Colored Pencil for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Artist (Practical Art Books) [Paperback]

Bet Borgeson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Practical Art Books | Publication Date: September 1, 1998

This new addition to a sucessful series is a sophisticated primer for readers who aeriously want to develop a professional career specializing in an art medium with great commercial potential. The book opens with a review of the methods of unique to colored pencil, its handling properties, and breadth of color range. Readers are shown how to create illusions of form, volume, and space, and how to avoid overworking a picture by learning to see when it's finished. Then the author shares her special techniques for the most popular genres, still life and landscape, and for nontraditional subjects as well. She concludes with an insightful discussion on personal style and becoming a professional artist.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bet Borgeson is the author of one of Watson-Guptill's all-time best-sellers—The Colored Pencil. Her work is published widely in the United States and Europe, and she intructs ongoing workshops. Borgeson lives in Portland, Oregon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823007618
• ISBN-13: 978-0823007615
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.4 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #413,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Colored Pencil
  • #91 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Pencil

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars moving beyond beginner, March 10, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colored Pencil for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Artist (Practical Art Books) (Paperback)

It seems a deep chasm yawns between the amateur artist and the emerging artist. This insightful and instructional book bridges that gap. Finally, a book that addresses how to move beyond the beginner stage! The author's generous advice is clear, relevant and timely. And you don't have to be a colored pencil artist to benefit---the majority of the book is applicable to other media as well. Written in a rare, articulate style, the author delivers provocative theories and philosophies not found elsewhere in art instruction books. An added bonus: detailed reproductions, in-progress artwork by the author, and no skimping on text. A most valuable addition to your personal art library.

85 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books of colored pencil, April 30, 2001

By 

Angel Lee "Liocorno Amethyst Moonstone" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Colored Pencil for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Artist (Practical Art Books) (Paperback)

This is one of the best books on colored pencil I have found. The artwork is beautiful and the instructions are superb. Projects and techniques are demonstrated step-by-step with color illustrations and photos.

The book starts with an overview of materials and tools including great advice of setting up a workspace. Then, it covers the fundaments of drawing such as perspective, volume, space, form and composition. The demonstration and discussion of color mixing and creating edges is excellent. This really helped me a lot. The book then goes on to help you really get started by giving tips on finding inspiration, using photographs, tracing and deciding when your project is finished. It explains color lifting and impressed line techniques as well as helping you build your own style.

The next section focuses of still life and floral drawings. It covers selecting and setting up a still life and well as lighting it. There are two great demonstrations of this. It nice that one included the photo the artist worked from making it easy to practice what the author describes. A section on landscapes follows. This gives all kinds of advice from working on location to assembling the elements of a basic photography kit. There is a great discussion on finding the perfect setting and center of interest, as well as using color to suggest space. There are two demonstrations here as well, showing both naturalistic and fantasy landscapes.

The afterward on integrating art into your life and selling your artwork is great for the serious artist. Whether you are just starting out or having been using colored pencil as a medium for a while this is a wonderful book on the subject.

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knowledgible/Inspiring, August 1, 2001

By 

Kathy P. Jamison - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colored Pencil for the Serious Beginner: Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Artist (Practical Art Books) (Paperback)

Even as a somewhat-experienced artist I found this book to be at just the perfect level. While basic for anyone new to colored pencil, the book is by no means simplistic. It is intelligently written, and well illustrated. After finishing it (which I found to be as difficult as putting down any good novel) I felt I'd found a new awareness about the medium. Since, I have been excitedly pursuing all Borgeson taught me through her wonderful book. Note: A special reading treat at the end is her own prespective/insight on being an artist, whether choosing to be amatuer or professional. I highly recommend this as a good A to Z study.