A Passion for Watercolor: Painting the Inner Experience - Book Review

Arts & Activities, April, 2003 by Jerome J. Hausman

(2000; $21.95), by Stefan Draughton. Watson-Guptill Publications, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.

Stefan Draughton begins with four assumptions: (1) She did not want to do a "how to" book (she has no recipe for painting in watercolor); (2) it's necessary to have strong feelings (passions) to create strong paintings; (3) her book is about finding and catching threads of aesthetic development fueled by her own subconscious; and (4) there is no substitute for drawing from life and from imagination as much as possible--and drawing from other artists' work, too.

This book is a personal account of one artist's work with watercolor. As she put it: "My husband says he married a process. He did." The book is organized into sections: The Basics; The Watercolor Medium; Subjects, Approaches, and the Issues They Raise; and Walking on Freshly Fallen Snow.

References are made to the importance of looking at other art ("everything from cave paintings to the old masters to a range of contemporary painting"). Yet, the book is profusely illustrated with the author's own watercolors, with no other examples given. For information about this publication, circle No. 388 on the Reader Service Card.