It may seem impossible to be able to ensure the success of a watercolor painting before the paintbrush hits the paper, but the newest addition to Walter Foster's Artist's Library series proves that it can be done.

In Steps to Success in Watercolor, accomplished watercolor artist Brenda Swenson explores practical, unique ways to plan your painting to avoid common mistakes and make the most of your painting experience. She also shares a number of ways to approach a painting as well as to learn essential art theory and techniques, including composition, perspective, color-mixing, and much more.

Swenson breaks down the process of planning a painting into eight individual steps, which include choosing a format, planning values, effectively using color, developing a center of interest, creating a visual path, incorporating variety, painting negative shapes, and introducing light and shadow. Then she combines the steps into a final painting to show how each step works together to produce a pleasing, successful work of art.

With clear, step-by-step instruction and helpful hints from the artist, Steps to Success in Watercolor is unique because it focuses not only on the painting process itself, but also on experimenting and strategizing, which are essential to the painting process. Swenson shows readers that, when you plan ahead and take the time to study the essential elements required to create a painting, the finished product becomes more satisfying and rewarding.

Brenda Swenson has served on the board of directors for the National Watercolor Society and Watercolor West, and her sketches and paintings have been featured in Watercolor and Classic Truck magazines. Swenson has also received numerous awards and demonstrates her watercolor techniques in workshops. Swenson's passion is sketching constantly with watercolor, and using her little "gems" as a way to observe and respond to the world around her. She lives in South Pasadena, California.

Author — Brenda Swenson.

Paperback. 64 pages. 6½" × 9½" (16 cm × 24 cm).