Painting With Water-Soluble Colored Pencils

Rating:
Summary: The first, and best, book on this medium
Review: A must have book for water-soluble CP users. At last, one book that shows everything that is possible with these pencils.

The introductory section lists tools and materials in a comprehensive way, allowing the user to compare brands and see what suits their style best. A short section - the cherries referred to above - then shows the wide range of different effects that can be achieved, and I found this informative and useful.

The bulk of the book is taken up by fabulous artists - including of course Mr Greene, but also Rhonda Farfan (Colored Pencil Society of America President) and Bernard Poulin (CPSA Advisor) - showing step by step how they achieve fabtastic art work! What more could you ask?

Rating:
Summary: Synopsis
Review: As a teacher of colored pencil workshops, Gary Greene sees his students buying water-soluble pencils "by the truckload." Problem is, they don't know how to use the medium or even what it's capable of ... and until now, there's never been a book to teach them. In this much-requested and long-overdue book, Greene shows artists how to achieve a variety of different effects with this fascinating medium--from loose, watercolor-like washes to precise airbrush looks. The author, along with 6 guest artists, show how they use the medium in 18 complete painting demonstrations.

About the author: Gary Greene is a professional graphic artist and photographer as well as a successful colored pencil artist, whose work has been featured in "American Artist" and "The Artist's Magazine." Greene is the author of North Light's "Creating Textures in Colored Pencil" and "Creating Radiant Flowers in Colored Pencil." He lives in Woodinville, Washington.

Rating:
Summary: Lack luster book
Review: I find it hard to explain why I was so disappointed in this book. Perhaps it is the redundancy of subjects(cherries), yet the cherry part was interesting in the fact that it compared a same subject with different techniques. Still it lacks something.

The other examples of pictures that were in the book were overwhelming for me. It is as if I were already expected to know how to draw the pictures. I did not find there to be enough step by step instruction.

I also have another book by Gary Greene- Textures. That book is far more inspiring and instructional than this one is.

This book just does not whet my appetite for watercolor pencils enough to make me want to race to my pencils and start drawing right away. Instead, it just makes me sigh, and put the tin away for yet another day.

This topic could be covered in a far more inspirational and effective way than was done in this book. And the examples should be more exciting and motivating than they are.

Rating:
Summary: enough with the cherries
Review: I purchased this book expecting challenging and wide ranging examples of this medium. What I got was endless pages of 2 cherries done over and over when these samples exploring technique could have fit on 2 pages and given room for more challenging examples. This book is a bust.

Rating:
Summary: enough with the cherries
Review: If you've been digging around for any tips and techniques on Watercolor (water soluble) pencils, look no further! The market needed a book on this 'hidden treasure' medium and this is it. This book is very thorough, beginning with the different qualities of each watercolor pencil brand, step-by-step directions on 13 different techniques, concluded with demonstrations of these techniques by numerous watercolor pencil artists. Have fun with this medium (and this book)!

Rating:
Summary: A 'One of a Kind' Book!
Review: If you've been digging around for any tips and techniques on Watercolor (water soluble) pencils, look no further! The market needed a book on this 'hidden treasure' medium and this is it. This book is very thorough, beginning with the different qualities of each watercolor pencil brand, step-by-step directions on 13 different techniques, concluded with demonstrations of these techniques by numerous watercolor pencil artists. Have fun with this medium (and this book)!