Hey there to anyone and everyone who absolutely loves the art of watercolor!

Recently, I picked up a copy of a sweet lil’ book called “Five Minute Watercolor” by Samantha Nielsen. It’s pretty well compact, and it highlights a lot of beginner watercolor painting techniques and approaches to creating things like cityscapes, trees, flowers, and more.

And, even though I’m not a beginner artist myself, I thought it would be nice if I could “test drive” the book, if you will, for all you fellow watercolor beginners out there. So, check out my full overview/review of the book in the video below!

Watch the Video Book Review

And, if you’d like, you can read more about my thoughts below as well…

A Fast Review: “Five Minute Watercolor”

All in all, I think this book could be helpful for some artists out there… but, honestly, I found that it might not be the best option in terms of books/guides for beginners. Here’s why.

There Are No Step-by-Step Explanations

…or any step-by-step anythings, for that matter, included in this full book. And that kind of disappointed me!

As beginners, you really learn best by “doing”, meaning the best way to figure out how to paint in watercolor is to be taken through the process of painting in watercolors. And, yes, this book included some helpful painting tips… but, again, there was no real teaching of those tips involved. It’s more of a, “here’s something you can try next time you paint something!”

But then there’s no follow-up with, “here’s something you can paint to practice this, and here’s how to paint it!”

So, if I were a beginner using this book, I think I’d really struggle actually putting the tips given into practice. Now, that’s not to say all beginners would struggle using the book like this, but, hey, I’m just reporting back on my findings!

And There Are No Painting Projects Included

Along with that last finding, I also found that only examples of finished watercolor paintings done by either the author or other artists were used in the book. There are no actual projects to try, or to at least try to “copy” off of, so I kind of felt stuck when it came to practicing all the tips that were described.

Again, it’s more of the author showing us, like, “hey, look at this pretty butterfly I painted!” And not, “hey, let me show you how to paint this pretty butterfly!”

And, as an artist, I know it’s so not good to “copy” another artist’s work… but, in this book, that’s all I had to practice with—just trying to “copy” the paintings the author herself had pictures of on the pages.

Again, there are just a lot of painting reference tips included, which are great, but there’s no help for you, as a reader, to actually put things into practice using the book.

But There Are Helpful Technique Tips

One thing this book does have, though, is a lot of good info when it comes to simple watercolor painting technique tips. We’re talking wet on wet techniques, blending, splatter effects, and the like!

I also really liked the inclusion of a color mixing chart and instructions on how to make your own mixing chart towards the back of the book. Because color theory is super important, and making a color chart is helpful for all levels of painters!

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Now, as I said in the video above, I’d really like to do some more painting-related book reviews here on my blog and over on my YouTube. So, hit me up if you have any other book suggestions when it comes to what I should take a look at next!

And happy painting to all…

–Kari