Painting Little Landscapes: Small-scale Watercolors of the Great Outdoors, Szabo Zoltan

Szabo begins by explaining how to select and record your subject in on-the-spot sketches and photos-and how to redesign, simplify, dramatize, and transform this raw material into a vivid personal statement.

He also demonstrates how to paint seven different categories of close-ups-preceded by a fascinating collection of painting tips about each subject. Szabo begins by showing you how to paint the magical effects of light and shadow on snow, rocks, and other natural forms. Searching the forest for inspiration, he demonstrates how to paint a variety of subjects, including sunlit leaves and cobwebs on a tree trunk. Exploring the patterns of water, Szabo even discovers hidden beauty in a puddle on a muddy road.

Szabo, famous for his winter paintings, reveals how he paints footprints in a snowy field, icicles, and frosty trees. When focusing on the beauty of wildflowers, Szabo uses subjects ranging from a single thistle in the wind to a cluster of blossoms in a meadow. The artist shows how to discover what he calls nature's abstractions, like the shape of a dead leaf caught among the branches or a spiderweb against the sky. He leads you around the house to find unexpected beauty in a wasp nest or a fallen feather on a pebbly path. And he shows you how to extract multiple paintings from a single subject by painting a series of variations on one handsome theme.

"Painting close-ups will not only give you a whole new range of subjects," Szabo claims, "but will add a new dimension to your work as you explore the hidden treasure of nature." Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures can bolster the technique of every watercolorist.

Zoltan Szabo was born in Hungary in 1928 and studied at the National Academy of Industrial Art in Budapest. He emigrated to Canada in 1949, and made a name for himself as one of Canada's foremost landscape painters. In addition to teaching workshops and seminars on watercolor painting, Szabo has exhibited his work in London, Canada, and the United States. Zoltan Szabo's paintings are found in public and private collections worldwide, including those of the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica and in the National Gallery of Hungary. Other books by Zoltan Szabo include Landscape Painting in Watercolor, Painting Little Landscapes, and Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes.

Readers interested in related titles from Zoltan Szabo will also want to see: Creative Watercolor Techniques (ISBN: 9781626541368), Landscape Painting in Watercolor (ISBN: 9781626549012), Painting Little Landscapes (ISBN: 9781626549173), Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes: Advanced Techniques in Watercolor (ISBN: 9781626549005).

The book contains three helpful sections. The first section, "Notes on Landscape Painting," describes how the artist selects and mixes colors, analyzes the many techniques for which Szabo is famous, and then demonstrates how to paint the seven most common landscape subjects. In these seven segments, Szabo makes valuable suggestions for painting trees; weeds, grass, and flowers; forms of the land ranging from rocks and soil to mountains and hills; still and moving water; snow, ice, and frost; skies and weather, including clouds, storms, rain, fog and mist; and finally, man-made structures.

The second section, "Painting Techniques in Color," features 173 full-color studies of all these subjects. Here the reader sees fascinating close-ups that show how this famous watercolorist paints every detail of the landscape: the texture of tree bark and the intricate detail of leaves; the wispy shapes of weeds and grass, and the delicate colors of wildflowers; the bold shapes and rough textures of rocks crowned with moss; the sparkling transparent colors of water, broken by reflections of land and sky colors; the luminous lights and shadows of snow; skies ranging from clear blue to fiery sunsets.

The third and final section, "Finished Paintings in Color," highlights 24 of Zoltan Szabo's finest landscapes, full-page size, and in full color. On each adjacent page, two significant sections of that painting are reproduced close to life-size so that the reader can study the painter's techniques.

Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes is a treasury of techniques and inspiration for the advanced watercolorist.

Zoltan Szabo was born in Hungary in 1928 and studied at the National Academy of Industrial Art in Budapest. He emigrated to Canada in 1949, and made a name for himself as one of Canada's foremost landscape painters. In addition to teaching workshops and seminars on watercolor painting, Szabo has exhibited his work in London, Canada, and the United States. Zoltan Szabo's paintings are found in public and private collections worldwide, including those of the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica and in the National Gallery of Hungary. Other books by Zoltan Szabo include Landscape Painting in Watercolor, Painting Little Landscapes, and Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures.

Readers interested in related titles from Zoltan Szabo will also want to see: Creative Watercolor Techniques (ISBN: 1626541361), Landscape Painting in Watercolor (ISBN: 162654901X), Painting Little Landscapes (ISBN: 1626549176), Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures (ISBN: 1626549184 ).

Zoltan Szabo discusses color, texture, and other characteristics of watercolor, as well as the materials and equipment needed to complete a watercolor master-piece. He describes various techniques-the basic washes, direct painting, dry brush, painting on wet paper, handling the painting knife-and suggests ways of achieving texture, pattern, and special effects by using masking techniques, razor blades, and many other objects and approaches. The reader learns what to looks for in the environment, how to choose a subject, and how to handle both simple and complex subjects. Szabo also introduces the basics of composition-relationships of shapes, center of interest, three-dimensionality and perspective, value and form, white space, the sequence of painting, and sketching.

Step-by-step demonstrations and auxiliary illustrations demonstrate how to paint the seasons, trees, forests, undergrowth, rocks, sand and soil, water (still and moving), reflections, fog, mist, rain, snow, sky and clouds, sunsets, fences, buildings, and people and animals in landscape.

This book is sure to appeal to novice and professional painter alike and will provide, with its handsome gallery of illustrations, inspiration as well as instruction for every watercolor enthusiast.

Zoltan Szabo was born in Hungary in 1928 and studied at the National Academy of Industrial Art in Budapest. He emigrated to Canada in 1949, and made a name for himself as one of Canada's foremost landscape painters. In addition to teaching workshops and seminars on watercolor painting, Szabo has exhibited his work in London, Canada, and the United States. Zoltan Szabo's paintings are found in public and private collections worldwide, including those of the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica and in the National Gallery of Hungary. Other books by Zoltan Szabo include Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures, Painting Little Landscapes, and Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes.

Readers interested in related titles from Zoltan Szabo will also want to see: Creative Watercolor Techniques (ISBN: 1626541361), Painting Little Landscapes (ISBN: 1626549176), Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures (ISBN: 1626549184), Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes: Advanced Techniques in Watercolor (ISBN: 1626549001).

Painting Little Landscapes includes assignments, in addition to 180 full-color plates, to help watercolorists create their own miniature landscapes. Each of the seven chapters covers one aspect of nature in its various forms: water, mountains, trees, snow, rocks, skies and clouds, along with flowers and close-ups. Szabo invites artists to see nature in its finest detail and ingratiate themselves in the pleasure of small-scale painting. Learn from the best in this beautifully illustrated comprehensive guide to the magic of watercolor.

Zoltan Szabo was born in Hungary in 1928 and studied at the National Academy of Industrial Art in Budapest. He emigrated to Canada in 1949, and made a name for himself as one of Canada's foremost landscape painters. In addition to teaching workshops and seminars on watercolor painting, Szabo has exhibited his work in London, Canada, and the United States. Zoltan Szabo's paintings are found in public and private collections worldwide, including those of the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica and in the National Gallery of Hungary. Other books by Zoltan Szabo include Landscape Painting in Watercolor, Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures, and Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes.

Readers interested in related titles from Zoltan Szabo will also want to see: Creative Watercolor Techniques (ISBN: 1626541361), Landscape Painting in Watercolor (ISBN: 162654901X), Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures (ISBN: 1626549184), Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes: Advanced Techniques in Watercolor (ISBN: 1626549001).

The book contains three helpful sections. The first section, "Notes on Landscape Painting," describes how the artist selects and mixes colors, analyzes the many techniques for which Szabo is famous, and then demonstrates how to paint the seven most common landscape subjects. In these seven segments, Szabo makes valuable suggestions for painting trees; weeds, grass, and flowers; forms of the land ranging from rocks and soil to mountains and hills; still and moving water; snow, ice, and frost; skies and weather, including clouds, storms, rain, fog and mist; and finally, man-made structures.

The second section, "Painting Techniques in Color," features 173 full-color studies of all these subjects. Here the reader sees fascinating close-ups that show how this famous watercolorist paints every detail of the landscape: the texture of tree bark and the intricate detail of leaves; the wispy shapes of weeds and grass, and the delicate colors of wildflowers; the bold shapes and rough textures of rocks crowned with moss; the sparkling transparent colors of water, broken by reflections of land and sky colors; the luminous lights and shadows of snow; skies ranging from clear blue to fiery sunsets.

The third and final section, "Finished Paintings in Color," highlights 24 of Zoltan Szabo's finest landscapes, full-page size, and in full color. On each adjacent page, two significant sections of that painting are reproduced close to life-size so that the reader can study the painter's techniques.

Zoltan Szabo Paints Landscapes is a treasury of techniques and inspiration for the advanced watercolorist.

Zoltan Szabo was born in Hungary in 1928 and studied at the National Academy of Industrial Art in Budapest. He emigrated to Canada in 1949, and made a name for himself as one of Canada's foremost landscape painters. In addition to teaching workshops and seminars on watercolor painting, Szabo has exhibited his work in London, Canada, and the United States. Zoltan Szabo's paintings are found in public and private collections worldwide, including those of the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica and in the National Gallery of Hungary. Other books by Zoltan Szabo include Landscape Painting in Watercolor, Painting Little Landscapes, and Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures.

Readers interested in related titles from Zoltan Szabo will also want to see: Creative Watercolor Techniques (ISBN: 1626541361), Landscape Painting in Watercolor (ISBN: 162654901X), Painting Little Landscapes (ISBN: 1626549176), Painting Nature's Hidden Treasures (ISBN: 1626549184 ).