I made the front cover of FMP!

I had a big surprise this morning - but I think this is due to the little grey cells being in hibernation due to the weather! I opened up my April copy of Ann Kullberg's on-line magazine for coloured pencil artists "From My Perspective" - to find my Mixed Parrot Tulips piece on the front cover! Ann had asked me a little while ago whether she could use it but I'd totally forgotten! Nice to see it there though!

Ann's magazine is an absolute gold mine of information about all things relevant to coloured pencil artists. It's a subscription only arrangement - hence why I can't show you the cover - but in my opinion it's $25 p.a. well spent. Each magazine covers:

• Step by Step Lessons - covering a wide variety of topics - this month it's about the sorts of decisions which need to be made before starting a portrait
• Critiques: Ann provides a free critique to all subscribers to FMP, and features one in the online magazine each month. Her critiques relating to portraiture - which is her particular area of expertise are especially valuable
• Q and A: questions posed by members get answered by Ann each month. This is particularly useful when you've got a question and none of the reference books seem to provide the answer
• Tips of every description (this month's examples are in brackets) - from saving time to supplies to art techniques (e.g. analysing colour) to technology tips including working with Photoshop (e.g. use of the lasso tool) to business issues (e.g. the production and marketing of giclee prints of CP artwork)
• Profiles of individual subscribers - it's always interesting to see how other people started out and what they did to achieve where they are today - and particularly interesting if the individual concerned is now a professional success! It's also nice to be able to peek at piccies of people's studios - I just love looking at other people's studios!

In addition there are a couple of on-line exhibitions each year for members and member discounts on tools purchased from Ann. I know an awful lot of people think her portrait skin tones kit is "the business".

For anybody interested in finding out more about the magazine, these are the links to:

• Ann's website - "Ann Kullberg- For All things Coloured Pencil"
• the FMP magazine page
• the free sample issue

[Updated 4.4.06 to include a small image of 'Mixed Parrot Tulips' as requested]

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