Breaking the Rules of Watercolour (DVD) with Shirley Trevena

This is possibly the best art DVD I own. I have one of Shirley Trevena’s books, in it, many of the same paintings and objects, but this brought it all to life. I do not paint in her style but her suggestions and use of materials can work across all genres. I understand that some reviewers were frustrated in not knowing exactly what extra materials she is using - but I think that is her point (I thought she did a good job of saying what she was using)- get something you’ve not used before and see what it can do for your work. For instance - I have never used oil pastels in my work - so now, after seeing her use them I intend to buy a few sticks. At a work shop I tried a particular soft carbon pencil that does magic when water hits it. At the end of the workshop each of us could choose, to keep, one tool that we particularly liked and I kept my eye on that pencil! You just need to experiment and evaluate what works well for you. Watching Shirley Trevena paint was sheer joy. Bottom line I think this DVD is worth every penny.

Shirley Trevena's dvd Breaking the Rules of Watercolor is just what I was looking for. She has a lovely, relaxed style of teaching that almost makes you feel as though you're in the room looking over her shoulder as she talks about her work. One thing I particularly liked about this dvd is that Shirley Trevena shows you what she does in her own work, but in such a way that it gave me ideas for expanding my own approach to watercolor painting. That's a rare and wonderful thing, as many watercolor dvds and books really only show you how to copy someone else's style of painting.One other thing I liked is that Shirley Trevena talks about doing abstract or semi-abstract watercolor painting. Most of the information out there on watercolor painting focuses on doing landscapes and other realistic paints. Not that that's a bad thing, but I've been looking for more resources that focus on abstract approaches to watercolor painting, and this dvd will be a valuable addition to my reference shelf.

This is gorgeous DVD. Her paintings are out of this World.In this DVD Shirley Trevena shows, how to paint this beautiful painting. It looks easy (for her). But she shows every detail as how to. Must have for watercolorists.I tried to paint it several times, and have to continue. Good learning process, even if not using exactly her method.

This DVD was purchased from The Artist's Place through Amazon in November 2011. The product arrived well wrapped in brand new condition. I felt it is a bit overpriced for the quality of production but give it four stars because I like Shirley Trevena's work and innovative style. It seemed like the sound quality was poor even though I had the volume at the highest level. The picture quality was good.She shows some of her paintings and talks about the 'rules' she broke as well as demonstrates various techniques she often uses. I really enjoy the lyrical quality of her still lifes. So, for me, the best part of the video was at the end when she develops a painting by selecting a variety of objects, drawing and painting them from different viewpoints with various tools and techniques, including sticks, colored crayons, graphite, and watercolour.Throughout the program, she encourages artists to make their paintings reflect their interests without getting stuck on rules. Of course, you also see her excellent draftsmanship and years of experience with watercolour.

I agree with the reviewer who said that the product was overpriced, considering its actual content, but there were many elements of the DVD that I enjoyed. As far as I'm concerned, by no means was this a "master class", as claimed on the cover of the DVD, but there were some interesting techniques and points of view that I found to be both creative and helpful. I especially liked the exercise where Ms Trevena picked up various individual objects and painted them on paper, in random locations, paying no attention to perspective or size, in what turned out to be an interesting still life.My biggest complaint is that Ms Trevena doesn't tell us much about "what" or "why". For example, she doesn't explain the various pencils and/or pastels that she's using until the very last section of the DVD, and then she does so only in passing, and, even then, she still doesn't identify all of them. What was that thick black pencil she used in her first demonstration? I still have no idea! Why not list her favorite tools for us at the beginning of the DVD, so we'll know what she's grabbing, when she grabs it? I found her "marking" techniques to be interesting, but I remained relatively clueless about WHY she chose whatever the heck she was choosing, at any given time, and about how the different pencil properties worked together with the watercolor. A little explanation would have been both helpful and interesting! She also didn't clarify which "beautiful color" she was using, whenever she expressed her satisfaction with her choices. Maybe she felt that identifying specific colors would limit our own imaginations, but it might have actually opened us up to trying a color that we hadn't thought about using before.The DVD gave me much-needed permission to experiment, and not to remain rigid in my attempts to draw or paint. That's great, but I just wish that Ms Trevena had provided a little more information during her demonstrations.

This video is a wonderfully inspiring example of Trevena's work which is just beautiful.It is really fun to hear and see her compose a set up and paint it. She has helpful tipsand helpful ideas on composition, color, subject, etc.I love her comments, philosophy and techniques. I will be looking at it many, many times!