Nickelsen - Colored pencil painting bible: techniques for achieving luminous color and ultrarealistic effects

Copyright 2009 by Alyona Nickelsen
First published in 2009 by
Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nickelsen, Alyona.
Colored pencil painting bible : techniques for achieving luminous color
and ultrarealistic effects / Alyona Nickelsen.
p. cm.
Includes index.
eISBN: 978-0-8230-8557-6
1. Colored pencil drawingTechnique. I. Title.
NC892.N53 2008
741.24dc22

2008031712

Executive Editor: Candace Raney
Editor: Alison Hagge
Designer: Patrice Sheridan
Production Manager: Alyn Evans

All rights reserved.

v3.1

As every child has a mother and father, this book has its parents as well. Although I suffered the labor and gave birth to the long-carried idea (and I have to admit it was one heck of a job), this project never would have been possible without the direct participation and true devotion, advice and support, and care and love of my beloved husband, Tom. His wisdom and experience helped my ideas mature and take the shape of a book. This work, as well as my art, is dedicated to my better half.

Any dream on its journey to reality needs its first believers. I was lucky enough to meet some wonderful people who believed in my dream and helped it come true: I want to thank Steve Doherty, the editor in chief of American Artist magazine, for pointing me in the right direction when I shared with him my book-writing obsession. I also owe sincere thanks to Candace Raney, for seeing the idea behind my scattered and enthusiastic words and my crazy Russian accent. I am also eternally grateful to Alison Hagge, for her amazing talent, the bottomless depth of her knowledge, her vision and intuition, her patience, and her passion during our long journey to shape my thoughts into the polished gem that this book has become.

Thanks also to my son, Roman, for understanding the scope of my task through his unique teenage perspective. Thanks to my mom for her stoic grandeur during her chemotherapy while I sat next to her, typing away on my laptop. Thanks to my dad for his supportive efforts during what has become the most difficult time of our lives. Last but certainly not least, thanks to my dear friend Ester Roi for helping me to believe in my own strengths.

I consider this book to be a miracle that could only have happened in this great country and with Gods blessing. His grace has helped me to overcome enormous pressure, bizarre circumstances, and numerous challenges and allowed me to still accomplish this task.

Alyona Nickelsen, Sincerely Yours , 2006, Prismacolor Premier colored pencils on 250 gsm white Stonehenge paper, 9 11 inches (22.9 27.9 cm)

Alyona Nickelsen, Breaking Away (detail), 2005, Prismacolor Premier colored pencils on 250 gsm white Stonehenge paper, 11 8 inches (27.9 20.3 cm)

The Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA) was born in 1989 out of a self-serving necessity. My need to network with others and establish a reputable image and acceptance for the media was the catalyst for the formation of this organization. However, this once-fledging group has quickly learned how to fly. As of 2008, CPSA boasts a worldwide membership of more than 2,000 artists and has twenty-three district chapters across the country.

In the beginning, we were all self-taught, experimenting as we went along. Each of us was a pioneer in creating colored pencil art. During that time, there were no classes, books, articles, or networks from which to glean information. Once we found each other, however, we learned a universal language, common applications, and standard techniques. We discovered that we had a shared enthusiasm and we learned to push the medium to unlimited heights.

How fortunate, Dear Readers, that you are in an era when accomplished and talented artists such as Alyona Nickelsen make your artistic development easier. Regardless of your experience, whether youre a novice or a professional, Colored Pencil Painting Bible will bring you to a new level of understanding of the medium. From the first page to the last, youll recognize Alyonas passion for working with colored pencil. She articulates her motives and practices, taking you step by step through the process and generously sharing her trade secrets. To her credit, her innovative color choices, unpredictable yet balanced compositions, and personalized vision can elevate an ordinary orange into a work of art and engage you in the mystery of its creation. With Alyona as your guide, you are sure to enjoy the artistic journey that follows.

VERA CURNOW

Founder, Colored Pencil Society of America

cpsa.org

Alyona Nickelsen, Ripe Point of View (detail), 2004, Prismacolor colored pencils on 250 gsm white Stonehenge paper, 11 8 inches (27.9 20.3 cm)

Id like to begin with a real-life excerpt from a dialogue I had recently with a viewer of my work:

What do you call your artwork style?
Colored pencil painting.

Is it a painting?
Does it look like a drawing?

But how do you paint with pencil?
Very patiently.

Colored pencils have been around since long before I was. Traditionally used for trivial tasks, colored pencils have garnered little respect through the years. Recently, however, new methods and techniques have been invented. Increasingly, colored pencil artists are participating in authoritative organizations such as the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA), the United Kingdom Colored Pencil Society (UKCPS), and the Japan Colored Pencil Society (JCPS). Colored pencil art now competes handily with fine art mediums traditionally employed by the masters and can be found in some of the finest galleries of the world.

My own finished artworks do remind judges and art lovers of oil paintings, but they are fashioned in pure colored pencil. On these pages I will share with you the exclusive methods I use to create my own colored pencil paintings. I call them paintings not only to differentiate them from the much-maligned word drawing but also to bestow on them their own hard-won right to be likened to oil-based works, as each of these images has been rendered with the same care and attention as works done in that medium.

No book can cover all subjects and issues, so I will narrow my discussion to a description of the main topics that distinguish colored pencil painting as a technique. I would advise beginning artists to refer to books that cover in great detail subjects such as composition, color theory, basic drawing, perspective, and anatomy. These subjects are relevant to all artists, regardless of the medium in which they work. And, of course, you cannot master your skills without great and patient practice. Theory is only a door that opens the many possibilities of colored pencil artwork; as with life, you must walk through the door yourself.