A Beginner’s Guide to Colored Pencil Drawing: Realistic Drawings in 14 Easy Lessons

Graphic artist Watanabe (Bluff and Tales from a Forgotten Planet) shows readers how to use colored pencils to draw a variety of everyday objects. The book provides step-by-step instructions, exercises, and pages (removable!) to practice techniques. Beginning with lessons on applying pressure to vary the thickness of lines and intensity of color, the book demonstrates the importance of layering to create different shades and textures. Watanabe notes there are many methods for applying color, and readers are encouraged to practice them all. Projects focus on depicting the different shapes and surfaces of objects, such as fruit, metal utensils, glass bottles, and gemstones. Basic exercises to blend colors and add shadows and highlights are beneficial. The book references colors from two specific brands of pencils, but readers are free to use whatever they have on hand. They can substitute similar shades as well. Beginners may be intimidated by the complexity of the finished drawings, but they can still practice their coloring skills using the line art provided for each object.