Watercolor Pencil Step by Step (Artist's Library)

Unfortunately there are few books about water coloring pencils so I was glad to find this one. Using such pencils is a little tricky until one gets the hang of it and this book offered many helpful hints. A good addition to one's collection of how-to art books. The author's method of "painting" grass was really amazing.

Great value for money! This is a treasure trove of tips and instruction for the beginner in water colour pencil painting. Unlike many "step-by-step" guides, in this little book the artists really do take the reader by the hand on their painting journey. If there were one thing to make this lovely instructional book even better it would be the format; the book is rather small (16.5 x 24cm). However, for the very affordable price, I can't gripe too much about that.

I had such high hopes for this book. I got a great set of Faber Castell watercolor pencils (top-of-the-line) for Christmas, and am trying to learn how to use them. They are tricky to master. I thought a reference would be great. Anything “Step by Step” seemed like it would be helpful. This book is not. First, it’s not step by step. At all. Once you get to the part with “steps” each step has about four or five steps within it that aren’t explained particularly well. Things that a beginner really need to know—how to control the balance of water and color, or how to prevent bloom, for instance—are not covered at all. The editing isn’t all that great either. For instance, on page 6, under “Right Diagonal Stroke,” you’ll find this entirely unhelpful sentence fragment: “You’ll get better coverage with this stroke if you’re” That’s it. The sentence cuts off. You will never ever know what you need to be in order to get better coverage with this stroke, because that’s all they wrote. Aaarrrggghhhh! They also tell you that, because watercolor pencils can be blended, you don’t need to buy a whole set. Just a few. They then present you with a total palette of 69 colors. 69! with the warning that each manufacturer will have different names for their pencil colors, and the ink used in producing the book is probably not accurate, so, y’know, you can just sorta guess. So, I am not sure who this book is for. Not me. I’m giving it two stars because there are a few useful tips scattered throughout, but don’t expect to learn how to use this medium through this book. You’ll find it an exercise in frustration. Go to YouTube for beginner watercolor pencil lessons.

An excellent book for anyone who already does watercolor pencil painting or wants to start. The book offers painting techniques and tips that I have not found in other watercolor painting books. In the book there is a chart of all the colors used in the lessons. Each lesson offers which colors to use and where to apply them in the painting. The paintings are provided from different artists who use different techniques and have their own favorite color and pencil brand selection. I would recommend this book for anyone whether new to watercolor painting or experienced. Each lesson is of a different type of painting from landscape, animals and still life.

I love the way each segment of this book is written by different authors. This way, you don't get the same "language" by just one person. I love that there are different ways of doing things with watercolor pencils.

No feedback from recipient.

Nice instruction book. Great clear illustrations.

i wish it was bigger. i have not read all od it yet just skinned it,

There are very few decent instructional books for watercolour pencils, so I was happy to find this - and it did not disappoint. It's just a small, slim book, but it's packed with content which makes it great value.There's general guidance at the start about materials and techniques, and then several step-by-step demos by 3 different artists. It's a good selection of different styles, subjects and techniques, and the step-by-step explanations are generally pretty clear, so you really can get a sense of the layers. I found it very interesting reading through the step-by-steps to understand how each artist builds up their finished picture.On the downside, the pictures are pretty small and some of the text is VERY small (even with my reading glasses) but that's due to the size of the book, and the price reflects that.My main problem with this book is that no SIZES of pictures are indicated ANYWHERE, so it's impossible to get a sense of the scale of the pictures. This doesn't sound like a big deal but it actually is - the picture we are looking could be 5"x7", or it could be 25"x35". Painting on different scales involves different techniques, but we have no idea what scale is being discussed.Also, no outline drawings are provided (and there's no link to a website where they are available) so if you want to work through the steps exactly as shown, you would have to trace from the small pictures in the book, and scale up your tracing before you could get started (to what size? No idea as they don't tell us!!). I do prefer the books which provide line tracings so you can get started right away.However, I do like this book for the insight into how these excellent artists develop their pictures from start to finish, so I'm glad I bought it and would recommend it.

A nice blend of three artists methods. I think it tries to get too much in to a short book.

Haven't used this item yet but found it very interesting

A delightful and informative book that will aid speedy improvement in the use of water colour pencils, all at a reasonable price!

The text was very informative but the illustrations were a bit dull.