Book Review: The New Colored Pencil: Create Luminous Works with Innovative Materials and Techniques by Kristy Ann Kutch

Title: The New Colored Pencil: Create Luminous Works with Innovative Materials and Techniques

Author: Kristy Ann Kutch

Publisher: Watson-Guptill

Pub date: 5/20/2014

Source: Blogging for Books

Summary from the back of book:

Master the Latest Breakthroughs in Colored Pencil Art

If you want to create colorful, radiant works of art, colored pencil and related color media (wax pastels, watercolor pencils, and so on) provide you with limitless options for adding vibrancy to your creations. In The New Colored Pencil, artist and instructor Kristy Ann Kutch guides you through the latest developments in color drawing media with examples of and recommendations for the newest pencil brands, drawing surfaces, and groundbreaking techniques (including using the Grid Method, grating pigments, blending with heat, and more). Supported by step-by-step demonstrations and showcasing inspiring art from some of today’s best colored pencil artists, The New Colored Pencil shows you how to use color theory to your advantage, combine color media, create and enhance textures, and experiment with surfaces to create interesting effects. Whether you use traditional wax-based, or watercolor colored pencils, The New Colored Pencil will take your art to the next level.

My Review:

This book is a great guide for those who want to get started in the medium of color pencil or for artists who are already familiar with the medium and want more tips and techniques. This would be a great addition to any artists' art book collection. There are a lot of beautiful color illustrations through out the book. The book is divided into three parts: Wax-Based Traditional Colored Pencil, Water-Soluble Colored Pencils and Wax Pastels and Combining Colored Drawing Media.
      My favorite part of the book besides the paintings is the appendix where the author lists the different brands and types of colored pencils along with their colors. I didn't know that there were so many different brands of colored pencils! I only own three of the brands that are listed. Of what I have learned from this book, I have a good overall range of colored pencils but I think I want more. This book was very informative and I recommend it to any artist who wants to learn more about colored pencil techniques or to anyone that is curious as to how to get started in creating luminous colored pencil paintings.

FTC: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for review.

Feature and Follow Friday

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

 This weeks question:
 What is the biggest city you live near (or interesting landmark)? Show us a postcard picture.

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Its all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

From the library:

Review: All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

Title: All Fall Down

Author: Jennifer Weiner

Publisher: Atria Books

Pub date: 6/17/2014

Source: Library








Summary from Amazon:

Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waiting in the pediatrician’s office, she opens a magazine to a quiz about addiction and starts to wonder…Is a Percocet at the end of the day really different from a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or if your husband ignores you?

The pills help her manage the realities of her good-looking life: that her husband is distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that they let her make it through her days…but what if her increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?

With a sparkling comedic touch and a cast of unforgettable characters, this remarkable story of a woman’s slide into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again is Jennifer Weiner’s most masterful work yet.

My review/thoughts:

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner is different from all of her other books because this one deals with addiction. Allison seems to have it all: the husband, the child and career, but being a wife, mother and daughter gets to be too much for her so she innocently enough starts using her pain pills to get through the day. This story lets you inside the head of a person who is dealing with addiction. You see the struggle Allison has within herself. You also see how she tries to overcome her addiction to come out on the other side. This story is engaging and a page turner.

Teaser Tueday

                      Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! 

• Share the title and author too for other TT participants can add to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

Erased (Altered #2) by Jennifer Rush

My teasers:

"How much?" Sam asked carefully. "A mile? A county? A state?"
 Nick shoved  his hands in his pants pockets. "As much space as I can get."

pg. 31

Showcase Sunday

Showcase Sunday is hosted by Vicky of Books, Biscuits and Tea.



From the library:

Review: Psychos: A White Girl Problems Book by Babe Walker

Title: Psychos: A White Girl Problems Book

Author: Babe Walker

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pub date: 4/29/2014

Source: NetGalley









Summary from Amazon:

If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands who devoured Babe Walker’s New York Times bestselling novel White Girl Problems or one of the million people who read her blog or follow her on Twitter daily, then you’ve obviously been waiting with bated breath for her hilarious follow-up novel, Psychos.
Fresh from a four-month stint in rehab for her “alleged” shopping addiction, Babe Walker returns home to Bel Air ten pounds lighter (thanks to a stomach virus), having made amends (she told a counselor with bad skin she was smart) and confronted her past (after meeting her birth mother for the first time—a fashion model turned farmer lesbian). Although delighted to be home and determined to maintain her hard-won inner peace, Babe now faces a host of outside forces seemingly intent on derailing her path to positive change. Not only is she being trailed by an anonymous stalker, but she’s also reunited with the love of her life, a relationship that she cannot seem to stop self-sabotaging.
Babe’s newfound spirituality, coupled with her faith in the universe and its messages, leads her all over the world: shoulder dancing in Paris, tripping out in Amsterdam, and hooking up in the Mediterranean, only to land her back in New York City, forced to choose between a man who is perfect in every way (except for one small detail) and a man who could be The One if only he didn’t drive Babe to utter insanity.
Unapologetic and uproarious, Psychos is the send-up of the season—already as timeless as vintage Dior.

My thoughts/review: 

Psychos is the sequel to the first White Girl Problems book. Babe Walker returns home from rehab and takes readers on a wild ride with her as she travels from Paris, Amsterdam, Switzerland and New York because she is running from a crazy stalker. This book was over the top, crazy and fabulous because Babe is crazy. Like seriously. For some reason while I was reading it, I pictured Babe as a young Rachael Zoe. I think its because Babe loves fashion and has a California vibe. There was never a dull moment because I didn't know what Babe or Babette would do next. This book is a fast paced hilarious read with some twists and a mystery element to it.