Cynthia Knox Painting In Colored Pencil Colorful Things
Cynthia Knox Painting In Colored Pencil Colorful Things
As I am always with you guys, I will be honest with you right from the get go and lay out all my cards on the table before I complete this written review version of the wonderful colored pencil artist, Cynthia Knox’s newest book; Painting In Colored Pencil Colorful Things.
As most of you know, I turned to art about six or seven years ago as a way of self help; I suffered with and still suffer with PTSD after serving in the British Army. On recommendation from my eldest daughter Niamh, who was studying art at school, I thought art would help calm my mind and help me with certain issues. As things turned out, art has been a wonderful help for me.
However, in my quest to find a medium that suited me, I would search the internet, specifically YouTube, looking for artists to show me the way. somewhere along the way I knew colored pencils would be perfect for me and the injury I suffered and so started looking for colored pencil artists. That is when I discovered the amazing Cynthia Knox and I first found out about Cynthia via a platform called Craftsy; Craftsy is still available but it is a little bit different to the platform I first discovered.
I purchased a colored pencil class by Cynthia Knox and it was at this point that I realised that in my search to learn more about colored pencils, I had purchased a few books from Amazon, of which I owned two Cynthia Knox books. It took a while for the connection to click with me, but the penny eventually dropped that the two books I loved so much, were wrote by this amazing artist I was now watching.
Over the years, after chatting back and forth, I was honoured and privileged to call this amazing artist my friend, which was totally surreal to me; for years I had been reading books and watching class ran by Cynthia and now I was calling her my friend, it was just such an amazing thing for me. That being said and I have review a couple of Cynthias books, anytime I have been asked to review Cynthias books, it has always been made clear that regardless of friendship, I am to treat the review exactly the same way I review all products and that is with honesty and transparency.
Cynthia has authored many colored pencil books ranging in skill level and genre, books for absolute beginners, books teaching how to paint portraiture with colored pencils, how to draw horses, how to paint still life with colored pencil and many many more. Cynthia has been part of the colored pencil world for over 20 years, she is a Wife, Mother and believe it or not she is also a Grandmother. For anyone at all who knows Cynthia, they will tell you just how important her family is and how her beautiful family is perfect inspiration for her to create so many beautiful works of art.
Colorful Things
Colorful Things is the subheading and second book in a new series of books from the Painting in Colored Pencil series. The first book in this series was Sweet Things and you can see an image of this book below. Incedently I have included links to as many of Cynthia’s books as I can get, anytime you see me talk about a title, you can click on the title and it will take you to an amazon store where you can purchase that particular book, however the focus of this review is of course Colorful Things.
When I first discovered Colorful Things and I seen the beautiful image on the front cover, given how beautiful the image was and the many different subjects the image tackled, I assumed that the book was a project on that one image. However when I opened the book for the first time and discovered the wonderful projects throughout the book, I was truly in awe.
I personally would not say that this particular book by Cynthia Knox is aimed toward absolute beginners, Cynthia has a couple books catering for beginners and absolute beginners, but I would not include Colorful Things in that list. That being said, Cynthia provides in my mind the most accurate, articulate and intuitive colored pencil tutorials in publication and online tutorials. I understand this is a bold statement and mean absolutely no disrespect to other artists, however, as I will explain, Cynthias teaching is so, that although I would not recommend an absolute beginner start with Colorful Things, given what I have just said, it would not surprise me if a beginner followed along and produced and spectacular piece of art.
Painting In Colored Pencil Colorful Things Contents.
I always find book reviews to be quite tricky, I have to provide a glimpse into the book, provide a sample of what you can expect if you decide to purchase the book, but at the same time, not provide too much information to the extent purchasing the book is not required because a blabber mouth like me has provided all the secrets.
It is important to note that there is a huge amount of work that goes into providing a tutorial for any art medium never mind publishing a comprehensive book and so it is so important that the authors of these amazingly helpful books are paid what they deserve.
Dedication and Acknowledgements
First you are presented with Dedication and Acknowledgments section and this is primarily open to Cynthia’s wonderful family, her amazing husband Jeff and a bit to Ann Kullberg who has a wonderful relationship and professional partnership when publishing Cynthia’s books.
There is one beautiful and special acknowledgement printed at the very end of the first page but I will leave that to you when you purchase the book.
Chapter 1 Materials & Techniques
I know this is pretty self explanatory and this section features in a lot of art books, for Cynthia who has been using colored pencils for over 20 years, the materials that she uses and that are helpful to Cynthia producing breath taking art work, rarely changes from book to book.
However, as the years have moved on and art materials have evolved and also moved on, should Cynthia have tried a new product that worked for her, it would make it into this section in the next book. One such product, that if you are a bit obsessed like me and have all of of Cynthia’s books expect one or two, you will noticed started featuring a few books back and that is Pan Pastels. In this book Cynthia explains why and how this is a valuable product for her.
The Techniques section for me is really where Cynthia Knox shines above the rest and her method of explanation is just superb. In this section Cynthia explains the various pressures to use while using colored pencils and has the various pressures broke into sections. When following a project, for a feather, you will actually be told the type of pressure to use and what effect this pressure will provide you. In the book the entire system is explained in clear detail and will become part of your colored pencil art going forward and used as an invaluable tool. this book for that one lesson is worth the money in my opinion.
Chaper 2 Dynamic Duo
This is the first project in the book and is of these two gorgeous Cardinals. Every project is laid out in the same fashion so I will only explain the method once for this chapter and it applies to all projects in the book.
For each project, Cynthia provides you with access to the reference image and a lined drawing of the project. On the side of the project there is listed every color that you will need and if you don’t have the exact same pencils Cynthia uses, so long as you have similar colors you will be fine.
there is also a section detailing additional materials and this just ranges from paper being used on that particular project, eraser types, sharpeners etc
Chapter 3 Fire and Rain
This project is of a gorgeous yellow orange rose
Chapter 4 Drawn to the Sun
This project is a beautiful still life depicting a basket of fruit with a wonderful light
Chapter 5 Kaleidoscope
This project is the image we see in the front cover of the book and the project I was so looking forward to following as soon as I seen it.
Chapter 6 Caribbean Queen
This final project is of a beautiful Caribbean women, this project teaches you all about getting skin tones right but the head dress on the lady is so amazing.
By following along with all these amazing projects, you will gain knowledge and techniques in colored pencils that will last you your lifetime using this wonderful medium we all love so much. Its important to remember when you are following along with each project, these are all works of art created by the wonderful Cynthia Knox. At times you will be forgiven for looking at your reference image and losing sight of the fact that Cynthia has created these beautiful art pieces.
Cynthia Knox Painting In Colored Pencil Colorful Things Pricing
I always leave the pricing information to my written review and this is the only part of the review that I can change as and when needed. When I complete my YouTube video reviews, if I mention the price at the time of creating the video, six months or a year from the creation of the video, the price may change and I have no way of amending that information. But with my written review I can amend as and when required.
If you live anywhere else in the world you can check out Cynthia Knox’s own website or Ann Kullberg’s Color Magazine Website.
Cynthia Knox Painting In Colored Pencil Colorful Things Conclusion.
As I mentioned right at the beginning, despite having the privilege of calling Cynthia Knox my friend, my review as with all my reviews is my 100% honest opinion. Now as with so many things in life, everything is subjective and someone else may not take to this book in the same way I did. Personally the only people I can see having a slight issue with this book is Oil Painters, Watercolor Artists, Pastel Artists etc simply because they are not using the medium used in the book. (A little bit of light humour)
As I read through this book, I really tried to read it from a slightly vexatious mind set, I was trying to nit pick, find fault in something, but I just couldn’t find anything. I read the book three times, alone and in my quiet studio so that I could really study what I was reading. I then came at the book from the stand point of following a project and I will upload my finished project as soon as it is complete, this was yet another thing that I was unable to complete over Christmas due to flu.
As with so many of Cynthia’s books, they are a must have block of literature and learning that every colored pencil artist should own and as I mentioned, Cynthia has published books surrounding particular genres so the book on horses will obviously not be for everyone, same with the portraiture book and still life etc.
I highly recommend Painting In Colored Pencil, Colorful Things by Cynthia Knox. I know I said I would not recommend this book to absolute colored pencil beginners, but here is the thing, if you are new to art and colored pencils, but you are a confident individual and feel up for a challenge, why not try a project from the book that appeals to you. You don’t have to show anyone you final piece, you don’t even have to show your third and fourth attempt, but so long as you have fun and enjoy the process, who cares who sees it.
Keep all your attempts and then, when you finish that project and you love it, you can share it with the world and for your eyes only, you can check out the process of trial and error that you experienced and the entire process will help you develop as a colored pencil artist more than you could ever have expected. Never lose sight of why we pursue art, we do it for the beauty, enjoyment, growth, love an entire gamut of emotions and to finally marvel at a piece of beauty you have created from your heart.
I apologise from the bottom of my heart to Cynthia for the delay in publishing this review, you are such a kind and gentle soul and I know the delay will not have concerned you, but it did me. I wanted to have this review up for Christmas but because of illness I was just unable to do so, I am so sorry.
