Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1965, Karen Hull showed an avid love for drawing and particularly using coloured pencils from a very young age. She spent every spare moment drawing as a child but, as is often the case, put her art aside in her early adult years to pursue a career in nursing and to raise her family of four sons with husband Stephen. It was during a family holiday in Tasmania in 2006 that Karen rediscovered her passion for art and drawing, eventually leaving nursing to take up a full time career in art. Her style is a combination of photo-realism with whimsy and dynamic colours. She has won numerous awards, illustrated two children's books, designed coins for the Coin Club of Australia and her artworks can be found in private and public collections around the world. Over the years she has created a comprehensive range of tutorials on working with coloured pencils, contributed articles and step by step tutorials to numerous publications including both magazines and books and has also written a book on creating Realistic Portraits in Colored Pencil with Walter Foster books. Karen is a founding member and President of the Coloured Pencil Community of Australasia.