Art Book List For Christmas

This year I have gone all out with list, last year and the year before I provided a Christmas list comprising of some art products that we artists would just love to get our hands on. The list was from a completely selfless perspective in that I was trying to make life easier for our loved ones when they are deciding Christmas gifts, the last thing the world I would want is for our loved ones to panic buy at Christmas and so felt it was my duty to help them get us easy to please artists the ideal Christmas gift.

Well this year I have made life even easier, in fact I think I will soon be awarded a saint hood, St Harry, Patreon Saint of Artists Christmas Gifts. I have provided three lists this year, an ordinary list with affordable easy to obtain products, a more luxurious list with slightly more expensive gifts for those artists who have been extra good all year round and now this list, my Art Book List For Christmas.

The other two lists are more product based, however over the past few years, I have purchased quite a few art books to help me refine my own artistic skills and to also better my knowledge for the sake of my reviews. All of the books in this list I have personally read myself and can 100% vouch for them and I have even reviewed one or two of them on The Art Gear Guide much more in-depth. So, let’s get on with the list and hopefully you will see a book in here that might appeal to your artistic thirst for knowledge.

The Art Of Colored Pencil Drawing by Cynthia Knox

The first book on this list is “The Art Of Colored Pencil Drawing by Cynthia Knox”, Cynthia Knox is an outstanding colored pencil artist who incidentally has published quite a few books and also has a few video courses on Craftsy. Cynthia is an incredibly well established and renowned colored pencil artist and of all the books Cynthia has published there is a reason I chose this one.

Many of the other books Cynthia Knox has published have been very specific in nature, in other words, Botanical, Floral, Animals etc. The Art of Colored Pencil Drawing is much broader and covers a lot of subjects which is why I feel this is a fantastic all round book for any colored pencil artist to buy. There are two other authors who share their expertise alongside Cynthia’s in this book, Eileen Sorg and Debra Kaufman Yaun

First of all Cynthia talks about all the various supplies you might want to use, what they are and how to use them. In the second chapter, the book goes over the basics of colored pencil art, so depending upon you level and experience, you can skip this section or read it. Chapter 3 goes into Landscapes, Chapter 4 talks animals, Chapter 5 highlights botanical stuff, flowers and foliage, one of the areas I really struggled until I purchased the book. Finally, chapter 6 takes a look at still life, perhaps the bread and butter of all the masters and here in this book you get an excellent insight into this wonderful discipline.

Pastels For Absolute Beginners by Rebecca de Mendonca

Next on the list is probably the most recent book that I have reviewed, “Pastels For Absolute Beginners by Rebecca de Mendonca”. I have long been a huge fan of the pastel medium and in particular the artists who can create some of the most stunning pieces of work with pastels.

Because of my passion for the medium, I wanted to find a book that was really going to help me both understand the medium and learn tips and techniques, Pastels For Absolute Beginners by Rebecca de Mendonca was everything I was hoping it would be a so much more.

The first thing I loved about the book was that everything was laid out chronologically from start to finish, the book explains things to the reader as if they have never so much as picked up a pastel in their life. It goes through the various pastels and papers that are available which is so important with art in general, be I personally feel even more so for pastel art.

Rebecca starts the book of with an introduction, then gets into the materials and setting up your work area. Next up is “Starting To Draw”, followed by “Pastel Techniques” where so much valuable information is discussed to help the artist master the medium much faster. Next Rebecca talks about “Color” where color theory tackled and learning about color is such an important subject but often overlooked. Moving on the book goes over “Landscapes, Life In Your Paintings and finally Composition” another area of art that so many of us get wrong but it can make such a huge difference between a wonderful painting and mediocre painting.

12 Colored Pencil Techniques by Cindy Wider

Cindy Wider is an artist and art teacher from Australia, 12 Colored Pencil Techniques was one of the first books I ever reviewed on The Art Gear Guide and that was the first time I got to know Cindy herself. AS an artist Cindy is phenomenal, as a person she is one of the kindest down to earth people I have met in the community.

Cindy like so many of the artists on this list, is a remarkable lady, always working on projects, passing her own knowledge on to others and with outstanding success. 12 Colored Pencil Techniques is an excellent place for the absolute beginner to the colored pencil medium to start.

12 Colored Pencil Techniques although a book, is laid out like a course and is structured over a Seven week course, of course the beauty of the book means you can do things at your own pace and not worry about feeling pressured. At the beginning of the book, Cindy talks about the actual supplies, After this you start Week One which covers important information such as the color wheel, what is lightfastness, the different effects you get from a sharp point pencil as opposed to a blunt, Hatching, Scumbling, gradation, layering, erasing and much more.

Week Two goes a bit further and obviously the further into the course the more is covered and the more detailed information is taught. At the end of each week there are assignments for you to complete and these help to put into practise what you have just learnt over the previous week. 12 Colored Pencil Techniques really is a fantastic book to get, really pushing your inner artist to jump out and say hello to the world and trust me, when that happens, kiss goodbye to any savings as you will fall head over heals in love with art, your passion will grow as will your need for art supplies.

Draw Portraits in Colored Pencils by Ann Kullberg

Ann Kullberg is a huge huge name in the world of art and in particular the world of Colored Pencils. Ann has published many colored pencil related books and she is also the Editor and Chief of a monthly magazine called Color Magazine.

Portraiture is one area that I always found incredibly difficult and as a result, this area of colored pencil art is the area I have purchased the most books and courses for. “Draw Portraits in Colored Pencil is an amazing place to start if you want to learn more about this area of colored pencil art.

One of the amazing things about this wonderful book is that each area of the subject ie hands, eyes, nose etc is covered by an established colored pencil artist, so essentially you are getting one book, teaching you how to become a more proficient colored pencil portrait artist, but are being taught by many amazing portrait artists.

For example, the talented Kate Clarke covers the eyes, the excellent Noriko DeWitt covers the nose, but the outstanding Lori Garner covers the nose with freckles. The wonderful Cynthia Knox covers Cloths and the amazing Sharon Kow covers hands and there are so much more.

With so many wonderful colored pencil artists collaborating all their phenomenal skills in the one place, this really is a book worth its weight in gold.

Bird Art : Drawing Birds Using Colored Pencils by Alan Woollett

I know you will hear me say all the way throughout this post, just how amazing I personally think the particular artists and author of said book is, I can’t really apologise for this simply due to the fact their work speaks for them and not me. In most of the cases, particularly later on in my review career when I got to know the artists work, I purchased their books because I admired them as professionals and wanted to learn from them. In the beginning I didn’t really know the artists and wanted to learn the medium.

Alan Woollett is another perfect of an artist I admire immensely and after seeing his work, was in so much awe I wanted to learn how to control my pencils as he does and understand color in the way he does. Alan is a Colored Pencil artist of tremendous ability who primarily creates the most breathtaking works of art on birds.

In his wonderful book Bird Art : Drawing Birds Using Graphite and Colored Pencils, Alan starts of this visually stunning and wonderfully insightful book by discussing inspiration, something I think we all lose sight of until it hits us metaphorically in the face in the work of our favourite artist. Next Alan talks about getting started and of all the mediums out there, why Colored Pencils; after this Alan moves onto color and composition.

After Alan has guided you through the steps needed to get started and understand the medium, he talks about five different birds, five different works of his own art. Alan finishes his book of with an afterword section, going over what you have learned etc. An absolutely outstanding book in my opinion.

You Can Draw! Simple Techniquers For Realistic Drawings by Leonardo Pereznieto

I discovered Leonardo Pereznieto about three years ago when I first started out on YouTube with an interest in art. Leonardo is an Italian artist who works in graphite, Charcoal, colored pencil and many other mediums. His YouTube channel however selected simple easy to follow tutorials where he would sketch out an everyday object and refine the sketch to a realistic work of art.

Leonardo makes almost everything and anything seem possible and watching his videos absolutely brightens your day. Not that long ago, Leonardo published his first book were he takes a more detailed look into some of the art work he performed on his channel and showed the reader exactly how to get the same results.

In his aptly titled book “You Can Draw! Simple Techniques For Realistic Drawings” everything and anything seem possible, with Leonardos upbeat can do attitude transcending from his YouTube channel to the pages of this wonderful book

The Realism Challenge By Mark Crilley

I think, when I very first started looking about on YouTube for drawing tutorial videos, Mark Crilley was the first artist I found. I was really into Manga, I loved the art work and with some of them I loved the level of color used as well as the horror. With Mark Crilley, so much of his tutorials at the time comprised of a Dixon Ticondaroga HB pencil, a black Prismacolor Premier pencil and a tube of white gouache. So for someone such as myself back then, just starting out, Mark showed that amazing art could be completed very much on a budget and with the minimum amount of art supplies.

Mark Crilley is a huge name in the world of Manga and eventually created his own manga books which became incredibly popular. After these manga story books, Mark graced his fans with “The Realism Challenge”. It took a while to reach the UK but when it eventually found us, the book was a huge seller.

On top of the Manga tutorials, occasionally Mark would take an every day household object such as a spoon or my favourite was a ripped up play card. He would draw them to the point that it was difficult to tell the difference between the item and drawing.

In Mark Crilley’s book “The Realism Challenge” he goes through all the relevant stages that you should be thinking about before taking on a project such as this. The book looks at lighting, shadow, drawing transparent objects, metallic surfaces, adding color etc. Mark is an amazing artist and someone I draw so much inspiration from.

The Ultimate Guide To Colored Pencils by Gary Greene

When I eventually discovered the wonderful medium of Colored Pencil, “The Ultimate Guide To Colored Pencils by Gary Grene” was the first book I purchased to help me learn and understand more about this medium we all love so much. I actually purchased the book twice, the first time I downloaded, which you either love or loath digital books, for the most part I am fine with novels in digital format, but books like this I think need to be in the format they were intended. Any way I purchased the book in its original format and loved flicking through the pages and learning the bits I needed to refine.

The title of this books really sums everything up to be honest, Gary Grene covers all you need to know from an absolute beginner to a novice colored pencil artist with a thirst for additional knowledge.

In the Ultimate Guide To Colored Pencils, Gary starts of by going through the materials, finding the right reference photos, which is such an important piece of advice, layering, burnishing, colored pencil techniques and so much more. This really is an excellent place to start if you are new to the colored pencil medium, new to art in general or perhaps moving over to colored pencil from oil painting.

Botanical Painting With Colored Pencils by Ann Swan

When I first started my reviews, I wasn’t confident enough to provide art work with the product I was reviewing, however, providing some sort of demonstration for the product I found was helpful for the readers or viewers of my reviews. At the time I was only really drawing fan art or Manga and I knew that was not going to cut it for certain genres of art with particular products.

I really loved some of the botanical work that I see on Instagram and Pinterest and so I knew that this style of art would be incredibly handy to learn for reviews. After looking through an impressive range of books, I really liked the look of “Botanical Painting With Colored Pencils by Ann Swan” and boy was I right. Ann Swan is a phenomenal artist in her own right and this book is a perfect representation of her skills and talent.

“Botanical Painting With Colored Pencils” is incredibly well laid out, I wouldn’t say this is the perfect book for absolute beginners, however, new artists to the medium could get such a lot from this beautiful book.

As with most of the books in this list Ann starts of talking about the materials, leading into understanding the subject you are paining and composition, such vitally important factors when wanting to create a beautiful painting. The book then goes into talking about pencil techniques, colored pencil techniques and color theory. The book finally finishes of discussing the importance of detail and finishing of your work

Colored Pencil Painting Bible by Alyona Nickelsen

Alyona Nickelsen is another true master in the world of colored pencil art, at the time of compiling this list, Alyona has two colored pencil related books published. The other book is all about portraiture with colored pencils which I reviewed a year or so ago, I was really torn as to which one of Alyona’s books to include in this list or include them both, in the end I chose the “Colored Pencil Painting Bible”

Whereas Alyona’s other book is specific to one area of colored pencil painting, “Colored Pencil Painting Bible” really is a bible of sorts for so many colored pencil artists.

Alyona takes the reader through the steps needed to become a confident and efficient colored pencil artist. Discussing the materials, the different type of pencils that can be used and the accessories or tips that will help to create wonderful effects on your work.

Toward the end of the book, Alyona talks about preparing still life objects for painting, lighting and composition, an incredibly interesting chapter and one that will stand any artist in good stead for future paintings.

Conclusion

Ordinarily I would have just kept this list just a post on The Art Gear Guide, however, not long after I posted my Luxury Christmas List and my affordable Christmas List in Ann Kullberg’s Color Magazine, I received a lot of requests to do a YouTube version of the list, which was a really fantastic idea.

To see the written review of my Luxury Christmas List follow the link, to see the YouTube video follow the link. To see my written Affordable Christmas List article follow the link or to see the YouTube Affordable Christmas List follow this link. Finally to see my YouTube video of the Christmas Art Book List follow this link.

The Lists are a bit of fun but if they help you chose a gift that you would really love or you know an artist who just might really love one of the items, then that can only be a good thing.