Books

Carole’s first book, Painting Expressive Landscapes was published in 2019 by Search Press Ltd. Her second book, Painting in Abstract came out in June 2024 and both are available to purchase from online and retail book shops.

Painting in Abstract

Learn to capture the abstract beauty of the natural world in paint
and mixed media with this inspiring book.

Painting in Abstract is a practical, mixed media art book, illustrated with finished paintings and short exercises that encourage an experimental approach to painting the natural landscape.

Carole Robson's aim is to inspire readers with her own enthusiasm for art and, as a teacher, to help them to achieve their own artistic goals. Her work is a celebration of the natural landscape, and her intention is always to shine a light on nature in order to elevate its case, especially poignant now that nature is in such jeopardy.

This book guides the reader through simple combinations of wet media such as watercolour, gouache, acrylic and Indian inks. It goes on to examine and include other media and techniques; exploring media that combine happily, and those that resist each other to create interesting and unexpected effects. It offers strategies for developing concepts and improving design, with a chapter devoted to the formal elements line, shape, colour, tone, texture and surface pattern that can be harnessed to produce impactful work. Readers will be provided the tools and inspiration to find their own interpretations.

Carole covers various aspects of the natural landscape, from close-up details to more distant views, celebrating wild flowers, seed heads, berries and leaves. It peers inquisitively into ditches, hedgerows and verges, and soaks up the idyll of flower-rich meadows. It will visit the tranquility of woodland scenes as well as the atmospheric, wild elements of stormy skies and high seas.

Exciting techniques such as washing or spraying off an image, using improvised mark-making tools, preparing a variety of collage papers such as painting through tissue paper are included; alongside printing or stencilling acrylic gel or texture paste to enliven a surface.

This book offers a unique route into creativity and innovation for the reader, whether beginner or expert artist.

  • artbookreview.wordpress.com

    Books on abstraction appear now with some regularity and that means publishers are getting beyond the basics. This one is particularly useful as it comes from an experienced practitioner and covers both creative and practical aspects of the genre.

    Carole works in a good variety of media that include watercolour, gouache, acrylic and ink as well as pencils and pastels. You wont, therefore, feel constrained by a single one that isnt perhaps your first choice. Its also worth reporting that you wont get to the materials section for 52 pages youve been through all the looking, seeing and thinking before you start to get the brushes out.

    Carole works with natural subjects flowers, landscapes and water and her style is well beyond representation, while always retaining the essential essence of what is depicted. The abstraction comes from simplified forms, use of colour and technical manipulation. She includes plenty of basic instruction, exercises and demonstrations that explain her approach as well as developing your skills.

    Overall, this is one of the most thorough and complete guides to abstraction Ive seen.

    Artists Magazine September/October 2024

    What happens when you combine the properties of mixed media with a focus on the beauty of the natural world? You get the new book, Painting in Abstract, by English mixed-media artist Carole Robson. Through finished paintings and short exercises, she delves into watercolor, gouache, acrylic and inks and their impactful effects on one another through various techniques. She also offers strategies for developing concepts and improving design, with a focus on line, shape, color, tone, texture and surface pattern. If you want to take a more experimental approach to your work, Robson offers a strong foundation.

    Leisure Painter

    This is practical, mixed-media art book, illustrated with finished paintings and short exercises that encourage an experimental approach to painting the natural landscape. Carole Robson's aim is to inspire readers with her own enthusiasm for art and, as a teacher to help you achieve your own artistic goals. The book guides you through simple combinations of wet media such as watercolour, gouache, acrylic and Indian inks. It goes on to examine and include other media and techniques; exploring media that combine happily, and those that resist each other to create interesting and unexpected effects. It also offers strategies for developing concepts and improving design, with a chapter devoted to the formal elements line, shape, colour, tone, texture and surface pattern that can be harnessed to produce impactful work.

    The Artist

    Art, Edgar Degas reminded us, is what you make others see. Abstraction, therefore, is a made-up language in which the artist communicates in terms we're invited to understand. To put it more simply, it is your opportunity to invite the viewer to share your emotional reaction to the subject in front of you. If that sounds like nonsense, this probably isn't a book for you, which is fair enough and I won't waste any more of your time. Still with me? Be glad, for this is a book which takes its subject and its readers seriously. Where a lot of books on abstraction are project-based, Carole gets under the skin of not just the how, but the why. Her paintings are firmly planted in natural forms but use all the technical possibilities of mixed-media work to wring meaning out of what are always more than just splashes and runs.

Painting Expressive Landscapes

Ideas and inspiration using watercolour with mixed media

'This is busy, colourful, packed with information and thoroughly inspiring and I love it...buy this book.'
-Artbookreview.net

Strongly influenced by the changing landscape, Carole Robson’s artwork is packed with colour, atmosphere, texture and light. An experienced teacher and artist, Carole explores how to build from basic techniques to producing wonderful expressive and semi-abstract landscapes. Combining watercolour with other watersoluble media and collage material, the three detailed step-by-step projects demonstrate perfectly Carole’s expertise and innovative methods. They take you from materials and tools needed through to using masking fluid, salt, spattering techniques, modelling paste, cellophane and much more.

A stimulating mix of colour and watercolour techniques for all skill levels, this guide helps the artist develop a free and flowing style to their art.

  • The SAA

    In this exciting book, Carole uses watercolour and mixed media to create a huge variety of effects that reflect the changing moods of the landscape.

    Carole offers a plethora of different ways to interpret shape, colour and interplay. There's explanation at every stage and the book is as practical as it is imaginative.

    Customer review

    A very interesting book, colourful illustrations and plenty of instructions. A different type of painting to what I am used to. I like watercolour and this has bought a different way of handling it to me. If you want to try something different this is the book for you. I tried to follow one of the exercises, quite pleased with the result but I think I need more practice! 

    Kreativreview.blogspot

    Carole Robson masters the art of translating nature scenes into atmospheric, colourful, semi-abstract landscapes. The beginner, but above all the advanced painter will find many suggestions with the help of well-known painting techniques and modern materials. Forward-looking is the integration of traditional methods of paintings into digital art.

    www.karenplatt.co.uk

    A hallmark of this work is semi-abstract landscapes in watercolour and mixed media. The latter is water-soluble media and collage. The book is well illustrated with wonderful paintings, which should offer much inspiration. Flowing media are used to capture the essence of the natural landscape. You'll find information on paint consistency; the usual watercolour techniques such as wet-in-wet and washes; pigments and their properties; colour and tools. There is also a section on 'expressive techniques'. The author states these are not new and began with Turner, but mention should also be made of Ann Blockley, who has made many of these techniques her own. I love Carole's paintings of her local landscape, although her work is very reminiscent of Ann's to a point. Yet there is much here that is Carole, and for that I am glad. She is an experimenter and is pushing the boundaries. I like the abstracts and the use of digital art too. There are three step-by-step projects: Woodland with Silver Birch; Wayside Verge and Beach At Sunset, which explore the techniques. Fabulous images and easy to use.

    The Artist, July 2019

    Book titles can be a mixed blessing, but this one sums up Carole Robson's approach admirably. These are interpretations and expressions of the artist's creativity. Any messiness is entirely intentional. They're exciting, intriguing and, frankly, fun. Techniques include the usual suspects - salt, scratching out, masking fluid etc. A section on mixed media brings pastels and acrylic mediums into play. Carole's work is results-driven and those results are extraordinary. The book is written as a course, with lessons, exercises and demonstrations and this works well for the technical aspects. As for creativity, you should ideally bring your own but, if you like the idea, that shouldn't be difficult.

    Leisure Painter, May 2019

    Experienced artist and teacher, Carole Robson combines watercolour with other water-soluble media and collage to paint her expressive, semi-abstract landscapes. In her her book Painting Expressive Landscapes, she describes in a clear and well-illustrated text how to build up your work - from basic techniques to more innovative processes to unleash your creativity. Three detailed step-by-step projects are included, featuring a woodland scene with silver birch, a beach at sunset and a wayside verge. Much of Carole's work is influenced by the changing landscape and this book, for all abilities, will help you to see what's around you with new eyes and provide you with the techniques to bring it to life. 

    Artbookreview.net

    'If youre interested in exploring the outer reaches of the possibilities of watercolour, this is the book for you. If, at the same time, you want to keep things creative and are doing this for something more than just technical curiosity, please form an orderly queue. Whats truly remarkable about Caroles work is that its always the creative dog wagging the technical tail and not, as can so easily happen, the other way round.'

    International Journal of the Guild of Silk Painters, Winter 2022

    Painting Expressive Landscapes is great for ideas and inspiration with mixed media, we all love a bit of gold and here is a chance to experiment. Here think, gold gutta, gold fabric paint or even gold leaf (applied with tacky textile glue). Carole Robson's ideas for incorporating gold into landscapes are fabulous and certainly encourages us all to try.

    Variegated washes, the versatile brush and using a ware spray, not new ideas but certainly promote food for thought. I loved the chapter on using masking fluid, here we would think cold wax to achieve the same effects on silk. Particularly 'Woodland with Silver Birch', a fully explained demonstration, brought the use of cold wax to mind.

    A thoroughly excellent book to work with in order to expand your horizons.