The first 40 pages provide a great history of watercolor painting, so often overlooked in the overall scheme of art history. Then all the aspects of setting up a work area and studio are covered followed by a very thorough materials and tools section. There are example pictures and descriptions of everything from easels to paper and brushes to paint. There is also a paper stretching demo and a watercolor color chart.

A section on the principles of drawing follows. This includes instructions on making simple shapes, creating perspective, Plato's rule, golden sections, drawing a quick sketch and more. Then various watercolor techniques such as creating washes, erasing with a dry brush and achieving texture with salt and turpentine are covered. Next, there are two chapters on color theory and mixing explaining warm, cool and broken colors as well as color schemes and values. A nice demo of painting a watercolor with three colors is included.