The Ultimate Guide to Colored Pencil

Gary Greene is my favorite colored pencil author/teacher.  I have most of his books and all of his instructional dvds.  In this Ultimate Guide to Colored Pencil he gives over 35 step-by-step demonstrations for both traditional and watercolor pencils.  A dvd is included with the book that shows how to create a colored pencil painting of a rose using traditional colored pencils.

While Gary Greene has written many books for beginning colored pencil artists, this guidebook could also be used by beginners.  However, I think it is more suited for the intermediate to advanced artist. The book contains information on the materials and tools that every colored pencil artist uses as well as how to use a reference photograph.  One feature that I have never seen in any other colored pencil instructional book are his comparison charts of the pencil colors of 9 different colored pencil manufacturers.  Concerning the reference photos, an intermediate or advanced colored pencil artist will find information on photographic anomalies and blunders and errors artists make when putting two or more photos together in a composite photo.

The technique chapter addresses all the techniques you would find in a beginner guidebook but these techniques are for artists who have done a few drawings already and have come across some problems.  Greene is very detailed when talking about the use of solvents with colored pencil and has a chart showing how 5 different solvents work with both wax based pencils and with oil based pencils.  He then has a chart showing how to mix colors with the solvents.  Burnishing techniques are discussed in extensive detail.  It is covered in 36 pages!  No other colored pencil author has given burnishing this much detailed information.  Part of the information covered includes demonstrations. Likewise, underpainting is covered extensively in 37 pages.  This is incredible and you won't find this information in any other colored pencil book.  I would know because I have them all.  The remainder of the book is demonstrations of techniques and combination of techniques that the reader should work on independently.

This Ultimate Guide really is an ultimate guide.  There is information in its pages that you won't find in any other colored pencil instructional guidebook.  For colored pencil artists like myself, practicing his techniques will only us better artists.  The demonstrations at the back of the book that the reader is supposed to work on independently will stretch not only my repertoire of skills but also my subject matter.  I am pretty much stuck on drawing birds and butterflies. However, I can now see myself drawing a landscape scene which has always seemed a little scary for me.

If you are a colored pencil artist, this is one book that you must have!