Dancing Brushes

As a teacher of watercolor painting for over 50 years, Rae Andrews has had the privilege of watching students grow in their artistic journeys. Many beginning artists are pushing to adopt a style before they learn the basics, such as drawing and color mixing. Rae doesn't believe any new artist should be in such a rush to develop a style. That will come over time and with practice. Rae is a colorist and loves design. Hence, her paintings tend to have a different look that often surprises the viewers. She's discovered that color and a dramatic choice of value help stimulate the eye and individualize her work.

This book contains 10 watercolor demonstrations that showcase the different approaches Rae uses in her paintings. She expects her students to experiment with their own color theory and compositional alternatives by drawing often and trying different subjects. Not every demonstration will resonate with every student, however, the many approaches and techniques that Rae has demonstrated should certainly give any artist more creative options to develop the look they want in their paintings.

Watercolor is such a spontaneous medium, full of surprises and sometimes messes, or 'stinkers', as Rae calls them. She advises students to explore the many exciting properties and find their way to keep that magical discovery alive.

Rae's motto is: "Dare to be different and above all, have fun!"

Rae Andrews is an International teacher with 50 years of teaching experience. A native Australian, Rae went into hairdressing in Sydney as a career after finishing school. However, she always painted and harbored a dream of becoming a full-time artist, even in those early years. While running several of her hair salons, Rae began teaching art in the 1970s as well, and in 1982 she sold all of her businesses to go to college and get her degree in art. An entrepreneur at heart, she founded an art school in the Sydney northern beach suburb of Narrabeen. Her school quickly grew with the popularity of her teaching methods. Life changed when Rae married her American husband, Thomas, and they moved to the island of Maui in Hawaii. During her 12 years on the island, Rae owned two art galleries and traveled back to Australia for many years to conduct workshops. Home is now in Austin, Texas, where Rae teaches online Zoom classes and workshops in her studio. She also conducts travels to Europe to teach workshops there. Go to raeandrews.com to see more of her work.