Pastels Unleashed

I want to improve my pastel. This book is very inspiring. I do acrylic and watercolor so the colors in this book I pire me.

Very informative perspective for a beginner. Easy to follow, doable exercises rendering results that make you feel like you accomplished something

This is the first time that I have posted a review of a book, and I am motivated to do this because in my opinion there is very little substance to this book. The title suggests that it provides something new, yet the information about the use of pastels and associated materials that it includes is very generalized and common information. In addition, the reader is subjected to rudimentary art instruction that is not specific to the use of pastels. For example, providing elementary steps about how to set up a composition does not seem to me to be appropriate when the book is supposed to be about new or out of the ordinary techniques regarding the use of pastels. If you have no training or education as an artist and know nothing about the use of pastels, this book will help you. If you like to follow cookie-cutter art demos, there are sections you will like. Otherwise, my opinion is that the book's title and descriptions are misleading. It has plenty of good full-color photographs throughout, but I personally found the lack of definitive information to be irritating and the middle-school art primer lessons to be insulting. My viewpoint is that this is simply a beginning artist's how-to book that utilizes pastels as the medium.

I bought this book on Amazon having seen it advertised elsewhere for more. It is a beautiful, inspiring book with lovely illustrations of pastel painting, materials and techniques. The book arrived in a timely manner but I was disappointed that the top, right corner was damaged through all the pages, it looks like it had been dropped on its corner, hence 4 instead of 5 stars.

Beautiful book, some really wonderful paintings that are very inspiring.Artists in other countries approach art making differently than we do in the USA and so her explanations visually as well as verbally (written) were refreshing and different. I enjoy the book and have recommended it to many.

I loved this book. It gives a good introduction to pastels, but then moves on to more advanced techniques. The in depth demonstrations then allow you to work through the techniques, and see how they apply to different circumstances.This book will not get outdated, as Margaret avoids using brand names, instead she is descriptive, of the colours used and paper types.

Pastels Unleased is full of useful information for the beginner and intermediate person interested in pastels. I especially liked the landscape material and step by step demonstrations.

Great book! Very informative and excellent pix.

I already own far too many pastel books and wasn't sure there would be anything new but there are several techniques I will try as a result of this book.Nice big clear pictures and demos and lots of practical tips for budding landscape pastellists. If you are lucky enough to be good at watercolour (sadly not me) this is worth getting if you are interested in adding pastel to your repertoire. Useful introduction to the use of wet underpaintings.This covers colour and composition in a general way but still helpful without getting bogged down in theory and doesn't waste pages and pages on types of pastel and paper.I also liked the images of her sketchbooks and how she uses them to plan paintings and keep a record of travels.

The back cover claims this book reveals ‘fantastic innovative techniques’. I’m only a beginner with pastels, but I found nothing in this book that isn’t in every other book on pastels I’ve seen and many techniques that can be found in other books receive no attention in this one. All the illustrations are of the author’s own paintings, which means one doesn't get any insight into a variety of styles, and this painter focuses overwhelmingly on landscapes. If you want to see lots of pictures of landscapes in the same, rather conventional. style, this is the book for you. I found it more tame than ‘unleashed’.

Fabulous book - bought for a birthday present. It is the first book I have come across for more experienced artists that meets expectations

A refreshing book about pastels. Different from the usual ones and I like the step by step guides as to how Margaret Evans builds up her beautiful paintings.

Full of really useful information Lovely illustration s and superb projects Pastels are a great medium and this book proves it