Watercolor in Bloom by Mary Backer (2007, Hardcover)

This is a 5-star book for flower painting in my opinion. I am in love with the style of painting in this book, and it is unlike other watercolor floral painting books I have, and that is one reason I like it---it fills a spot of something new unlike other books on watercolor flowers.

The artist, Mary Backer, uses very vivid colors and conveys a surreal beauty in the flowers that take you to another time and place. She also does an excellent job teaching you how to paint flowers in her style, and I found the book well designed for teaching both the novice as well as the more experienced painter. Some of the paintings involve using both watercolor and acrylic. About 2/3 of this book is devoted to actual demonstrations of how to paint these brilliant flowers against their vivid backgrounds.

The book begins with the usual materials and equipment section, then progresses to gathering ideas with a camera, then composition and design. I found the composition and design section especially helpful in terms of flower painting, including such things as "space division", visual center, and areas in balance, with simple grids to explain what this means. Next, "space and perspective" and "planning with a grid and tracing paper".

Following composition and design, Backer does a great job of teaching about various techniques such as lifting, glazing washes, losing the edge, spattering, backgrounds etc., all with great photos that clearly convey what she means. (Although I already knew about these things, her photos of how she uses these techniques in her unique painting style were helpful).

About 2/3 of this book is devoted to demonstrations of how to paint these amazing flowers scenes, with step-by-step instructions and a list of what you will need for each project. The author makes the instructions with photos for each step very easy to follow. This is absolutely BEAUTIFUL book, that you will probably want to use and keep for a while. I really love this book!

Mary Backer's books is one of the best. Beautiful photos with wonderful step-by-step instructions on how to create gorgeous florals in watercolor. I love her technique of adding acrylic over watercolor to make the paintings really pop with color. This is one of the best books I own. Told my girlfriend about it and she rushed to buy one. You should too!