Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Zoltan Szabo's Landscape Painting in Watercolor offers a wealth of information for both aspiring artists and seasoned painters. This comprehensive text, enriched by over 300 illustrations, 24 of which are full-page color plates, includes instructions and advice for creating fantastic watercolor paintings. Thirty-six step-by-step demonstrations and over 200 monochrome illustrations vividly guide the reader through every phase of painting the landscape.
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.
Synopsis
"The organic homestead means something deeper than either the nobility of work or the pleasantness of leisure. What it must provide -- if the homestead is to have true success -- is a shrine to tranquility, an island of calm sanity to which you can retreat each day from the hectic outside world."
Gene Logsdon is uniquely qualified to write about homesteading -- his heart has never been far from the land. He was born and raised on his family's farm, and as an adult he established a two-acre homestead before moving on to operate a 32-acre farm of his own.
A prolific writer on a range of agricultural subjects, Gene Logsdon is beloved for his practical insight, folksy wisdom, and deep reverence for the natural world. He teaches and practices a homesteading philosophy of peaceful coexistence; of accommodating oneself to nature rather than dominating it.
Homesteading is one of his first books, and the time-tested techniques it teaches are as relevant now as ever. Inside you'll find a wealth of information about maintaining a self-sustaining lifestyle, including:
- Financial considerations
- Soil science
- Organic vegetable and fruit cultivation
- Advice on selecting grain crops for your homestead
- Raising livestock
- And a great deal more
Complete with photos and illustrations, this book is a wonderful resource for homesteaders and organic farmers alike. With an emphasis on enjoying the simple pleasures of a country life, Logsdon's infectious positivity and humor will keep you smiling even when the going gets tough. He never fails to remind us that the hard work of homesteading ain't worth a thing if you forget to put down your hoe, relax, and soak up the tranquil beauty of your natural surroundings.
Gene Logsdon and his wife Carol have a small-scale experimental farm in Wyandot County, Ohio. Gene is the author of numerous books and magazine articles on farm-related issues, and believes sustainable pastoral farming is the solution for our stressed agricultural system.
Readers interested in related titles from Eugene Logsdon will also want to see: Gene Logsdon's Practical Skills (ISBN: 1626545952), Getting Food From Water (ISBN: 1626545987), Organic Orcharding (ISBN: 1626545790), Successful Berry Growing (ISBN: 1626546002), Two Acre Eden (ISBN: 1626545820).