I’m an enormous fan of Jean’s work and, if her sales are anything to go by, you probably are too. I’ve always been impressed by the way her subjects seem to emerge organically from the paper as if propelled by their own life force.

The subtitle of this new volume is ‘painting with spirit & vitality’ and it seems to me that this sums that ethos up perfectly. These are not animal portraits in the conventional sense, but rather the life and soul of those creatures. Jean has written books about mind and spirituality expressed through painting and that theme continues here. If you’re worried that it’s all a bit New Age, don’t be. This is firmly a book about painting animals that just happens to sidestep simple representation. A short section on Animal Meanings explains this clearly and a lot of the book is about getting to know your subject just as if it were human. If you have pets, you do that anyway, don’t you?

Technically, there’s a lot about colour and washes – Jean works about as loosely as you can – and that includes how to retain shape and form so that your results are anything but pure abstract. Some of these are startling: a cat whose face is the only delineated part, an elephant done in shades of green, fish that move in their pond because superseded form creates sinuousness.

What’s really remarkable is that you have to look twice to notice all this because the book absolutely lives up to that subtitle. These are real animals. Not just paintings of animals – it’s a heck of a trick to pull off.

Prize-winning watercolourist, Jean Haines runs international watercolour workshops for artists around the world. Her vibrant and innovative work can be found in her previous books, Atmospheric Flowers in Watercolour and Paint Yourself Calm. Here she turns her attention to animals. From simple monochromatic studies to vivid paintings full of colour and textural effects, Jean shows you how to being vitality to all animals, whether they are domestic, such as dogs and cats, or found in the wild - from giraffes to bugs and butterflies.

I suspect that this is a book you're either going to love or hate. Past sales, however, would suggest that Jean has many fans who'll make a beeline for anything she writes, and this is unlikely to disappoint them. The production is top class and the book feels sumptuous in the hand, promising treats to come.

These come as animal paintings that are full of essence and character, but light on form. Jean's work seems to coalesce from the page, rather than sit on it as a static image. As a result, these creatures - from cats and dogs to koalas, elephants and even an octopus - have life and spirit, while much of their form is left to the imagination.

Technically, much of the book is about experimentation, with washes, textures, granulation and colour (one of those elephants is in shades of green), resulting in a tribute to watercolour's range of possibilities.

Jean runs hugely popular international watercolour workshops for artists from around the globe, and her highly sought-after paintings can similarly be found in homes all over the world. Jean is a member of the SWA, Society for Women Artists, and has won numerous awards for her work, including the Anthony J Lester Award during the SWA Annual Exhibition, and the SAA Professional Artist of the Year, Experimental and Abstract Award. She regularly writes for art magazines and exhibits in a number of galleries.
Jean lives in Hampshire, UK.
https: //jeanhaines.com/