By Paul Taggart

With over thirty years experience of working with people who paint for pleasure, professional fine artist Paul Taggart makes no assumptions on behalf of those approaching him for guidance.

As always, Paul Taggart demonstrates the subject from a different angle, knowing that the best way to help someone learn a new skill, is through alternative approaches. Each book tackles the basic materials, putting them into practice, getting to grips with colour and colour mixing, before moving onto a series of projects.

Through his unique Artstrips©, Paul Taggart is able to impart detailed instructions on materials and demonstrate the most basic of techniques, as well as those that can only be passed on visually. When combined with exercises and stage-by-stage compositions these amount to substantial tutorials.

“I conceived this From Scratch series to provide the grounding people should have when starting out in painting and each book is based on the questions most frequently asked of me.

A successful introduction to watercolour painting can only be achieved through understanding the basics of these materials, putting them into practice and exploiting their characteristics.

• Discover how scuffs and scumbles on a textured surface help to establish the rhythms of a lively landscape.
• Learn to exploit subtle and powerful mixes of colour to achieve the contrast and vibrancy of a vase full of flowers.
• Observe how a beached boat on still waters relies on brush-strokes to capture reflections in the water and patterns on the shoreline.
• Note the play of light across a wild holly tree – attained through exploiting the transparency of watercolour paints.

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To successfully work with acrylics, a painter needs to fully understand the nature of these materials, put them into practice and develop a repertoire of techniques.

• Discover how watercolour techniques such as Wet on Wet and wet on Dry can be fully exploited to describe the form of an exotic flower head.
• Observe how a textured surface reacts with paint mixes and glazes to achieve the striking portrait of a tiger’s head.
• Note the play of light and deep reflections across a lustrous Mediterranean harbour scene, attained through exploiting colour mixes on the palette.
• Learn to exploit brushes and directional brush-strokes in rendering a visually diverse landscape.

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It is only through understanding the basics of these materials, putting them into practice and exploiting their characteristics, that a successful introduction to oil painting can be achieved.

• Learn how to exploit the use of arbitrary and structural textures to produce the dramatic surface of a snow draped landscape.
• Discover subtle mixes of glazes and tints that will help you to achieve the mood of a composition featuring a range of greens.
• Note the contrast of vividly coloured flowers against the dark recesses of a woodland scene, where the rhythm of applied brush-strokes plays an important role.
• Observe the use of paint in its rawest form to effect the strong colours of some fishing boats, basking in the orange glow of the newly risen sun.

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It is only through understanding the basics of these materials, putting them into practice and exploiting their characteristics, that a successful introduction to pastel painting can be achieved.

• Learn the technique of gradually building up layers of subtle tints, to achieve the gentle variations in colour that provide the form of a stunning yellow rose.
• Discover how to exploit the use of arbitrary and structural textures in a simple study of an ivy-clad window, to imbue it with stimulating characteristics, for an unusual finish.
• Note the rhythm of applied pastel-strokes that play an important role in rendering vividly coloured flowers, the foreground gateway that leads through to a dramatic landscape of ancient ruins.
• Be inspired by the rich, pure pigments of pastels used to stunning effect in portraying the sparkling transparency of a cut-glass decanter and crystal goblet.

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A few years ago, Paul took up brush and palette to work on a series of watercolours that soon took him over. As he painted, Paul found a book writing itself in his head, so that once the light had gone from the day he would swap brush and palette for pen and paper. For the months Paul Taggart was engaged in painting these new creatures, he became so engrossed that all other paintings were forsaken and other work put aside in order to free his mind to concentrate on completing the creation of these creatures. Finally seventeen chapters and eighteen full plate Watercolour illustrations had been completed and the Elphen Chronicles was ready for publishing.

Welcome to the world of the Elphen, a new 'genre' of mythical folk dreamt up by Paul Taggart. A world inhabited by Lacewing who leads the Elphen Swarm in their search for the precious Elphen Eggs. Sirensong, the Nest Mother, a queen whom all Elphen will follow until death. Her 'song' can facilitate 'dream speaking' or act as a guide to Elphen travellers. Starfire, the mathematician and wizard of the Swarm, who can predict the coming of 'Starfall' through his intimate knowledge of the heavens. He is able to spontaneously ignite a wall of flame, a fire 'aura' which both protects and creates 'Flame Pictures'. With Artimus Glin, their human hero, they set out on a quest, one that affects their very existence.