This book is ideal for beginners in watercolour as it gives basic techniques, but it will also be useful to those painters who have some experience of watercolour as it shows some interesting techniques that David has developed over many years of painting.

Given the popularity of the Learn to Paint series and of David Bellamy as an author, it was inevitable that Collins would put the two together eventually.

Shoehorning David’s broad and enthusiastic approach into 64 pages was always going to be a struggle and there was also a risk that his rather individual approach might overwhelm a series that’s supposed to provide basic introductions rather than more extensive studies. For all that, both author and publisher have made a good fist of it and David, ever the professional, has clearly understood the brief and not tried to go beyond it.

The book has a feeling of being well filled and probably works best as a Bellamy primer, and is no bad thing for that either.