★No need to spend long hours mastering intricate drawing skills. Unlike traditional realistic watercolour, which demands strong ability to render forms, intuitive painting centres on releasing inner emotions by following the flow of water. This book turns painting into a mindfulness healing experience, ideal for busy, stressed urban dwellers to calm the mind and body as they put brush to paper.
★Break free from the limitations of working solely with watercolour. This book guides you through mixed-media art experiments: layer translucent watercolour with acrylic markers, metallic iridescent pens, crayons and collage materials. The interplay of colour and texture lets you easily create modern abstract art with gallery-worthy quality. Steering clear of dense, abstract theories, it systematically explains colour theory, colour palettes and wash techniques. A range of complete botanical and geometric texture projects demonstrate the full creative workflow from start to finish, so absolute beginners can gain a steady sense of creative achievement. Featuring botanical-inspired, buoyancy water-flow and balance cosmic styles, finished artworks can be framed to decorate Nordic and minimalist homes, or used as junk journal backgrounds and artistic postcards, bringing aesthetic beauty into everyday life.

Make expressive abstract art using watercolor, acrylic paint pens, metallic markers, pencils, crayons, collage papers, and more!

Artist Jocelyn Benford (online @jocelynbenford) has dazzled art lovers with her skills at creating colorful, botanical inspired watercolor and mixed media artwork. Now, with this book she shares all of her best methods and strategies. Including detailed breakdowns of her signature techniques, she walks the reader through a number of start-to-finish painting projects. Including:

• Step-by-step lessons explaining each project clearly and easily.
• Essential abstract watercolor techniques, tips, and tricks.
• Color theory explorations and mixing ideas
• Tools and materials suggestions for creating colorful, unique works of art.

Whether a newcomer or a seasoned artist, the exercises in this book will give readers the courage to try a new way of making art and the confidence to make these techniques their own.

Jocelyn Benford is a multidisciplinary American artist born in San Francisco. She worked as a professional stage actor in New York for twenty years, engaged in independent jewellery design, and has 21 years of experience as an elementary school teacher. She took up watercolour painting during remote teaching amid the 2020 pandemic. What began as a hobby quickly grew into an artistic career. In 2022, she took early retirement to become a full-time abstract mixed-media artist. Her works feature soft, poetic interweaving of flowing botanical lines and geometric shapes, and she has a large following on social media @jocelynbenford. She advocates intuitive painting, allowing water and paper to interact naturally. Though she has only painted for a relatively short time, her art has been exhibited at prestigious venues including HMVC Gallery New York, Established Gallery in Brooklyn and First Street Gallery in Manhattan. She has also participated in an artist residency programme in France. She now lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.