Customer Reviews

Watercolor Pencil Magic

5 star:		(7)
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3 star:		(1)
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When I first recieved a box of watercolor pencils as a gift, I had no idea what to make of them... I do passing fair work with colored pencils, but watercolors have always been beyond me. I muddled along, experimenting and tossing the miserable results, until I found this book. Oh, the joy! Finally, information on how to get the most out of my creations! How to balance the use of dry and wet, how to work the pencils to their best use, how to work in multimedia (which I do). This is most certainly a bible of sorts for the watercolor pencil artist!

I liked the book, but I wish it had more information or more examples, either by the author or by other artists in the medium. In order for me to really learn about the medium, I have had to buy not only this book but others about the same subject as well... It is not a problem with this book in particular, but a problem with ALL colored pencil books. All of them show a "part" of the what the medium has to offer. I wish there was a "compendium" of several authors about the subject, so we, aspiring artists, would have some sort of "big book" or "bible" about this.

What a motivating guide! This has easy-to-understand directives and doesn't seem overwhelming. At the same time, the examples are so wonderful and varied the "student" cannot help but want to practice more and more, allowing it to become an urge to take a pretty scene and turn it into something that can be shared.

I purchased this for my teen daughter (and to enjoy learning along with her) as a rich addition our homeschool curriculum. We enjoy sitting out on the deck and finding inspiration in our many trees, garden, the birds and squirrels, our beagles, etc.

The author is very gifted and conveys her love of nature and capturing a fleeting moment very well. She is also instrumental in showing how to cultivate a reader's individual artistic tendencies, even if they may feel they don't have any. This is preseted in a non-intimidating manner.

Highly recommended!

I am one of those people who are able to benefit from How To kinds of books. This particular book gives easy broken down steps to watercolor pencil techniques with plenty of room to explore and play with the medium in question. There is also a great balance of text and illustrations.

In my opinion the best part is the listing of different products and how they interact with each other and on different kinds of watercolor papers (it also discusses basic color theory and how to use it). It lists brand names so that you can purchase those products and experiment with them yourself. Most importantly is that it's presented in a fun and casual manner, so it takes away a lot of the fear if you're new at working with watercolor pencils.

The book arrived within a few days and was in excellent shape. I have only seen this book at the library and was pleased that I could find a copy in such good shape. There are very few books about water color pencil drawing. This one explains things in easy to understand language for the beginner and contains many lovely drawings as examples.

This has to be the definitive book on watercolor pencil. I haven't read another book with as much usable information as this one. Cathy Johnson has a great way of explaining how to use the pencils to achieve a variety of textures and effects. Once I quit thinking of watercolor pencils as a watercolor medium, and began to think of them (and use them) as drawing tools with which I can then achieve a watercolor effect, my drawings greatly improved. If you can find this book, I highly recommend it.

This is the best book on watercolor pencil that exists so far. I have read several other books and they are very few. Kate Johnson is a wonderful teacher for this mostly ignored medium. I also took her online class for watercolor pencil and this book was the main text. I highly recommend both. I was an amateur when I started and now I am very confident with my pencils. I cannot recommend "Watercolor Pencil Magic" enough. If you want to learn how to use the medium and become more comfortable and proficient then you must do Kate's exercises. The only way to become good is to practice with your watercolor pencils and this book really put me on the road to becoming the artist I know I can be.

I have all of Ms. Johnson's books and truly love them! The artwork is beautiful and it's very useful and I feel like I learn a lot from her books.