The Art of Paint Marbling Archives -

No matter where you live, whether the climate is tropical, arid, humid, oceanic, or cool, you likely have a great spot to observe nature, and you will find yourself feeling more peaceful. There really is beauty everywhere you look! In this upcoming holiday season, doing arts with your partner or your family is a great idea. Let’s fall in love with art, and having fun in the life.

In Nature Painting in Watercolor, the focus is all on the great outdoors—specifically, the plants that grow there. Beginning and aspiring artists can learn to create their favorite ferns, leaves, trees, florals, as well as animals, using the popular watercolor medium. Start by learning about the tools and materials needed to paint in watercolor; then dive into a thorough and fun painting techniques section, which covers washes, glazes, how to add detail in watercolor, and much more. If you’d like to spend more time outside (who doesn’t?), check out the section on finding inspiration outside for tips on viewing and gathering natural painting subjects, such as trees, grasses, flowers, and many other plants.

And if you can’t get outside, we’ve got you covered as well, with suggestions for where to find images online and photos to use as references. Also learn to sketch and keep a detailed sketchbook—skills that will help you when you get started on the step-by-step painting projects in the largest section of the book.

The step-by-step projects cover popular natural painting subjects, including the ones already listed here as well as rocks, mushrooms, buds, blooms, big and small trees, and forest animals. All are illustrated and painted in the author/artists’s signature contemporary watercolor style.

Nature Painting in Watercolor offers a fun, refreshing look at painting plants for today’s artist.

About the author:

Kristine A. Lombardi is a professional illustrator who began her career in advertising and promotions before leaving the corporate world to focus on design and illustration. The author and illustrator behind Nature Painting in Watercolor and Paint Every Little Thing (both from Walter Foster Publishing), as well as several children’s books, Kristine has also worked with a variety of well-known clients and teaches art classes at Montclair Art Museum. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her cat, Boo. Learn more at kristinelombardi.com.

The Art of Paint Marbling takes you through all the tools, techniques, and tips you need to create your own marbled artwork. Closely following the successful The Art of Paint Pouring and its follow-up, The Art of Paint Pouring: Swipe, Swirl & Spin, The Art of Paint Marbling features a similarly easy-to-follow format and appealing aesthetic. Paint marbling is a contemporary technique with a long history. What started hundreds of years ago has evolved into a fun, modern art form that’s popular on YouTube and has been hailed as a trend by The New York Times.

Nowadays, paint marbling uses a base of thickened water, onto which paint is poured and then swirled. Dipping paper directly into the paint creates beautiful, abstract art that’s easy to do at home using minimal, affordable supplies.

Using step-by-step projects with thorough instructions, artists can use a variety of techniques to manipulate colored paint into intricate patterns and create marbled artwork on a variety of surfaces, including paper, cloth, and wood panels. Large, beautiful, and colorful photos accompany all of the projects and techniques. Paint marbling serves as a fun hobby for beginners, a new art form for more advanced artists looking for alternative techniques, and a family activity perfect for artists young and old.

With The Art of Paint Marbling, you can learn to use paper, paint, and water to create your own on-trend artwork!

About the author:

Rene Eisenbart is a Portland, Oregon–based artist. She spent 25 years creating botanical illustrations for The Oregonian and now teaches painting workshops locally and in Europe. Rene paints from her classroom studio and likes to incorporate watercolor, collage, acrylic, and more into her expressive paintings. She is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the International Society of Experimental Artists. Learn more about Rene on her website: rene-art.com.