The Apocalypse Variations

Book excerpt: From the author of Direct Watercolor and The Urban Sketcher, as well as the popular art-blog CitizenSketcher.com.Marc Taro Holmes is an internationally collected, award-winning watercolorist, and an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour and the Society of Canadian Artists.He is also the creator of social media watercolor painting marathon #30x30DirectWatercolor2019. An open call to anyone, to paint thirty paintings in thirty days in the month of June. The APOCALYPSE VARIATIONS is a collection of Marc's paintings from the 2019 event. The book is both a love letter to watercolor painting and a darkly pessimistic rendition of contemporary landscape painting.Unlike his previous books, this is not a how-to for beginners. This is Marc's first fine art monograph. An art book in the old tradition. You will find large reproductions of the paintings, paired with close-up detail shots and preparatory sketches. In the text, Marc discusses the thinking behind the paintings with complete honesty. It's likely that lovers of his previous work will be surprised at his new direction. Or perhaps not, if they have been following Marc's social media and reading between the lines.Please, do not purchase this book expecting Marc's chatty online-instructor-mode full of helpful encouragement for aspiring artists. There are no tips-and-tricks or self-training programs. For that sort of thing, please visit Marc's website CitizenSketcher.com.This book is meant as inspiration to anyone seriously interested in expressive watercolor painting, or, for fellow studio artists dealing with the issues of painting in series and making relevant contemporary work. > Please note: Some readers with a strong preference for image brightness and contrast, or the ability to zoom, may prefer to experience the Amazon Kindle e-book edition on a full-color tablet, laptop or personal computer. This paper edition is for art book-collectors who want a hard copy in their library. It is a self-published title printed on Amazon's standard, white, 100gsm paper with a glossy card stock cover. Thanks, ~Marc