Capturing Soft Realism in Colored Pencil

by Ann Kullberg

There's a trick to painting realistic subject matter without including every last little detail. It's this "soft realism" approach to colored pencil that Ann Kullburg shares in her insightful new technique book. Kullberg teaches artists how to faithfully capture the essence of any subject without wasting time on excessive detail work. Step by step she presents 35 popular subjects and describes techniques for adding rich texture, depth and form in the most simple and straightforward way possible. Insights on getting a realistic effect • Mapping out a complex subject to make it easier to paint • Changing pencil strokes to create different textures • Mixing hues for greater visual interest • Creating softer, more natural edges by varying the pressure of the pencil It's all the instruction a colored pencil artist needs to effortlessly add gorgeous details to every piece they create.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Drawing

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Alyssa Greatbanks · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cover made it look like it would be a good book, but I really didn't find any information in it that I would use.

[R.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a slow and reasonable way of teaching that I took comfort in. Gorgeous paintings using colored pencil.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent colored pencil resource, and unlike some other books on this subject, Capturing Soft Realism in Colored Pencil is clear enough that it is useful for a beginner, as well as containing techniques that will also be of interest to more experienced artists.
The book is divided into three sections:
"Getting Started" contains information on materials, as well as on some of the basics of colored pencil technique. It's worth noting that author and artist Ann Kullberg is, as the book's title implies, going for a "soft realism" effect in the art techniques she shares. She is not trying to achieve photorealism (which is the aim of several other popular colored pencil books).
"Interiors" includes 12 demonstrations on various techniques such as wood grain floor, walls, and metal fixtures.
"Exteriors" includes 18 more demonstrations on topics including a variety of flowers, landscapes, and exterior surfaces like stones and bricks.
I have tried three of the "exterior" demonstrations so far, and found the instructions clear and concise. I've been reading and working from a LOT of different colored pencil guides lately, and I feel like Ann Kullberg's Capturing Soft Realism in Colored Pencil is one of the best, and an integral addition to a new CP artist's library. In comparing it to other similar resources, I particulary like several things about it. One, as mentioned above, it offers a slightly different take on colored pencil art (as opposed to the currently extremely popular photorealism). Kullberg's art is certainly very realistic, but it doesn't attempt to achieve an exact rendering as its ultimate goal. Two, I have found the demonstrations in this book to be more accessible to a beginner than the demonstrations in some of the other CP books out there. Three, Kullberg's demonstrations really do take you step by step, as opposed to demonstrations in some books which simply tell you a list of colors used (not super helpful to a novice).
One thing to note, which may seem blatantly obvious, is that if you use a brand of colored pencils other than Prismacolor Premier (the brand Kullberg uses) your artwork will not look quite like the demonstrations. I substituted some Faber-Castell Polychromos in what I thought were analogous colors, but found that the color I achieved was quite different from that in the book.
And finally, this book doesn't have much color theory. If you are looking for that, many of the other colored pencil books out there have basic color theory information.
All in all, Ann Kullberg's Capturing Soft Realism in Colored Pencil is a stellar resource.