In this irreplaceable guide, award-winning artist and instructor John Pike shares with artists at all levels of experience the expertise gained through a lifetime of perfecting his craft. All the information watercolorists could possibly want is here -- choosing a brush; selecting and composing subject matter; producing a variety of washes, brush strokes, and textures; making corrections; and discovering the properties of common watercolor papers. The author's personal style and his meticulously reproduced illustrations make this one of the best how-to guides available. Readers are led from the simplest still-life exercises to a series of complex landscape problems. The text is abundantly illustrated with the author's own famous paintings (many reproduced in full color) and analyzes each in detail for lessons to be learned and tricks of the trade.