Five-Minute Watercolour

Samantha will show you how to capture warm and cool colours and use washes and blending. In 60 bite size exercises, subjects range from landscapes and seascapes to people and busy urban streets. There's no jargon or fiddling and everything is explained in simple, concise terms. Even watercolour's best-kept secrets and key techniques become easy to understand and you'll find it impossible not to get your paints out and start working the moment you open the pages.

-- The SAA * The SAA Catalogue 19/20 *

This isn't silk painting, I know - but try pre-treating silk to inhibit dye flow, ironing on to freezer paper and experiment. I find loose sketches hard to achieve, however, this book does give lots of tips on how to achieve them. Often an idea pops into ones head and clarity disappears before painting, a quick sketch in paint or dye can keep the best details ready for the final painting.

This book, in bite size exercises, encourages the painter to loosen up whilst keeping the details clear. Most watercolour techniques are adaptable to silk painting, the use of painters' tape and masking fluid are very effective to preserve elusive 'white' areas.

The book quickly covers: Create a basic sketch, finding a subject, five minute skies, trees, water, in fact, every subject in five minutes. Most of us lead busy lives, more knowledge of painting in five minutes is amongst my most wanted!

This is a good book to pick up when inspiration fails us, giving a different slant on many subject.

-- Margaret Dunning * Guild of Silk Painters *

'There’s a wealth of ideas, subjects and techniques here and plenty to pick up and run with. The illustrations are attractive (essential given what’s being presented) and, although Samantha analyses them, they’re not demonstrations and you’re not intended to copy them. You should instead go out and find your own ideas, but what’s here will give you plenty of inspiration and jumping-off points.'

Read the full review here.

* Artbookreview.net *

A tempting cover with the glorious qualities of watercolour for all to see and a mastery of the ever-difficult green. This book offers learners 'Super-quick Techniques For Amazing Paintings' claims the cover. Its small size belies the fact that this book contains 55 exercises to enhance your familiarity with watercolour. Practice is the key states the artist in her introduction and that is true of everything. As painters we tend to want to create a masterpiece straight away. Often with watercolour, we quickly become discouraged. It does not behave how we want it to. Will this book help? It begins with tools - you'll find suggestions for choosing the right tools. The next chapter is about techniques. This is all about washes, blending colour, lifting colour, glazing, edges, blooms and brushwork. The book moves on to applying those techniques. I liked the pages on skies best in this section, especially the image of Pamela Harmois' Beach Walkers, which is very inspiring. This section includes the essence of the book in that it gives five-minute chosen themes for skies, rocks, trees, water and waves, landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, floral. There are more ideas for quick ways to paint night scenes, the four seasons, people. The final section is Take it Further, which gives suggestions for improving on your new-found skills. If you wish to make watercolour part of your everyday activities, this book might well show you the way. Interesting and worth a read. Any artist will improve if he paints daily, given he understands the techniques and how to apply them.

-- Karen Platt * www.karenplatt.co.uk *

Aimed at artists who are just starting out and busy painters short on time, Five-Minute Watercolour by Samantha Nielsen will help you explore the medium through 55 bite-size exercises. Starting with tools and basic techniques, Samantha then shows you how to implement those techniques, including sections on painting landscapes and skies, flowers and people. The final section deals with more advanced skills, such as understanding colour, watercolour mediums and adding impact. The instruction is accessible, jargon free and concise so there's no excuse for not finding time to practise every day. 

* Leisure Painter, November 2018 *

This is much more than a book for the time-poor and is a rather delightful treasure house of ideas for sketching and note-taking.

Here, working quickly is something to aim for. Get it down before it moves, the light changes or you simply forget what it was that caught your eye and your imagination in the first place.

It's quick-fire and brimming with hints and tips, and it's really rather fun. 

-- Henry Malt * Paint magazine (November 201