Colored Pencil Painting Portraits: Master a Revolutionary Method for Rendering Depth and Imitating Life Kindle Edition

I think this book is way too advanced for me. It covers 4-5 different layers you have to complete to do a colored pencil portrait, as well as different mediums/fix a gives to use. I am reading it all, hoping to learn how to achieve the stunning results in the book.

Colored Pencil Painting Portraits: Master a Revolutionary Method for Rendering Depth and Imitating Life covers more than just using Powder Blender but goes over details about pencil types. The pros and cons of different pencils for different applications, using solvents for blending, details about different paper types. This book is not just a "how to draw" project book. It feels like a full semester of art classes with how much technical information is included about working in colored pencils in general.  Don't worry though, if you're looking for some step by step instruction, there are quite a few demonstrations for you with that as well with tips you can apply to your own portrait work.  She also shows how great working with an underpainting for portraits can work with colored pencil. You guys see me paint this way in oils or acrylics, but you can do the same with colored pencil too! Especially if you're using the Brush and Pencil products she talks about in this book. Those products really do change how we are able to layer and blend the pencils for realistic work.When I was asked to write a bit about my experience in using these products for the book I jumped at the chance! With how much I loved Alyona's first book, Colored Pencil Painting Bible (and before I had even met her so there was no bias at that point haha), I was really excited to be even a teensy bit apart of this one. I can honestly say I've enjoyed this book even more than I expected. I went into reading it thinking "I already know how to use powder blender and to draw portraits, there can't be that much for me to learn", but there really was! I love this book so much that I bought the kindle version in addition to the hard copy so that I could easily read it again and again on my phone. There is so much information packed into this book that I'm going to need to read it several times to digest it all!

This book has completely shortened my time working and completing pieces and saved my pencils!!! Beginners may find this book challenging.

While there are several comments complaining about her promotion of products, I look at it as her method. Naturally, anyone can choose whatever products they want that are similar. There are certainly enough of them.This is not a book for beginners. While I was an art student 100 or so years ago, my rust has been showing as I began to pick up pencil, pen, and brush after many years of ignoring one of my favorite hobbies. This book is amazing. I am very impressed with the depth of the information in it. The methods for laying down of color, blending, papers, etc., are top-notch.The Appendix compares different brands of pencils and how each brand works with standard blending methods and papers. The Index is terrific as well, and it's easy to find what you need regarding questions about the medium.The quality of the book itself is off the charts. In fact, I had to come back to Amazon to double-check the price. It is heavy, with strong, thick inner sheets.The warning I'd give is the same as others have given. If you are a beginner, this may not be the book for you. That said, put it on a shelf and come back to it later. Although on second thought, the processes taught in the book are good for anyone, in my opinion, from beginner to more advanced.Beautiful book. All i have to do now is to get my face drawing in order. :-)

Alyona Nickelson is a kind of “pioneer” of colored pencil painting, a dedicated researcher, generous with her knowledge of the medium and techniques. Now there are new products and approaches that can truly be called “game changers” for colored pencil artists, whether they are old hands or new to the medium. I found a lot of tips in The Colored Pencil Bible that were useful in graphite/pencil drawing as well. But, can colored pencils really be on a par with oils? If you are after painterly, impasto effects, those lush thick passages of color and texture that only paint can deliver, or if you want to work on a very large scale, then colored pencils probably aren’t going to satisfy you. If your goal is hyper-realism, you can achieve saturated or subtle gradations of color, highly realistic effects, and exceptionally fine detail with colored pencils—-and they supposedly can compete with oil paintings. To work in a “classical realist” manner, you actually have to have the same understanding of color, of underpainting and glazing, to work with colored pencils as you do with oils. So, if you are happy with oil painting, why switch? Cost is one argument—-colored pencils are less expensive. There’s no mess, no cleanup—-which is great if you don’t have a lot of space to work in. Alyona Nickelson’s book isn’t really about trying to convert all painters to colored pencil, but showing colored pencil artists of all levels of experience and skill the new , advanced possibilities of this “humble” medium. With recently developed special fixatives, blenders and highlighting products, extensive layering is now possible. And whereas the recommended support for colored pencils has always been a fairly smooth cotton paper, there is now another option—-sanded papers or boards. But colored pencil work is labor intensive and to work successfully in colored pencil—-even with all the new products and techniques—-you had better have big reserves of patience. Producing fine art takes patience no matter what your medium but getting the effects you want is slow going. I can tell you this from experience. It’s not necessarily a negative—if that’s how you like to work, but it can be trying for someone used to achieving the same results more quickly in oil or acrylic. I purchased this book because—-having used oil and acrylic extensively—- I wanted to re-acquaint myself with colored pencils. I tried the sanded paper and did not like it—-but of course this is a personal preference. I tried hot press watercolor paper and that was better, but I still did not get the results I could get with oils on paper prepared for oil. I really did like the brand of colored pencils she recommends for a lot of her work—-Faber Castell Polycolor—-but will probably end up using them in conjunction with oil paint or graphite.

O conteúdo do livro é excelente e a entrega foi rápida e com todo o cuidado necessário com o produto.

It is always great to learn new techniques. I have been using colored pencils as a professional artist for over 40 years . I thought I had come up with the techniques I developed , they evolved over the years.Nice to see so many others growing and developing new ways with colored pencil .

Es un libro muy completo, con una exposición de los temas muy directos y claros, la técnica de esta artista es extraordinaria y lo mejor es que la comparte sin limitaciones, ampliamente recomendado. No es superficial y hay que practicar mucho si quieres alcanzar su nivel.

Il libro è fatto bene, descrizioni dettagliate sui processi di disegno e belle foto, peccato però che amazon non venda nessuno dei prodotti indicati come necessari per seguire questa artista a parte uno (powder blender) che comunque non è mai disponibile. Prodotti che devi acquistare dunque a prezzi molto più alti dall'estero. Per non parlare dei fissativi che in Italia non possono proprio essere recapitati e quindi tanto vale studiare, farsi una cultura pure con una certa difficoltà visto che il libro è solo in inglese, e poi non puoi acquistare i materiali

Ein sehr gutes Buch! Kann ich nur weiter empfehlen.