I have just posted a new demo showing how I draw fruit. It was published by Leisure Painter UK's art magazine. You can find it here: http://www.veronicawintersart.blogspot.com/

I know that this is not quite a tip in exercising your skills in colored pencil drawing BUT this is really important. It's vital to be positive creating and working on your art. Don't pay attention to obnoxious comments, keep working at it and it will come out. Learn from others, analyse beautiful art in terms of color, edges, light and contrast and understand what you like it about it to bring it into your art. I'm still learning myself and sometimes feel like I'm a beginner.http://www.veronicasart.com/Tutorials.shtml; http://www.youtube.com/veronicasart

I use a solvent like the mineral spirits, turpantine or better turpanoid to blend dark and mid-range colors. I dip my small brush into turpanoid and brush over the drawing carefuly. The surface becomes smooth,dark and even. I often draw on top of that after it's dry. I use the colorless blender pencil to smooth surface in the lights and around the highlights. Buy "master realist techniques in colored pencil painting in 4 weeks:projects for beginners."