The Essence of Watercolour Book & DVD with Hazel Soan

Hazel Soan is one of the foremost exponents of loose watercolour working today and it's the quality of light that suffuses her work, as much as anything else that has contributed to her immense popularity. She's every inch a painter's painter.

In this, her latest book, she looks at a wide and varied range of techniques from when to choose transparent or opaque colours, using a limited palette, layering, wet-in-wet and using brushwork to shape your subject and lay washes.

The thing is, though, that at no point does this feel like a technical manual. There are no step-by-step demonstrations and, as ever, Hazel teaches by example: "explore this, try that, here's what I mean", so that the result is a constant stream of inspiring paintings that can't help but get you hurrying off to pick up your brushes.

You'll think you're looking at a book of wonderful pictures, but you're learning every time you turn the page.

The accompanying DVD gives an inspirational insight into the secrets of successful watercolour painting. Hazel focuses on the use of transparent and opaque watercolours and demonstrates these characteristics by painting a charming crocus, some vibrant red apples and a wild elephant.

She also explains how to gain real control in wet-in-wet blending and draws your attention to the role of gravity.

Painting a group of backlit figures, Hazel also looks at counter-change, emphasising the value of tone and the suggestion of the third dimension through light and shade.

The DVD's bonus feature also demonstrates how to add those all important finishing touches!

This book and DVD set is a real must have for those wanting to get to grips with the essence of watercolour!

Book & DVD: Batsford . Paperback . 128 pages . Colour throughout . 80mins

Please note that while this is a Region 0 DVD, it is PAL formatted and therefore unlikely to play in North America, Japan, South Korea and some of the Pacific Islands.

However, all DVDs will play on personal computers and laptops.