I have been using Prismacolor pencils for many years and over that time, developed my own techniques, but I found the ideas and examples in this book to be great. I have been dabbling in the techniques I learned in this book and combined some of them with my own. Drawing some things had always been a struggle for me to get "just right," but after seeing some of the detailed examples, I now do them without thought. My favorite discovery in this book was learning to get rid of or hide my mistakes instead of my previous method of just scraping the entire project and starting over.
As for the reviews about the art work, well, they didn't bother me. I wasn't buying a book of art, I was buying a technique book and I found the drawings inside to do a good job of showing off each technique. I also enjoyed that the artwork was taken from various artists because it gave a better sampling of what is possible.
As a recreational sketcher, my husband also enjoyed browsing this book and playing with some of the ideas. Even his notepad doodles now show some signs of the shading and erasing effects that he picked up in this book. So, you don't have to be a serious artist to get something out of this book.
I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get the most out of their pencils or explore new coloring techniques.