Book excerpt: Everything you need to know to make magic with watercolor! Features 80+ lessons, exercises and demonstrations, including live instruction on the enclosed DVD Watercolor moves like no other medium. Just add water, and the pigment takes on a life of its own. This book makes learning to paint equally dynamic, with page after page of step-by-step demonstrations, plus more than 40 lessons on the companion DVD. Get off to a happy start with basics such as laying a wash, applying a glaze and keeping whites white. Expand your skills and discover new ways to express yourself with advanced techniques, including special effects using salt, rubber cement and foil. From selecting and caring for your brushes to secrets for painting big, bold, beautiful shadows, Watercolor Essentials contains everything you need to paint with confidence. • 33 exercises, from foundational skills to advanced techniques for painting clouds, rock textures, moonlit water and more • 7 start-to-finish demonstrations take you through the process of painting a variety of subjects, including atmospheric landscapes, waterscapes and flowers • 70-minute DVD puts it all into action, so you can see how the paint is applied and reacts on the paper