Colored Pencil Secrets for Success is Ann Kullberg's latest instruction book for colored pencil artists. If you are a colored pencil afficionado, all of her books are must haves - not only for the wealth of information she provides but also for the beautiful pictures she includes as examples. In the previous books, she used her own work for examples, but in this latest book, the paintings come from a number of different colored pencil artists, and it is inspirational to see the wide variety of styles and techniques that can be used to create art in this medium.

This book is primarily a collection of critiques, a teaching method with which Ann Kullberg has a lot of experience. She offered a critique service on her web site for years, and still does a monthly critique for readers of her colored pencil magazine (From My Perspective). After the introduction - which covers the all important basics such as choosing a photo, composition and cropping, CP techniques, and a review of the tools necessary - there are four main sections of critiques: Portraits, Animals, Landscapes & Florals, and Still Life. Each critique shows what the artist did right as well as what he or she could improve on. This is very important, because some teachers will assume that if a student did something right, then he or she already understands that point; however, having been the beneficiary of one of Ann's critiques myself, I have found that seeing what I did correctly in context with what I need to improve is more beneficial than negative criticism alone.

It is very educational to have collection of these critiques in one place for easy reference. It really helps to see the common mistakes, and how to correct them, as well as the techniques used to create these beautiful pieces. (Even though this is a collection of critiques, all the contributions are really excellent and enjoyable to look at.) Also, each section is followed by a selection of CP examples belonging to that category, with a short discussion of what makes their work so powerful.

Finally, as a customer of a lot of art instruction books, I have written to Amazon previously about their "Look Inside this Book" feature. It's a great idea. However, art instruction books always start with the essentials - tools required, techniques needed, that sort of thing. You couldn't really write one any other way. The problem with buying such a book online and relying on the "Look Inside this Book" feature is that you can't see examples of the artist's work until you get the book home. There are some styles that an aspiring artist really doesn't want to emulate - this doesn't mean the style is bad, just not right for the student. I suggested to Amazon that instead of always using the first chapter as the sample, with art instruction books, they should grab a random chapter from the middle. It's much more helpful. Since they haven't (as far as I know) taken my advice on this, I have limited purchasing art books to those written by artists I'm already familiar with (or buying them at a traditional bookstore, where I can really look inside the book.) . I bring this up to make the point - I have never been disappointed with Ann Kullberg's style, and always feel I can buy her next book sight unseen. She creates beautiful art, and she's a talented teacher as well.

If you are a colored pencil artist, if you have ever taken one of Ann's workshops, beginner or experienced you will love this book. From the time you open the book to the very first pages I was enthralled, studying each drawing and trying to decide in my own mind what Ann would say about the work. This book is very informative for any colored pencil artist!

I was SO thrilled to see that Ann had done another book, and this one is packed from front to back with suggestions, techniques, and how-to's.

Years ago I went to one of Ann's seminars. She offers two - a beginners, and advanced. I took the beginner's class not because I was new to CP, but because we were learning Ann's method of CP painting - which is what you'll find in her books. She teaches everything you need to know in order to get started - from materials, the various colored pencils which are available, to paper - most CP artists use Stonehenge - which is what I use. She teaches her methods on how to recreate what you see, a photograph, or whatever one wants to draw. Remakably, Ann starts with a portrait - which seems so complex. Ann seems to believe anyone can paint with colored pencils - as long as they can distinguish darks and lights. Ann makes learning colored pencil SO much fun. Her books are very user friendly, Ann's colored pencil books are among my favorites, and I think this one is my favorite of her books!

Not too many years ago there weren't very many CP books available, but there were a few early pioneers who are among a very few considered to be the CP elite. They're the people who fought for the rest of us, making CP an "acceptable" art form - with juried shows, wonderful awards, and gallery showings.

Now there are many wonderful CP books from which to choose. CP painting can resemble just about any other medium, and CP artists have a wide array of styles. Some styles are very realistic - almost photographic quality, and then there are some who prefer an abstract style. Colored pencil tends to be more portable than most painting methods, and it can be a pretty forgiving mode of painting. Ann teaches all of this - from getting started, to selling your work, and how to get out the mistakes.
Colored Pencil is just so much fun to learn, and Ann was my first and favorite teacher.

This is a great book for those little tricks you learn only with experience or by reading a book like this :) Ann Kullberg has long been one of my favorite colored pencil artists. She really knows her stuff. This book is not just about drawing another great work of art, but it teaches you what makes a drawing great. It shows you the pitfalls to avoid, the minor touches that make your drawings look more professional and how to find the small problems that make your drawing look "not quite right", and then correct them. It also gives you tips on pencils and papers to use and many other items all dealing with colored pencil.

Well, there isn't any earth shaking new technique in this book, but there does happen to be a lot of little tips here and there. I loved the reference to "chiclet teeth" and not only have I seen that mistake made in portraiture, I actually one dated a fella with chiclet teeth, like the Simpson's characters. Anyway, if you already have all of Ann's books and you subscribe to FMP online, this material won't wow you as you are likely already know it. But if you are new to Ann's way of doing things or to Colored Pencil itself, the tips in here are perfect for you, common stumbling blocks are explained and advice is given on avoiding them altogether. That's why it has 5 stars, I'm ratiing it as if I had come across it before studying my head off. :)