A very useful book for coloured pencil artists, with the basic know-how (materials, strokes, textures, lighting, perspective, color theory, etc,) and some step-by-step tutorials featuring flowers (poppies and sunflowers), fruit (peaches) and sweets. The first part, though basic, is very helpful, I have found tips that I have not seen in other books, the tutorials are simple and in detail, with the list of the Prismacolor pencils used. The artwork is quite old-fashioned (with laces, old vases and so on) for my taste, but of high technical level. Good layout (as generally in Walter-Foster books).

Very good book, I found it useful for learning some new techniques in colour pencil. I liked the step by step guide and explanations. I Will definitely get a lot of use out of this book whilst I practice my colouring. I would say it’s a good all round book with great illustrations that makes it very clear.

This is very nicely done. It has lots of good examples and includes the details and techniques used to add more realism to color drawings. And it starts with some nice basics for those that want it. While practice is still key, this book will provide some nice additional tips.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

A good book on the use of colored pencils in still life art work. There is a section relating to the various aspects of using pencils, followed by five step by step projects of different examples of contemporary still life. Easy to follow and informative.

Had fun with this book. I drew quick sketches for kids to color. Macarons and Meringues were a hit. I was taken by the sunflower drawing. I dont think I have ever tried to draw sunflowers at different angles. After coloring few of them, I took a step back and saw it feel more real than when you are up close to the drawing. The instructions are very detailed. The glass drawings seem so real and breathtaking. Its fun to decode the color and trying to recode that in our drawing.

This is a great book to learn how to do realistic still life art with colored pencils. The author goes into materials and techniques before giving you detailed, step-by-step directions to do five still life drawings -- sunflowers (on the cover), red poppies in a can on a cloth by a bowl of strawberries, a plate of pastel macarons, a dish of pink meringues, and three peaches in front of a silver pitcher. Knox gives you a pattern to copy and trace to lay down the original image and then walks you through every color and every step. She explains how to copy photos or pictures using either tracing or the grid method, which always seemed like cheating to me but I know that's the standard way to do it and it will give you the best results.

I was really impressed with the detail of how she walks you through these projects and I do think it will really successfully teach you how to make very realistic looking colored pencil drawings as long as you have the right, professional materials. My one issue is that I didn't really like the looks of the projects and wouldn't want to do them for my home. The fruit and flower drawings are very dark and rather moody, but I don't really want pictures of pastel desserts either. I would have loved some more bright or light floral still life options.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.