#WorldWatercolorMonth2026
A01=Alex Hillkurtz
advanced
angle of view
architectural
architecture
artwork
asymmetrical balance
atmospheric
Author_Alex Hillkurtz
beginner
blending
book
Category=AFF
Category=AGZ
Category=WFA
celebrate
charcoal
city
cityscapes
class
color gradation
color mixing
composition
contrasting
contre jour
course
create depth
crosshatching
details
drama
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_crafts-hobbies
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
exercises
expressionistic
expressive
faces
figure drawing
figures
fine liner
form
fountain pens
gesture
golden ratio
graphite
guide
harmony
hatching
impressionistic
intermediate artist
july
landscapes
light
light shadow
line
medium
motion
movement
negative space
observational
outdoors
painting
paper
pastel
pen and ink drawing
pencil
people
perspective
plein air
practice
rule of thirds
shadows
sketchbook
Sketching techniques
skin
still life
storyboard
street scenes
student
study
support
texture
theory
thumbnail sketch
tone
tools
travel
urban
wash
watercolor
watercolour
weight
woods
world watercolor month 2026
Product details
- ISBN 9781631599231
- Dimensions: 216 x 279mm
- Publication Date: 30 Mar 2021
- Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Learn dynamic sketching and watercolor techniques for creating cityscapes, landscapes, figures and faces, still lifes, and more, enhancing the story you want to tell with form, line, and color.
Discover incredible methods and tips for creating dramatic street scenes and vivid landscapes, and capturing dynamic figures and graphic architectural details. Artist Alex Hillkurtz—a top Hollywood storyboard artist, international workshop instructor, and Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society—presents fundamental concepts of sketching with pencil and pen for a number of popular genres. Discover simple ways to jot down spontaneous ideas in pencil, capture rough details in ink, and add watercolor for extra depth and interest.
Make sketching more enjoyable by adopting innovative techniques that will make a difference in your practice, and your artwork. No matter your experience or skill level, you’ll benefit from learning:
Discover incredible methods and tips for creating dramatic street scenes and vivid landscapes, and capturing dynamic figures and graphic architectural details. Artist Alex Hillkurtz—a top Hollywood storyboard artist, international workshop instructor, and Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society—presents fundamental concepts of sketching with pencil and pen for a number of popular genres. Discover simple ways to jot down spontaneous ideas in pencil, capture rough details in ink, and add watercolor for extra depth and interest.
Make sketching more enjoyable by adopting innovative techniques that will make a difference in your practice, and your artwork. No matter your experience or skill level, you’ll benefit from learning:
- Compositions that draw the eye
- How to avoid common sketching mistakes
- Ways to create light and shadow to define shapes and add interest
- Successful ways to use negative space
- The importance of perspective in creating depth
- Easy color washes that create drama
Get started today, and fill your sketchbooks with unique drawings and paintings you will be proud of.
The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.
Alex Hillkurtz was born in England and grew up in California, where he works as a renowned storyboard artist for feature films, television, and commercials. His film credits include Argo, Almost Famous, It’s Complicated, Vanilla Sky, and many others. He uses the language of cinema to inform his images, moving beyond what one sees, and depicting what he wants others to see.
Alex has taught sketching, plein air, and watercolor workshops in Germany, Russia, Italy, the Netherlands, France, the UK, and the US. His artwork, which has earned him Signature status in the National Watercolor Society as a Master artist, has been exhibited at L'Entrée des Artistes in Paris, Matite en Viaggio in Venice, and MiArs in Milan. He believes that in our too-crowded lives, sketching and plein air painting invite us to move at a more deliberate pace to discover a true sense of place, and in the process, unexpected stories are revealed. Alex currently lives in Paris with his film editor wife, Tiffany, and enjoys discovering the hidden corners of the city that sketching and plein air painting allow.
Alex has taught sketching, plein air, and watercolor workshops in Germany, Russia, Italy, the Netherlands, France, the UK, and the US. His artwork, which has earned him Signature status in the National Watercolor Society as a Master artist, has been exhibited at L'Entrée des Artistes in Paris, Matite en Viaggio in Venice, and MiArs in Milan. He believes that in our too-crowded lives, sketching and plein air painting invite us to move at a more deliberate pace to discover a true sense of place, and in the process, unexpected stories are revealed. Alex currently lives in Paris with his film editor wife, Tiffany, and enjoys discovering the hidden corners of the city that sketching and plein air painting allow.
