Thinking in Watercolor: A Daily Practice to Unlock Your Creativity & Discover Your Inner Artist

A 30-day masterclass in the art of using watercolor to tell your own stories. 

Unlike most watercolor instruction books based on rote copying of classic watercolor subjects, Thinking in Watercolor encourages readers to use art as a means of self-expression. Author and in-demand illustrator Jessie Kanelos Weiner encourages readers through foundational watercolor techniques and shows how to adapt them to share their personal experiences over the course of several days. On Day 10 they’ll illustrate a family recipe; on Day 14 they’ll go on a scavenger hunt through a local museum—and so forth.

As both a commercial illustrator and professional art instructor, Jessie is uniquely poised to offer readers insider tips and clever visualizations of the creative process—and she brings each lesson to life with her vivid illustrations and stories from her life as an ex-pat in Paris. It all adds up to a volume that’s at once inspiring, charming, and informative—the perfect gift for anyone looking to begin or reignite a personal art practice.

Jessie Kanelos Weiner is a watercolor illustrator, author, and teacher. She is the coauthor of New York in Stride and Paris in Stride and the author of Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables, and The New Victory Garden Wall Calendar series. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, Vogue, T Magazine, The New York Times, and Cherry Bombe, and she was named a rising star in food illustration by Food & Wine. She regularly collaborates with brands like Chevrolet, LVMH, Fragonard, and Nespresso. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, she has been based in Paris for more than fifteen years, where she teaches drawing at several art schools and hosts watercolor workshops and retreats for brands and students of all levels. See her work at jessiekanelosweiner.net and subscribe to her Substack newsletter, La Vie en Watercolor / Jessie Kanelos Weiner.