Book excerpt: If you are coming to watercolor for the first time, it's easy for things to go a bit wrong and to wind up feeling like you are terrible at watercolor. But nothing could be further from the truth! Anyone coming to watercolor for the first time is going to hit a few road bumps. Sure, if you mix all your paints together at once you'll make an ugly brown. And if you aren't careful, your newly painted tree might bleed into your carefully painted dog. But why not welcome these challenges and find some joy in your mistakes? The true art of excelling in a subject lies in making mistakes, embracing the very worst that can happen, and allowing things to unfold across your sketchbooks and scraps of paper before you embark on you next great work. So relax, and let your watercolor skills take their own shape. You'll learn a new zest and creative spirit you never knew you were missing. This book has 50 challenges you can work through in your own time to defeat those niggling worries--and have lots of fun in the process. Includes a section of art-quality watercolor paper with 24 challenges you can paint, corresponding to the challenges set at the front of the book. Each watercolor sheet includes and outline and a prompt to inspire creativity.