Dancing Brushes: Rae's Way With Florals

As a watercolor painting artist and instructor for over 50 years, Rae Andrews has had the privilege of helping students from all over the world grow in their personal painting journeys.

Many are rushing to 'find their personal style' before they have learned the basics of drawing and color mixing. Rae's advice is to slow down. Bake the cake first, then cover it with icing.

Drawing is as essential to art, as is knowing colors and what happens when they are mixed together. This is ESPECIALLY paramount within the realm of the watercolor medium.

Knowledge can only make any artist more confident and intuitive in the execution of their paintings. Practice and more practice will help alleviate the failures or 'stinkers' as Rae calls them.

Watercolor is such an elusive and spontaneous medium. At times it is very frustrating, but oh so rewarding, when it all flows into place for us.

This medium has very particular and exciting properties and is very different from other mediums. Many 'ah ha' moments await you on this magical journey. Savor them, take notes, and let's travel this road together.

This book is for intermediate to advanced artists and demonstrates the different approaches Rae has found successful on her journey of discovery, using FLORALS as her subjects. She demonstrates many of the techniques and strategies that she uses when painting floral renditions, from semi-abstract or very loose to more refined and controlled approaches. Sometimes, all are used in one painting.

Rae is a colorist and loves to surprise her viewers with her dramatic choices of contrasts, both using color and values. After all, Rae feels that being an individual and standing out in a crowd is what any artist wants.

Finally, she hopes you enjoy these FLORAL exercises and feel inspired to strive and forge forward, gently stepping out of your comfort zone and daring to be different. Above all, have fun!

Rae Andrews is an international teacher with 50 years of teaching experience. A native Australian, Rae chose hairdressing as a profession 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 degrees in art. An entrepreneur at heart, she founded an art school in Sydney's northern beach suburbs. 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. She also travels to Europe to teach workshops there. To see more of Rae's work, visit raeandrews.com