The Ultimate Guide To Colored Pencil: Over 35 step-by-step demonstrations for both traditional and watercolor pencils

This book is FINALLY everything I wanted to know and see for colored pencil drawing. I have purchased SOOO MANY books I thought covered the subject for a newbie such as myself … but none did . BUY THIS BOOK … you will not be disappointed!!!

I loved this book, it is a great book to understand the craft and how to get good at it. I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn. Excellent information on pencils, what they do, how they work and how to use them. This book is well planned and is actually a STEP by STEP explanation and not just says it is. It will work for anyone, especially a beginner who wants to learn excellent technique from the beginning, but also as a go to reference for even that advanced artist. I cannot say enough good things about this text.Other books that I would recommend:_____________________________Also, if you want to know about Color theory to get even better....COLOR WORKS, the crafter Guide to Color by Deb MenzFOR ANYONE who wants to knwo about Color Theory this test breaks it down so that ANYONE can understand this subject. I learnt more about color theory in this book than all others put together because I now "Understand" the concept.While this book is for the textile artist, ALL artists should get it and is also has cut outs to use when choosing your colour palette whether it be for Fashion Design or Art.For any Artist:Color Mixing Bible, by Ian SidawayVibrant Flowers in Watercolour by Soon Y. Warren is just off the hookColour Pencils and Graphite:Colored Pencil Secrets for Success, KullbergColoured Pencil Solution Book, Gildow and NewtonMasterful colour, SteinbergColored Pencil Painting Bible, NickelsenPaint Radiant Realism in Watercolour, Ink and colored Pencil, RossDrawing Realistic Textures in Pencil, HillberryFor Watercolour:Water Colour in motion, O'ConnorPainting Watercolour that dance with light, KincaidPainting flowers with Impact in Watercolour, CollinsJean Haine's Atmosphere WatercoloursWatercolour from the Heart, NechisThose are just my favorites so far, I have a ton as I believe that you need to keep learning to stay fresh.

This book was exactly what i was looking for - a whole bunch of pencil demonstrations by a good artist.But when it arrived I was disappointed.The problem?Its SMALL.The internal pages are only 6" x 9" - that's just a little larger than a DVD case!And on average there are 3 demonstration drawing steps per page.This means that on average each drawing is only about the size of a deck of cards.Not all demonstration drawings are this small, but the majority are.Pencil work is mostly about learning strokes. In some of the drawings the hundreds of very thin strokes are so small you cant even see how they are applied! This is not always the case, cause some drawings are closeups. But it happens enough to be frustrating.The worst case is a demonstration called Flower Pots. There are 3 vases, two are blue and white mottled china glaze. The text only says "Using small circular strokes layer the two pots with random areas of (lists colors)." And the drawing is so small you cant even see how the strokes are being applied! You just see a blue and white mottled vase.On the positive side there are a good number of steps for each demonstration - maybe an average of 10. The demonstrations have a good subject variety and methods coverage. Although none of them are Wow! quality (like the glass marbles on the cover of another pencil book. They are more learning exercise quality, which is appropriate for this kind of book. And the book has lay-flat ring bindings. It also comes with a 55 minute demonstration DVD video which is nice. The first third of the book has your standard decent stuff on general pencil techniques and materials. But I bought this for the demonstrations section - and that is where the problem lies.So in summary, its not the content i have a problem with. Its how the publisher(not the author who has my sympathies) decided to reduce the value of that content by presenting it in a non-suitable format. In these days of cheap Chinese printing there is no excuse for the publisher making this book this small.I would give the content 4 stars if in a bigger book.

Just received this book, & haven't read the entire book, but from what I have read (I'm on page 83), I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in working with "Colored Pencils".Chapter 1 goes into a lot of detail about the Basics: Pencils - Brands & Types; Erasers - never realized the type makes a lot of difference depending on the pencil & paper type; Sharpeners - again the type does make a difference; Color charts for the different major brands of pencils, etc.Chapter 2 - Discusses Reference photos - Types. Photo techniques & editing, Printing, & the author has even included several photos for you to practice with.Chapter 3 (page 83 ) - This is as far as I have read in this book. I stopped here because it goes into "Colored Pencil Techniques" & I didn't have time to read the whole chapter. I want to be able to take my time, & go through this chapter slowly.This book is a wealth of information. I love that it has a Hardcover & is Spiral bound. It makes it so much easier when the book lies flat when you are trying to follow instructions, & the hard cover provides protection & stability.This is probably one of the most comprehensive 'Guide to' book I have ever read. Some authors say their book contains all the info you will need for their particular art form, activity, etc, but most write as if you already have some knowledge in that area, & leave out some of the basics.I can't say enough to express how happy I am that I bought this book, & I can't wait until I start trying out some of Author, Gary Greene's, techniques.

Oh my word, this book is a revelation. I've been using coloured pencils for years and have purchased full sets of the very best. I own polychromos, Prismacolor, Luminance....you name it, I own it. What I don't own is technique, knowhow or how to use the very expensive pencils in my possession. The first thing this book taught me is that coloured pencil art is painting....YES... I need to know I'm not just "colouring in". The second lesson is sharp point on toothy paper, layering and less is more. OMG. What a revelation. OK maybe the latter is more than one lesson but I'm seriously hooked. Who knew the Ottlite even existed? I'm so excited to move my "art" forward and look forward to reading more little gems. Although written over 10 years ago, this book has given me more insight to coloured pencil art than anything ever has. Buy it in real book format. You won't regret it.

If you have ever been tempted to buy a How - to book, or an 'Ultimate....something or another book' and get put of the hyped up title when it stars Ultimate. I strongly suggest that you believe the title in this case. All reference and How-to books should use this format as their yardstick! I am a complete newbie to colour pencil art and wanted the Ultimate reference manual, right from the off. This is it folks, full of all the stuff you want to know and need to know, but didn't know it. Oddly enough it's about the art of colour pencil art without the filler, heavy history, fluff, filler etc., etc. Ad Infinitum. It has a rather unusual and novel construction design, combining a hard back book design with a spiral bound manual inside. This practical design really works. The Ultimate Guide is not cheap at nearly £20 but hey, the best things in life never are cheap.....ask my wife (yeah, I know I'm gonna pay for that remark ☺). Should you buy this book? For the newbie, developing, interested pencil artist, the answer is a resounding yes. No equivocations - buy it, read I, love it.

I was delighted with this book. It looks like, and is, a hardback, but when you open it out it is actually spiral bound inside. A very clever adaptation which allows any pages you want to look at, or work on to sit fully flat and open on the workbench. I initially read this on Kindle, but later found the actual book a great deal better in many ways. In a lot of places the text is very small on the Kindle version. When I tried to enlarge it on the computer, it did not re-focus but simply became fuzzy which was no help at all. This might not be a problem for younger readers, but is an important consideration for older ones, or those wearing specs.In book form too there are a few places that are difficult to read, but not as much of a problem as the Kindle. One does have to handle the pages carefully, as the spiral binding does sometimes catch the pages when turning them over, it's good that the pages are quite sturdy! The page layout is excellent, and easy to follow. Coverage of the basics one needs to know is excellent, precise and thorough.As the author points out however, no amount of reading will turn anyone into a decent artist. It's the practical side, and a LOT of hard work that does that. The next and larger portion of the book is where the practical side starts. It proceeds gently from easier subjects to harder. All the practical sessions are accompanied by tutorials and full of helpful advice, tips and tricks. Once again, the Kindle version doesn't really suit the subject matter. You cannot copy, outline or print, the photos you might want to reproduce. Unless you have a large screen computer it might be more difficult to follow the smaller details.Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle and use it every day, but at the present time it doesn't offer the best option for this type of book. I joined the free 30 day trial of 'Kindle Unlimited' (download from Amazon). It enables you to 'borrow' up to ten books at a time free of charge. You can scan through the entire book after which there is the option to buy a kindle version, buy a hard copy - or delete it from your 'library'. After the free trial one can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for a pretty reasonable fee. It's not a bad deal. Oh yes, the book also has a DVD at the back which makes this excellent book into a real bargain for the price.

I like this book but Gary Greene doesn't share a lot of industry secrets about how he does things. Also the pencils used are the American brand Prisma Colour which is confusing when trying to follow an example in the book. See my other reviews for a couple of books that teach you more about how to do things and understanding the art of coloured pencils.

This book was very helpful it has helped me achieve the look I wanted and being on my Kindle I don't have a heavy book to pick up or struggle with the pages.