Introduction 6, Materials 10, Getting started 20, Markmaking 26, Composing your portrait 38
Studies 52
Golden eye: dog 54, Green eye: cat 58, Brown eye: dog 62, Pink
nose: cat 66, Black nose: dog 70, Pink nose: dog 74, Clumpy fur 80,
Long white fur 84, Short shiny chestnut fur 88, Black curly fur
92
Portraits 96
Aura – Step-by-step Norwegian Forest Cat 98, Milo – Step-by-step
Mexican hairless dog 106, Sadie –Step-by-step Shetland Sheepdog
116, Blue – Step-by-step Gypsy Cob horse 126, Brandy – Step-by-step
Red Angus cow 136
Index 144
Lisa Ann Watkins is well-known in the world of coloured pencils as
a multi award-winning artist and tutor. She held her first solo
exhibition in 2014 and has been published in numerous magazines.
Lisa enjoys a large and very loyal following on social media, you
can follow her on Instagram and Facebook @animalartbylaw. Lisa
launched her first digital tutorial in 2016 and now has a teaching
channel on Patreon that contains in-depth videos and written
tutorials for her online students every month. She tours the UK and
US to teach workshops.
Visit her website www.animalartbylaw.co.uk
This is by far the best colour pencil book I have and I own quite a
few. There is so much information in it, plus the lovely
presentation and the print quality. I now fully understand how hard
Lisa has worked on this beautiful book. The wealth of information
is drawn from her experience both as an award winning pet and
wildlife artist and as an art tutor. Includes a comprehensive
materials guide, different techniques, studies and some
step-by-step portraits showing exactly how they were achieved. This
book definitely has everything a beginner needs to know to start
their colour pencil journey and so much more for those of us with
some experience under our belts. Something for everyone here.
*Customer Review*
This book covers it ALL and realistically not in just a basic form.
I have purchased a lot of books for new ideas or tips for
techniques I'm not strong in to become a better artist. I
pre-ordered this book sceptically because I like to read the
reviews FIRST before I buy! HOWEVER... even if you're an advanced
or professional artist, Lisa Ann Watkins doesn't hide or hold back
in this book. "This is a must have" book and the best I own for
tips, suggestions, ideas, you name it, it's in this book! I am so
glad I took the chance and purchased this book.
*Customer Review*
Learning about the artist in the introduction was really
interesting. Lots of detailed information throughout the book. Very
helpful.
*Customer Review*
This thorough guide takes full advantage of the fine details that
can be created with coloured pencils to produce lifelike and
characterful animal portraits. What is particularly interesting is
Lisa Ann's subtle use of non-natural colours to emphasize
highlight, shading and contrast and, in some cases, to subdue the
more obvious hues in order to capture specific characteristics.
After an in-depth study of the materials and working methods this
style demands, the book proceeds by way of a series of studies and
demonstrations that explain further aspects and considerations.
Considerable attention is paid to features such as fur, eyes and
noses. The subjects are all domestic, with a variety of dogs and
cats, but also a horse and cow. This is, however, a book – and an
excellent one at that – about animal portraits, so this is
perfectly fitting.
*The Artist*
Lisa Ann Watkins is an award-winning artist and tutor who
specialises in coloured pencil drawing, enjoying a large and loyal
following on social media as well as face to face through her many
teaching workshops throughout the UK and America. In this
beautifully produced book, Lisa tackles the popular subject of
animal portraiture. With clear, simple techniques presented through
ten studies, she demonstrates how to bring your portraits to life
by focusing on texture, bright eyes and glossy noses. Building on
her experience as a tutor, she confronts many of the problems
students face when using coloured pencils and provides easy
solutions. Five detailed step-by-step full animal portrait projects
are included, with subjects ranging from dogs and cats to cows and
horses.
*Leisure Painter*
This is one of the best coloured pencil tutorial books out there.
The colours are stunning and every project well thought out and
beautifully presented. My favourite art book by a mile!
*Customer Review*
Themes, subjects and media go in cycles, and coloured pencil is
having its moment in the sun again. This is no bad thing, because
it’s a medium that requires little in the way of equipment and is
highly portable, meaning you can work almost anywhere. On top of
that, as printing tolerances improve, it’s possible to reproduce on
the page the fine detail pencils allow; this is a book that
sparkles in that respect. Let’s assume, therefore, that you’re on
board with the medium and subject matter presented here. You’ve
also skimmed through the technical introduction because there’s
never not something interesting, and perhaps new to you, to be
found. Given the level of work here, you’re not a beginner, so the
basic techniques are, even if not second nature, at least familiar.
What you want now is to feel comfortable with your tutor and to get
just the right amount of instruction to be able to follow the
demonstrations and projects presented. As we’ve already cut to the
chase once, we can do so again – you won’t be disappointed and
should feel right at home. This is not the first book on animal
drawing, so we should look for individualities. In that respect,
the word Portrait in the title is significant. These are head and
shoulder images that capture the character of the subject. I
really, really want to say “sitter”, but you’re going to need a
photograph for that. And, yes, Lisa does indeed work from
photographs. The technical introduction includes some rather useful
tips on getting the photo right in the first place and also on
using software to combine images for dual portraits. She also
suggests reducing a colour image to line to help with the initial
outline drawing. I haven’t seen that in a book where it’s not the
main subject before and it’s an extremely useful addition,
especially when working from photographs is essential to the
subject matter. The drawings themselves include a good variety of
creatures (although not the donkeys on the cover). It’s worth
saying that, although horses and cattle are here, dogs and cats
predominate. Lisa goes into considerable detail about fur and hair
(no feathers here) as well as features such as eyes, noses and
ears. There are enlarged illustrations at all the points you need
them. Lisa is a thoughtful teacher who has an excellent sense of
exactly those points where a student is going to need help or a
nudge. In terms of style, as befits a portrait, backgrounds are
largely neutral, but without the pitfall of looking like a blank
card. The use of colour can surprise you – careful combinations of
greens and reds are frequently used to create realistic shades and
shading. Highlights, in the eyes especially, add character as well
as that sparkle I referred to earlier. Production-wise, the book
has soft covers that open easily and deep flaps that make it feel
nice in the hand. Obviously, it’s the content that matters, but
ergonomics have a strong part to play in the way we react to a book
and this one ticks all the right boxes. A lot of thought has
clearly gone into it.
*Artbookreview.net*
Sumptuous pages filled with colour pencil wisdom and creations –
sign me up already! […] My humble abode is well insulated with art
books at this point, and I was very happy to ass this volume from
Lisa Ann Watkins to my collection. We are often referred to as a
nation of animal lovers, and why wouldn’t we be … whether a meow, a
moo, a neigh or a woof, animals do so enrich our lives and this
book covers all these topics in style. It starts off with a great
grounding on materials, covering what is available and why you
might just fancy buying them. And we know resistance is futile and
you are highly likely to succumb at some point, after all. Lisa has
put some commonly used surfaces under the microscope here, and that
certainly appeals to my Silent Witness-encourage forensic
tendencies, a fusion of science and art is truly an empowering
thing. Like many, I am full of aspirations about creating but also
time-poor, so I was happy to see a section on using other media
with coloured pencils. At times, I prefer to use colour pencil
alone, and at other times, I do enjoy being able to get more done
in the time I have available. Looking at you, dastardly
backgrounds! A tour-de-force on mark-making with our beloved,
wood-scented, heavenly pigmented pencils follows before a very
useful section on getting great photos, with tips on how to turn
those photos of Tiddles from B-movies extra to Hollywood A-lister.
Colour selection and transferring is given due weight, preparing
pencil-wielding artists for the creative magic that ensues. Ten
excellent studies take us through some commonly faced animal
portrait challenges, from different eyes, noses, and fur, before
moving onto five in-depth projects covered from start to finish.
The quality of the images and text are clear and doubtless will
prove a great assistance to the reader. Whilst the book is clearly
focussed on animal portraits, there is much fabulous information
and insight within that can be applied to a range of subjects. So,
in summary, I found this to be a very worthwhile addition to my
collection. I do love Search Press art titles in terms of content
and layout, and this is no exception. Easy to pick up and admire,
but also rewarding to sit down and absorb, I thoroughly enjoyed it
and it comes highly recommended.
*The Journal of the UK Colour Pencil Society, Talking Point*
This is a wonderful book with excellent illustrations for anyone
starting out with colour pencils. I only started using colour
pencils earlier on this year and I wish I’d had this book from the
start. It is very clear and precise and gives step-by-step
instructions on the tutorials to achieve great artwork at the end.
The writing is very concise with lots of helpful tips and tricks to
help you along with your colour pencil art. It’s extremely useful
for beginners but also for people that have been using this art
medium for some time. The initial chapters take you through the
materials needed and then there are tutorials to try and help you
practice the techniques to create great artwork. There are also
helpful instructions on how to transfer your subject from photos
onto drawing paper. This is a wonderfully illustrated instructional
book, and I would thoroughly recommend this to someone starting out
on their colouring pencil art journey. This is a book I will refer
to again and again.
*The Journal of the UK Colour Pencil Society, Talking Point*
In this magnificent book, Lisa Ann Watkins will show you how to
capture the character of a much-loved pet or bring a favourite
animal to life on the page. Lisa's clear, simple techniques are
presented through ten studies that demonstrate how to breathe life
into your portraits by focusing on fur texture, bright eyes, and
glossy nose, whilst a series of five step-by-step full animal
portrait projects give you the opportunity to put your learning
into action.
*Paint & Create, March 2023*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
