My name is Melanie Phillips and I am a professional artist, click above image to enter my website.

I have been using coloured pencils for many years now, I began by using pastel pencils and found I could not get enough fine detail so, by adding coloured pencil into the mix, I was able to create superb fine detail and eventually pastels went out the window!  Why not visit my coloured pencil animal portraits page view detailed examples of my coloured pencil artwork. Once there, by clicking on the thumbnails, you are able to see step by steps of the process I took while completing the portrait, including the original photo I used for reference.

My first set was Derwent Artists coloured pencils, and from there I experimented with many brands over the years. My favourites however are Prismacolour and I can’t recommend them enough! I first tested them on my trip to the United States. I found that the blacks of many brands weren’t dark or soft enough to really capture the dark areas that I needed, so bought a single black to test. I loved it so much I went straight back and bought a variety of colours. Unfortunately for me, when I returned to the UK I could not find Prismacolour pencils available here so I am planning my next trip to America when I run out of coloured pencils….! They are available online via mail order however.

My coloured pencil portraits began to be in high demand, and the London Art College approached me to write and illustrate a distance learning correspondence course for them. The course is available to join up at any time of the year to anyone worldwide and it has become a great success. I have many talented students enrol of all abilities from beginners, to the more experienced, and they have come up with some fantastic and beautiful pieces of artwork. Click for more info about the Coloured Pencil Course.

I then wrote an illustrated a Pet Portrait course, which is a diploma course, and this covers a variety of mediums, not just coloured pencil but pastels, graphite pencil, acrylic and oils. This course too has rocketed in sales, as I don’t think there is another course like it in existence. There are so many budding artists out there who would like to create themselves a career in pet portraits, but need that extra guidance and the confidence to start out. My course provides this and my students have produced some exquisite pieces of artwork. Click for more info about the Pet Portrait Diploma Course.

I built my website about 5 years ago and I have about 400 unique visitors per day dropping by. I update it nearly every day, once particular section that is very popular with budding artist and clients is my Work in Progress Pages. I take photos at each stage of the process and clients can watch their portrait develop stage by stage and can comment on it at any time. My students and artists passing through have found this very useful as they are actually able to see my process of how I work and lay down colour, the stages I take and what colours I use. The final piece of artwork is then scanned into the pc and uploaded for all to see. It’s then moved into my galleries – Oil Gallery, Pencil Gallery and Coloured Pencil Gallery. I have about 300 pieces of artwork on my website and as newer pieces have a turn in my main galleries I move the older ones to my ever growing Archived Gallery.

Another popular section of my site is dedicated to artists who are just starting out who perhaps need that little bit of extra help and encouragement to start up. I have an interview of my experiences of how I started up my own business and a questions and answers page, which has proved to be very successful.

Finally if you want a bit of fun and relaxation time on my website you can visit my downloads section which is packed with jigsaws, wallpapers, stickers, bookmarks, pictures to colour and much more!

I always enjoy hearing from other artists and I wish every one success in their artwork - happy drawing!

I like to thank my artist friend, Melanie Phillips,
for this Article that she explicitely wrote for my website! I really hope you enjoy it! 

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/pet-portraits-in-colored-pencil1.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/learning-to-paint-and-draw/coloured-pencil-course.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/learning-to-paint-and-draw/pet-portrait-diploma.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/work-in-progress.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/oil-paintings1.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/pet-portraits-in-colored-pencil1.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/pencil-pet-portraits1.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/Archived/Archived1.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/melanie/interview.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/learning-to-paint-and-draw/artists/questions.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/downloads/downloads.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/downloads/jigsaws.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/downloads/wallpaper.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/downloads/stickers.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/downloads/bookmarks.htm

http://www.pet-portraitartist.com/downloads/colouring.htm