Painting Light with Colored Pencil [Hardcover]

Cecile Baird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2005

Capturing the elusive qualities of light is one of the most sought-after goals of artists in every medium, and Painting Light with Colored Pencil helps readers achieve that goal with: An overview of the basics of any work of art, such as composition, gathering reference material, value and colour; Over 20 step-by-step lessons covering a variety of popular subjects, including fruit, flowers, textures and water; Two extended demonstrations that show readers how to combine the individual lessons to create a refined, detailed painting; Through the techniques explained in this book, readers will learn how to unlock the potential of coloured pencils to create realistic, light-filled paintings that glow.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cecile Baird's work has won numerous national and international awards and has been published in several American art magazines.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (April 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581805306
• ISBN-13: 978-1581805307
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Colored Pencil

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good information on innovative techniques, June 12, 2005

By 

book junkie "book junkie" (on my gazebo) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Painting Light with Colored Pencil (Hardcover)

I did enjoy the book and found it to be informative with good information of her wonderful and innovative techniques. I would have liked more definative instuctions on how "Shades of Green" was done, not just a small section on rendering Kiwi fruit. The beginning 50 or so pages were on information commonly found in any CP book and therefore of little value to me and perhaps to others who have a library of books already. But if you are a beginner with no books it would be of value to you.

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fellow artist's view, June 7, 2005

By 

Ann - See all my reviews

This review is from: Painting Light with Colored Pencil (Hardcover)

I'm not a beginner, but I think an artist on any level of experience and using almost any medium could benefit from this book. It's a jewel, and the emphasis on capturing light is inspiring. Cecile Baird generously shares her wonderful technique, as well as every aspect of creating a painting. Great presentation, valuable tool!

There are numerous demos covering many textures. While time constraints have prevented my trying all of them at this time, I've found the ones I have done easy to understand and follow.

Information and insights......that's what I wanted, and that's what I got!!

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making it real--one artist's technique with colored pencils, October 11, 2006

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Painting Light with Colored Pencil (Hardcover)

This book is of somewhat limited use if you have anything other than ultra-realism on your mind. But having said that, Cecile Baird presents a flawless technique with colored pencils that will have your jaw dropping at her gorgeous work. This book is inspiring and there is plenty of eye-candy here to admire.

There are many demonstrations of example paintings, and some are quite stunning; water spilled on a tile counter, a bubbling, spurting fountain, translucent honeydew melon and kiwi, glistening shells, smooth crockery. Each texture is discussed and the technique of blending with a colorless pencil or with solvent is explained.

There is also a section on how to photograph your subjects (assuming you do still life a lot, which this artist favors as her subject matter.) There is a good discussion on how many pencils to buy (hint; start with the largest assortment you can find, 72 or more) --and she lists what colors of one particular brand she chooses for each demonstration. The materials needed such as stumps for blending, solvent, etc are covered well in the text.

The demonstrations are not as complete as a beginner would need, but a good artist can follow her progress from sketch to final work. Likewise, excellent draughtsmanship is required for this technique. If you do naif works, cartoons, abstracts, or other non-realistic, stylized techniques, this book is of limited value.

Therefore, I recommend this to people who want to work from photographs and obtain beautiful realistic results with colored penci.