Book Review: Colored Pencil Texture

Creating Textures in Colored Pencil
by Gary Greene
North Light Books
ISBN 0891346538

Ok, this book has a pretty targeted audience. Namely, artists looking to improve their skills in painting realistic images in colored pencils. I happen to fall into this demographic though I don't know how many readers of this blog also do. Still, I think it's certainly worth reviewing.

First, some background. I kind of fell in love with colored pencils in college. They're simple and straightforward. The economical side of me likes that the pencils and the drawing surfaces are reasonably priced. The practical side of my likes that they're compact, easy to transport, and clean. The nerdy, mathematical side of me likes the precision available with pencils. Finally, like many other mediums, a skilled user of colored pencils can create artwork that's absolutely amazing. I've seen incredible, stylized colored pencil drawings and I've seen amazingly realistic renderings. Despite all the aspects that I love, I feel out of practice over the last several years. It's only recently that I've gotten back into them. In doing so, I wanted a good source of information. That's where this book comes in.

Creating Textures in Colored Pencils answered many of my questions about the medium. There's information on the types of pencils, the kinds of surfaces, erasers, solvents, and many of the other tools that you may or may not need (many I wasn't even aware existed). The information on techniques was very useful. While I'd been using the layering technique for years without realizing it, I was completely unaware of burnishing. From there, the book contains dozens of examples with detailed information on how to create realistic images. The examples range from flowers to fabric to people/skin tones to man made materials like highly reflective chrome.

If you're interested in colored pencils, you may find this book helpful.