Customer Reviews

Pastels For Dummies

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Most of the pastel books I've read (and I've read quite a few) tend to be skimpy when it comes to technique. Essentially, you're shown one way of using the material, and that's about all. "Pastels for Dummies" takes the reader through a variety of applications, including the use of water with pastel, various blending techniques, layering methods, and so forth. In addition, it covers important information about an effective studio setup when using the material - a subject which is poorly broached in many other texts.

The explanations in this book are clear, concise, fun, and easy to follow. The "fun" part is important...if you actually want to enjoy yourself while you're learning. However useful they may be, the majority of art-instruction texts I've read are written like product manuals. You get useful instructions, but you need coffee to stay awake while you're reading them. This book was refreshingly enjoyable and easy-going.

If you're looking to learn about this wonderful medium, or want to add to the knowledge you already possess, this book is sure to please.

Oh boy! Finally a comprehensive manual on pastel drawing. Not only is this book easy to read, but it's practically delicious. The images are luscious with color and marks that are easily read.


Novices, if you want to be inspired and learn about art/drawing/color, check this little yellow book out. Adept artists, if you wonder what a "Dummies" book could have for you, prepare to be delighted.


After years of appreciating and producing art, I found myself chuckling at the writing style and being amazed how it fits so well into creating a real page turner. Prepare to hit the nearest art supply store if you start reading this book!

A wonderful guide to using pastels. I've not used them before and this book certainly helped get me started. Thank you...

I found this book to be an overabundant resource for, not only Pastels, but also for insights to apply to drawing with any medium. I very much appreciated links to websites, history of materials. Sharing knowledge such as resources for materials is like gold for artists. I appreciate the approach of simplicity, preparedness and then action. Even for myself, having much experience in drawing with pastels, the suggested assignments were extra thoughtful. The assignments cover all the basic elements of design, experimentation with the medium, as well as subtle actions that will have you looking at everything as either something you want to visually represent or use as source material for the next art work.

All in all, I feel deftly informed and no longer a DUMMIES®

This book is all padding, and no meaningful content. I shopped online for pastel books, and figured that I would get more for my money with a bigger book. Boy, was I wrong. This book goes out of its way to repeat the same things endlessly. I lost count of how many times the authors explained what "tooth" means.

The books in the "for Dummies" series are usually written by people who know what they're talking about, and are willing to present information in a very no-nonsense way. But definitely not in this case. Not only is there a lot of meaningless artistic babble, some of the most basic techniques that are used in pastels are not even mentioned in the book.

There is something about the way this book is written that begs you to ignore it. All kinds of silly exercises are suggested, and none of them are the least bit interesting or inspiring. It makes you distrust everything they say, even if it would happen to be right. Especially when the art it contains is the worst I have seen in any art book.

I wish I had seen "The Pastel Book" by Bill Creevy before buying this one. That book is excellent. Well, almost any book would be better.

I had previewed this using Kindle and then purchased the full version as print based on that preview. The book does have some interesting tips for beginners and deals in some aspects of basic drawing as well as use of pastels, but I found the small page and half section on Oil Pastels to be quite poor in my opinion (puts them down and discourages use). . . I happen to love oil pastels and know some outstanding professional oil pastel artists. So be aware that it mainly only deals with chalk pastels.

Blah, blah, blah.... I tried to get into this book several times...it is endless with explations with almost no visuals. For example, how to make objects appear closer......"use bright colors" and there is one tiny picture of some flowers. Then on page 35..."Blenders" one is called tortillion it tells you what it's made of and how it looks and you can pick up a set in a variety of different sizes.....blah, blah, blah then you have to thumb though to Chapter 9 about 100 pages away to find a teeny picture of one just sitting there with no explantion of how it actually works...I don't know; maybe that was another 100 pages away. Honesty, 306 pages and it left me feeling nothing. I'm sorry I wasted my money on this.