Painting the Eastern Shore: A Guide to Chesapeake and Delaware Places and How to Capture Them in Watercolors

Skipjacks and workboats, tidal rivers and coastal marshes, charming streetscapes, historic houses, and town parks with bandstands―picturesque subjects abound along the shores of Chesapeake Bay and have long made the region a favorite among amateur and professional artists. In Painting the Eastern Shore, accomplished artist and teacher James Drake Iams combines visits to some of the Chesapeake's most beautiful places with step-by-step lessons for learning the art of watercolor painting.

This attractive volume will serve as a welcome companion for the amateur watercolorist setting out to paint on location. After offering tips on what equipment to pack, Iams gives specific directions to various Delmarva sites, tells how to set up, and suggests what to look for in a subject. He then discusses a variety of essential techniques: sketching, composition, value, color, control of the medium, capturing depth and handling perspective, wetting the paper, and methods for painting key elements such as clouds, birds, boats, sand, and water.

As he introduces readers to the fundamentals of watercolor painting, Iams leads them on a rambling, thoroughly enjoyable tour of memorable places throughout Maryland and Virginia's Eastern Shore and Delaware. Painting the Eastern Shore is illustrated with 49 line drawings, halftones, and color pictures.

Locations and lessons:

•Kent Narrows, Maryland: Drawing

•St. Michaels, Maryland: Perspective

•Tilghman Island, Maryland: Skipjacks

•Oxford, Maryland: Value

•Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland: Waterfowl

•Deal Island, Maryland: Composition

•Crisfield and Smith Island, Maryland: Color

•Saxis, Virginia: Texture

•Wachapreague, Virginia: Marshes

•Chincoteague, Virginia: Wet paint on wet paper

•Trussum Pond, Delaware: Trees

•Lewes, Delaware: Reflections

•Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware: Waves, dunes, and skies

•New Castle, Delaware: Architectural painting