“You can paint vibrant watercolors in 12 easy lessons”: A useful watercolor artists’ companion

Watercolor artist Yuko Nagayama was born in Tokyo in 1963.
She is well-known for her straightforward teaching style.
She became a professor at Musashino Art University after graduating from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and the Satoru School of Arts Department in Tokyo. There, she improved her ability to teach such a difficult technique as watercolor in a very simple and yet amazing way.
Yuko Nagayama’s method of teaching is so effective that, as the title of her first volume demonstrates, she was able to achieve her high performance in just 12 short lessons that are meant to be followed during the course of 12 weeks.

The book is therefore broken up into 12 lessons, and captions and works in progress provide clear explanations.
Master Nagayama demonstrates her teaching approach using  basic objects like an apple in the first lesson. The fundamentals of watercolor are covered in the same chapter: which kind of paper, the typology of colors accessible for the suggested method, and which brushes to utilize; The next lessons show her lessons with guides on how to paint normal food (for dealing with organic subjects), bottles (as a way to teach how to create the illusions of highlights) and how to paint blossoms (which is an extremely famous subject for watercolor specialists).
Before beginning the painting process, every subject in the book is drawn and examined in terms of composition and proportion. The painting is then described in detail: from the first brushstrokes to the details that give the illustration the illusion of its “real” feel. One of the most fascinating choice of her teaching technique is the decision to use captions and the step-by-step summary of the work in progress: They depict the development of the final watercolor broken down to a series of thumbnails from the base to the finished work.

This book has both something useful to be attempted by novices and some material that can help more mature artists to improve their skills. Painting with watercolors is one of the most popular art technique for people of all ages and skill levels, so whether you are a fledgling or an accomplished craftsman, this book brings something to the table for you.
It helps particularly in helping you remember the reasons behind certain choices that crucial for a successful watercolor.
“You can paint vibrant watercolors,” the first of two volumes published in five years, is a straightforward and essential volume, that can introduce you to the Japanese artistic tradition.

Also don’t get fooled by its small size: 103 pages are more than enough for a Japanese watercolorist to convey her sensitive mastery known throughout the artistic world.