Realistic Pet Portraits in Colored Pencil

New at this delightfully challenging passtime (since I was little and loved tocolor within the lines).The book does not assume that you have a sound grounding in techniques from which we learn how to master creating realistic looking pet hair, eyes, facial expressions of happiness, anticipation, sorrow, mischief etc. when teaching about one technique or another, she reviews and builds on the basics to achieve the desired. She also works with the context within which your subject is presented to pull in the viewer. There are many illustrations of techniques on how to create fur, feathers, scales to capture the inner essence of the creature. Offers lots of tips. I am still very much the novice . But mastery of any of the asspects of doing pet protrats well - is a thrill! Ms. Flood is clear in her talking with the reader. hints, tips and fine illustrations. I love the book. But would not recommend it as a first book from which to learn the basics of capturing what is special about your pets.

My daughter has used this book since she was 10 years old and really benefited greatly from it. Learning level is from beginner to intermediate. The step by step instructions include techniques and how to apply them in a drawing. Instructions will be clearer if you read the beginning that tells you how to use this book. Also helps the beginner if they do the "demos". Includes material list to use, although we found some of the items difficult to find and some could be substituted.

I bought a used version of the book. It was satisfactory, minimally worn. I hoped to learn colored pencil techniques for fur and feathers. The instructions are very full and detailed, It will take me a long time to absorb all the information in this book. I look forward to it. I would recommend this book for someone who has already experimented with breaking down the colored pencil strokes with low odor solvent, turpentine or 91% rubbing alcohol..I just can't believe large background areas were tediously burnished with the tip of a colorless blender pencil, but I can be wrong. This talented artist probably did burnish with the colorless blender. I was grateful for the unexpected advice on animal eyes,noses and expressions. I'm going to enjoy this book.

I bought this book with several others, and I just can't put it down. While it is true that some of the pictures are not photo-realistic, they are truly amazing. The author helps you with technique, and breaks down several aspects about animals that make drawing them difficult. I would have liked to know more about the whole body of the animal, but this isnt a drawing book, rather it is a technique book that covers the eyes, fur, feathers and to a lesser extent the expressions. She gives excellent advice on cat eyes to make them look liquid and translucent, and she breaks down some common mistakes. Overall an excellent book to own.

I love this book. As an avid colored pencil artist, I refer to it frequently. I love to draw animals, and Anne gives great suggestions on how to achieve the realistic textures in fur, feathers, horse eyes, dog noses, cat whiskers....YOU NAME IT... Her basic exercises can be applied to drawing anything in colored pencil. It is very structured, some may even say too structured, but I think it is a great way to teach techniques. If you want to draw animals, this is a good addition to your library.

Wonderful book. The Pet portraits are beautiful to look at. The instructions are detailed and easy to understand. I have purchased several colored pencil instructional books and this one promises to be one of my favorites. The techniques used to produce realistic animal fur and feathers are amazingly clear and easy to understand. Animals have different eye characteristics to humans. The instructions for creating realistic eyes is sensational. I look forward to putting the new techniques I've learned into practice. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all color pencil enthusiasts.

I checked this book out at the library before purchasing and I fell in love with the drawings. It is helpful to see the different techniques and it gives me ideas when I'm stuck. I'm happy to add it to my art library.

I got some use from the book but it wasn't as helpful as others I've seen.

Vor einigen Monaten habe ich angefangen, Katzen und Hunde zu zeichnen, anfangs noch etwas dilettantisch, inzwischen schon ausgesprochen gut. Ich habe mir einfach Bilder von Menschen, die das weitaus besser können als ich, sowie Tutorials auf youtube angesehen. Es war hilfreich, aber so ein paar kleine Tricks und Tipps fehlen mir doch noch. Ich habe keine Zeit, einen Kurs zu besuchen und so brachte ich mich selbst durch Üben und Probieren gut voran. Weil ich aber noch professioneller werden wollte, suchte ich immer wieder online nach Büchern, die das beschreiben, was mir an Wissen fehlt. Ich fand ein deutsches Buch, das Anleitung für Fell beschrieb, aber es waren keine echten Erklärungen über die Strichführung dabei. Irgendwie war mir das zu Wischiwaschimäßig. Heute bin ich auf dieses Buch gestoßen. Mein Englisch ist gut genug, um fast alles ohne Wörterbuch zu verstehen und Nichtgeübte kommen mit Wörterbuch bestimmt auch gut zurecht. Die Bilder und Anleitungen sind super und ich habe wirklich gefunden, wonach ich gesucht habe. Ich denke, daß es auch für totale Anfänger geeignet ist. Mir hätte es sehr geholfen, wenn ich es von Anfang an gehabt hätte. Ich habe nichts ausführlicheres gefunden, als das hier. Alles ist gut und verständlich erklärt, von Material über Farben und bildhafte Schritt für Schrittanleitungen für verschiedene Fellarten. Einfach toll!

Excited to begin my pet portraits. Love the explanations and step by step instructions. Well worth the money. Highly recommended to new artists.

Whilst I am not new to painting pets with pastel, I am new to colour pencils . So I wasn't looking for a beginners book to drawing, but in depth instruction on using colour pencils. The author uses Prismacolour throughout the book, so you need those to understand her colours. All types of shading, layering, burnishing etc are explained in depth accompanied with paintings, so it's a comprehensive book. Personally I'm not keen on the finished paintings, they look very 'American', but the instruction is invaluable.

Great book

Das erste step by step Zeichen- Buch, das mich wirklich überzeugt.Leider nur in englisch, also nichts für Leute, die sich mit dieser Sprache schwer tun. Es gibt allgemeine Hinweise zur Technik, wie man die Fell- und Federstrukturen zeichnet. Auf das Zeichnen von Augen und Nase wird ganz besonders ausführlich eingegangen. Wunderschöne Motive: Katzen, Hunde, Vögel, Hamster etc. Bei jedem Motiv steht das verwendete Material. Dann wird in mehreren Stufen das Bild aufgebaut. Jede einzelne Stufe wird in Bezug auf Farbwahl und Farbtiefe deutlich erklärt. So kommt man wirklich Schritt für Schritt weiter ( Nicht wie in vielen deutschen Büchern, wo der Autor zwar Skizze und fertiges Bild zeigt, aber keine Zwischenschritte). Man kann bei jeder Stufe sehen wie sich das Bild weiterentwickelt und verbessert. Die fertigen Bilder sind schöner als Fotos...........