I was invited once again to create a coloured pencil tutorial for the American Colored pencil magazine workshop series. Past tutorials contributed to this series are the Blueberries (2018) and the Peacock Feather (2019). This year I chose the Hare, a very popular subject among artists. Click the image below, which links to the page where you can purchase a digital (or print) copy of the magazine. If you are in the UK, the digital copy costs less than £2.50 and you can download it in seconds. A great read at a cheap price.

What is included in this issue?

Spotlighting Art-n-Fly - Art-n-fly is an affordable oil-based coloured pencil which is covered in this edition. There is a link to a You Tube video demonstrating these pencils used with Art-n-fly alcohol markers.
Finding the Unique You - Alexandra Zeres showing her artwork framed in flowers, birds and butterflies
Creating Prints of Your Art - Learn how to navigate the options in order to get started printing and providing your followers and fans with gorgeous prints of your artwork.
Hare Tutorial - Workshop series by Karen M Berisford
Pairing with Pitt Pens - Sara Ostlund compares the pros and cons of using the Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens with your coloured pencils. Follow her demo to try it for yourself.
Creating a Beautiful Layout - Learn how to create beautiful layouts by Erin McManness in an excerpt from the book of the month.
Sketchbook - See what's new and in the news
Challenge Met Gallery - Artwork of 18 artists who undertook every monthly art challenge in 2020 and won themselves a free digital subscription.
plus Selfie challenge and December art challenge winners.
Featuring: Ambro Jordi
Ambro brings animals to life when he puts pencil to paper. Learn how he went from pursuing a career in animation to one in fine art. Read how he enjoys sharing his knowledge with others and offering words of encouragement.

FREE Art-n-Fly Oil-Based Colored Pencil inside the USA Print Issues only - While Supplies Last

Price: USA $3.99    UK £2.87*      Euro €3.31*
*Price may vary due to exchange rate when you purchase.

You can also download the Colored pencil magazine app on your Android or Apple device and purchase this edition, although there are no discounts available. The price is $2.99 and £2.99

If you haven't read this magazine before, you may find it a valuable resource as not only does it provide plenty of data on coloured pencils, it occasionally covers other mediums like pastel pencils and marker pens. There is an abundance of articles offering hints and tips, tutorials like this Hare above, regular competitions, a peek into the lives and studios of other artists and even guidance on the art business. They also have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages too so you can get involved in those competitions wherever you are in the world - I even had a go myself a few years ago!

Unfortunately, I have had to cancel my final art workshop of the year.
The two day, coloured pencil workshop that was booked to run over the weekend of 15th and the 16th of August has now been rolled over to next year.
The Coronavirus has turned many lives and businesses upside down this year, and although we are all trying to get back to normal, it's going to take some time adapting to the new normal. Government regulations offer advice for all businesses and event planners to follow so they can provide a service as safely as possible. For many, this is possible, for others, it isn't. This workshop comes under the latter, and unfortunately there are too many hurdles that I, as the art tutor, am unable to fulfil.

The room where the workshop is held, is simply too small for social distancing. The raison d'etre of my workshops is providing demonstrations and one to one help, any social distancing means the whole point of the workshop is lost. Other guidelines, understandably, cover strict sanitation and it would be almost impossible to follow all the requirements.

As many are still concerned about gathering in groups, the interest in this workshop has been low, meaning people are simply not booking and the workshop is not viable.

I have decided to roll all my 2020 art workshops over to 2021 whilst adding in a Coronavirus caveat which may affect a workshop depending on the situation at that time. Anyone who wanted to attend the workshops this year, can still attend next year if they are able. You can click on any of the images below to find out more information on each workshop. I will open up bookings in the new year.

I want to send out a big thank you to everyone who booked one of my art workshops this year. For those who have attended previous events, I have missed seeing you again and for those who booked for the first time, I will look forward to meeting you in the future.

Stay safe everyone,

Karen Berisford,
Artist & art tutor of Step by Step Art

I am currently in the process of organising this years art workshops and will be included in the winter newsletter which will be Emailed out to subscribers hopefully by the end of this month. All details will be posted on the step by step art CHESTERFIELD WORKSHOP page once available and added to social media pages for this site & my KMB social media pages too,  ensuring a larger audience reach.

Every year I choose 3 or 4 subjects for the Coloured pencil & Graphite pencil workshops which include varying techniques and surfaces to previous years, ensuring each workshop is different to another. Coloured pencil workshops using textured paper are somewhat easier for a complete beginner than the workshops working on smooth paper, however every workshop available  can be attended by any artist regardless of their calibre, even if they have NEVER drawn anything since their time at school!

​To find out more about our workshops, click any one of the following links to visit the page of interest: