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I suspect that this is a book you're either going to love or hate. Past sales, however, would suggest that Jean has many fans who'll make a beeline for anything she writes, and this is unlikely to disappoint them. The production is top class and the book feels sumptuous in the hand, promising treats to come.

These come as animal paintings that are full of essence and character, but light on form. Jean's work seems to coalesce from the page, rather than sit on it as a static image. As a result, these creatures - from cats and dogs to koalas, elephants and even an octopus - have life and spirit, while much of their form is left to the imagination.

Technically, much of the book is about experimentation, with washes, textures, granulation and colour (one of those elephants is in shades of green), resulting in a tribute to watercolour's range of possibilities.

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Henry Malt, The Artist

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This beautiful book gives you the tools to create paintings that capture the inner essence of their subject - the soul of the animal, if you will. Jean uses a variety of techniques to achieve this, as well as often using an unconventional mix of colours - your first instinct on painting an elephant probably isn't to teach for the greens. This is as much a book about understanding your subject as it is about representing it, and it's all the better for that.

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SAA Catalogue

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Prize-winning watercolourist, Jean Haines runs international watercolour workshops for artists around the world. Her vibrant and innovative work can be found in her previous books, Atmospheric Flowers in Watercolour and Paint Yourself Calm. Here she turns her attention to animals. From simple monochromatic studies to vivid paintings full of colour and textural effects, Jean shows you how to being vitality to all animals, whether they are domestic, such as dogs and cats, or found in the wild - from giraffes to bugs and butterflies.

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Ingrid Lyons, Leisure Painter