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Available internationally from Amazon
Published by Batsford March 1st 2018
This practical and inspirational guide to experimental painting in watercolour and other water-based media provides a uniquely styled developmental workshop in a series of adaptable projects. Ann demonstrates how to use watercolour in loose and expressive ways, using key techniques to develop your own creativity and take your paintings further.
Ann’s step-by-step projects demonstrate in detail how to develop paintings and experiment with alternative methods to create your own interpretations. Her beautiful and inspirational artworks also demonstrate how different versions of a subject might take an unexpected direction, and how to make the most of these exciting opportunities.
The book moves, with progressively challenging practical projects, from loose wildflower meadows, textured woodland and rustic rambling walls to atmospheric or semi-abstract landscape corners. Loose, expressive mark-making and unusual techniques include combining water-based paint and ink with granulation medium for dramatic texture, drawing with twigs, using gesso and collage to create unique effects; manipulating paint with materials such as plastic wrap (clingfilm); developing printed marks made using found materials.
Ann’s personal commentary gives a unique insight into the mind of the artist – ways of looking at and interpreting your subject, how to explore and experiment – to unlock the unique potential of your own watercolour painting.
John Blockley - A Retrospective Compiled by Ann Blockley
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Available internationally from Amazon
Published by Batsford
John Blockley was a ground-breaking artist whose work helped change the face of British watercolour. This beautiful retrospective of his work, which includes drawings, watercolours, pastels, acrylics and mixed media is a unique record of his artistic legacy and, for the first time, considers the whole spectrum of development in his painting, showing his progression and inspiration.
Subjects range from his iconic landscapes of the wild corners of UK, cityscapes, farm buildings, flowers and still life, figures, marine paintings and more. Artist Ann Blockley offers a perceptive narrative about her father’s painting life, which was always driven by his obsessive search for the essence of his subjects.
To see examples of John Blockley’s work please visit http://johnblockley.com