About the Author

Jane Strother has worked across a wide range of media in her career as an artist and teacher. She currently teaches workshops on oil pastels, drawing, painting and printmaking, and gives talks and demos about her own work. Jane has won prizes and exhibited widely across the UK. As an illustrator, she has had work published by Saatchi Design, Reader's Digest, Longman, Heinemann, Penguin and Random House. She lives in Oxfordshire.

Reviews

This is a wonderful book, the best "artist's bible" I have read.It is a treat to browse through for inspiration, and delightfully detailed in the help and guidance it offers to anyone interested in creating art with all kinds of coloured pencils. Subtitled 'An essential reference for the practising artist', the book easily earns this description. As someone fairly new to coloured pencil drawing I have found it fascinating to explore the different sections, which cover Tools and material, Techniques, Colour, Planning and procedures, Themed palettes, Gallery, and Subjects.The section on Techniques is inspiring, covering topics like mark-making, blending and burnishing, as well as sgraffito, masking and erasing. This section also covers water-soluble pencils, underpainting, using solvents, as well as combinations with other media..In chapter 5, Themed palettes includes buildings, landscapes, portraits, skies, still life, trees, foliage, flowers, and water. The other sections are equally comprehensive. The style is simple and straightforward, and makes you itch to get started - which I have in a small way. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and the colours express the vibrancy of the medium,. The gallery and subjects section reveal the amazing results that can be achieved. * Catherine Mcewan * I have now had this book for a week. Now that I've looked through and read different sections I can't wait to get started. This book is full of countless techniques and inspiration. * Deborah Donward *