Category Archives: Adult Color Books

45 Beautiful and Uplifting Designs printed on one side of heavyweight paper

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Iiiireader

Whatever Is Lovely: A Coloring Book for Reflection and Worship

By: WaterBrook Press

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a really wonderful coloring book filled with hand-drawn designs. I find that the when I start to color, I stop and reflect on either the excerpt Bible verse or the quote. I then keep that in mind throughout my coloring session. The designs in the book are quite lovely. They are open and flowing and while a few of them contain intricate details, for the most part, I find them easy to color. I had not thought of coloring as a form of worship before, but I now see that it absolutely is my inner self expresses the feelings and emotions through this medium as well as through song and other artistic endeavors.

I love that so many Christian coloring books are now becoming available for the adult colorist. This book is different from the other few that I have in that it includes not only specific verses from the Bible but also words of encouragement from hymns, preachers, teachers, and writers. The design is matched to the words and on the backside of each design, the full Bible verse, quote, hymn, and/or publishing cite is listed so you can look up the information for yourself. I also like that the artist attribution(s) are listed on the back, too.

The Bible verses are from both the Old and New Testament and are from a variety of translations, including: Holy Bible NIV, King James Version, The Message, and the New Living Translation.

The designs in this book are printed on one side of the paper (with full cite and quote information as mentioned above printed on the backside of each page.) The paper used is fairly heavyweight and is non-perforated. The binding is glued rather than sewn, so you will have to cut pages out of the book if you wish to remove them. A number of the design merge into the binding, so you will lose some parts of the design if you cut the page out. By breaking the spine a bit, I was able to get the book to lay fairly flat.

My water-based markers (Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, Tombows dual end both brush and marker points, and Pentel) do not leak through this paper at all. My Sharpies, Copic, and other alcohol-based markers do bleed through easily. My gel pens do not bleed through or leave a shadow but do require a little more drying time than with lesser paper quality. My coloring pencils work very well with this paper according to the type of lead (hard/soft) that I am using. I won’t worry about which medium I use with the book but I will cut down and carry a piece of chipboard with the book in case I decide to use my alcohol-based markers.

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25 Lovely Flower Postcards Coloring Designs printed on one side of heavyweight card stock

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Iiiireader

Pretty Flower Postcards

By: Beth Gunnell

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second set of coloring book postcards by this artist. The first one is Pretty Pattern Postcards and I was so impressed by that book, I had to buy this one as soon as I saw it was available. I am a gardener and I love to color flowers, especially during the more barren months of the year. I get to color the flowers that I imagine I will have in my garden later in the year or make up colors of flowers that simply don’t exist I nature.

I am very impressed with this artist’s style and with the publishing quality of these books. I really hope she continues with this style of book and maybe some larger format ones, too, that are for adults versus what seems to be her coloring books for young girls.

The designs are, in fact, pre-set up for use as postcards with areas for shipping address, writing area, and stamp on the reverse side of each card. There are even cute little designs on that side as well which you can color with a lick of ink/pencil. The size of the book (and pages) is 7.75 x 4.75 inches. The size makes it perfect to carry in a purse or satchel.

The designs are printed on one side of heavyweight, frame-able card stock that has a glued edge that makes removal from the book as simple as can be. All you have to do is carefully pull the design away from the edge and it is ready for mailing or framing as you choose. I could easily get this book to lay fairly flat but you can always remove pages for coloring if you wish to do so, too.

The paper used in these postcard books is probably the best paper I have in any of my coloring books, etc. The only thing that bled through these pages were my Copic and Prismacolor alcohol-based markers and those bleed through everything. My Sharpies, both fine and ultra-fine did NOT bleed through and I checked neon, dark, and bright colors as well. None of my water-based marker did either. My gel pens worked great but needed a little more drying time as the ink apparently sat on the surface of this great paper and did not sink into it. My coloring pencils worked fantastic.

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Variety of Cute and Fun Dog Designs printed on one side of non-perforated paper

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Iiiireader

Dogs Wanna Have Fun: Art pages to color and enjoy (The Magic of Coloring) (Volume 1)

By: Emilie Bilokur

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book with a variety of fun dog designs. The dogs are in cute poses and in fun situations (I especially like the super dog!) The style of the drawings vary from realistic to wildly imaginative. The lines in some are bold and thick, while in others, the lines are thin and lightly drawn. It is a wonderful book for a dog lover who wants to have fun with coloring and with colors. Quite a few of the designs invite the colorist to use colors with wild abandon similar to the artwork on the cover. Some of the designs have intricate and small elements but for the most part, they should be fairly easy and fun to color.

The designs are printed on one side of white non-perforated paper. All of the designs stop before the binding. The binding is glued but there is plenty of room for you to cut a page out if you choose to do so.

All of my markers (water and alcohol based) bleed through the paper and my gel pens leave a distinct shadow on the back of the page but do not bleed through. My coloring pencils work well with the paper and perform true to type according to their lead. As I will be using markers and gel pens along with pencils when coloring in this book, I will use a piece of chipboard or heavy paper behind the page I am working on so I don’t ruin the following page with leaking ink.

I received a sample copy of this coloring book for test and review purposes.

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24 Great Doodle Animal designs printed on one side of non-perforated paper

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Iiiireader

Animals Coloring Book for Adults

By: Happy Coloring

Rating: 5 of 5

There are 25 various animal designs in this great coloring book. They are of the outline of an animal with doodles added to making coloring them a fun experiment in colors. The designs include at least one: wolf, dog, cat, tiger, lion, bear, owl, elephant and more. Some of the designs are head shots while others are full body images. I like that there is a variety in poses as well as animals as it gives me more to choose from when I pick up the book to color. Doodle animals are a favorite of mine because I get to imagine animals in wild and fun colors.

Coloring pencils work well on this paper but all markers and gel pens bleed through. Not a problem I am now using a piece of chipboard under my work to keep ink from leaking through to ruin the design below. You can use heavyweight paper or card stock but be sure to check to see how many layers you need to keep it from leaking through. The reason I like chipboard is it can be reused over and over again and is available at office supply stores or on-line.

These are the coloring medium that I use for testing. If there is something else you feel I should be testing, please let me know and I will see if I can add it to my growing pile:

Markers: 1) alcohol-based Copic Sketch, Prismacolor double ended markers (brush and fine point), Sharpies (fine and ultra-fine) and 2) water-based Tombows dual end markers (brush and fine point), Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, and Pentel markers

Gel Pens: Sakura, Fiskars, Uni-ball Signo 0.38/0.28 and Tekwriter

Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core, Derwent Colorsoft, Prismacolor Verithins, and Faber-Castel Polychromos

I received a free sample of this coloring book for test and review purposes.

45 Imaginative and Well Done Dr. Who Designs – printed on one side of non-perforated page

Dr. Who: The Colouring Book (Doctor Who)

By: BBC

Rating: 5 of 5

Attached to this review will be a silent flip-through of the entire coloring book so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not it will work for you.

Rather than discuss how this coloring book is like or different from TV series or to compare any of the Dr. Who actors and casts, I will discuss only how I feel about it as an adult coloring book.

I really like the designs in this book. While the publisher of the UK book mentions 45 designs, if you include the three title pages, you get three more. Each of the Dr. Who’s are represented in the book and are shown in an interesting silhouette style design with their heads literally filled with pertinent elements from their time as Dr. Who. The designs are well drawn with clean black lines. Some designs are fairly open and easy to color while others are more intricate and will be a little more challenging but still a lot of fun.

The book is well made. The designs are printed on one side of cream colored non-perforated paper. On the back of each page is a thumbnail version of the design along with a quote that is applicable to the design and which Dr. Who it pertains to as well as the name of the episode and the year it was filmed. The cover can be colored as well and has lovely blue foil touches to make it look extra special. The publisher missed an opportunity by not providing designs on the inside of the fold-out, attached cover; however, there are two flaps you can color if you wish where the printing is white on blue background. The binding is sewn rather than glued, so removing pages is a matter of snipping threads. While a good number of designs merge into the binding, it will not matter if you remove the page by cutting the threads as you will retain the entire page. If you decide to cut the page out instead, you may lose portions of those designs.

None of my gel pens bled through to the back of the page. My colored pencils all worked well on the surface of the paper and behaved as expected for the type of lead. All of my markers bled through the page to some degree: water and alcohol based, ultra-fine, fine, and even brush tips. I would recommend putting a waste sheet of some sort (chipboard, freezer paper (aka butcher paper), card stock, etc.) under the page you are working on to keep ink from possibly getting on the following pages. I am personally using chipboard as I can use it over and over again and I can easily buy it at an office supply store.

My review is of the British release of the coloring book and the book is published by Puffin which is a branch of Penguin Random House UK. I am also ordering the US version which is being published by Price Stern Sloan and whose release is currently scheduled for February 2016. I will be doing a comparison of the two books but the comparison will be in the first comment area below rather than in the text of this review. A glitch in the Amazon system is not allowing me to edit my reviews once a video or photo is attached. It is also possible that the reviews for both books will be merged into one listing after both are published. This happened with the recently published Animorphia and Lost Ocean coloring books. In that case, my comparison will be more lengthy.

In summary, I really like this book as a colorist. It is a subject matter that I enjoy and I will be having a lot of fun with it. While the paper could have been improved and perforated pages would be appreciated, I didn’t detract for those because the way the book was published made it less essential and more of a preference for my use of the book.

Fantastic Selection of coloring fun variety of artists and styles printed on both sides of heavyweight spiral bound paper

Color with Me

By: Cindy Wilde

Rating: 5 of 5

I found this coloring book listed in the Children Section of Amazon. While I think an older child would enjoy the book, I also think it is a book that is perfect for the adult coloring audience. The artists involved with this project, Cindy Wilde, Felicity French, and Hannah Davies, are all individuals whose work graces some of my favorite adult books. I suggest highly that the publisher/artists get this listed in the adult section as well. There is a wonderful variety of design style and subject, including sea creatures, masks, birds, bicycles, reptiles, architecture and much, much more.

The concept behind the book is that it is one that you can use to color with a friend. The pages alternate between two vertical and then two horizontal designs. That way, you can sit beside or across from your friend while coloring. Each page has an insert title with a line to put the name of the individual who colored the page. I guess you can be nice and share your book but if you are like me, you probably won’t. I will probably buy a second copy that family and friends and share between them but as these are some of my favorite designs this one is mine.

The larger format book (approximately 12 x 10 inches) designs are printed on both sides of the page. The pages are perforated. While most of the designs are printed on white, there are a number that are printed on black background. I like the occasional black as it is a good time to use my pastels and neon tones to get a huge pop of color. The book is spiral bound and all designs stop well before so you can remove pages by cutting them out if you wish. The book lays fairly flat because of the type of binding used.

The paper is really well done. Only my Sharpies, Copic, and Prismacolor (alcohol-based) markers bled through. I would not suggest these for this book as the designs are on both sides. None of my water-based markers had any ink seep through (Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners, Tombows dual end (both brush and marker points), and Pentel.) My gel pens did not leak and my coloring pencils laid down really well on the paper. I plan to use all three types that did not leak with this book.

There are just so many fun pages to color the only hard part will be deciding which is first. I may just have to start at the beginning title page (robots which I used as my test page) and go straight through. This would be a perfect coloring book for the appropriate age Mommy and Me style coloring but for me, it is a Me and Me book.

24 Lovely Horse Designs in two sizes – printed on one side only

Beautiful Horses – Coloring Book for Adults

By: Happy Coloring

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a fantastic set of horse designs by Amanda Neel. I have previously purchased her Lovely Cats coloring book and have been enjoying coloring in that book. This book is just as lovely and has an added advantage of having the designs in the standard size as well as a smaller 5 x 7 inches as well. That way, you can use the smaller design to test colors or simply to have another copy of the design in a smaller format to color or to share.

The horses in the book are set in a variety of settings from barn and ranch scenes to wilderness ones as well. The artist has included a nice level of detail without over-drawing the design and taking away coloring choices from the colorist.

The designs are printed on thin white non-perforated paper which is typical of CreateSpace publications. The paper is medium weight and the binding of this book is glued rather than sewn or stapled. There is plenty of room to cut the page out if you wish though you will need to be a little careful in cutting out the 5 x 7 designs. All designs stop well before the margin. The artist has placed a framing line around each design which helps me tremendously as a colorist. It gives me a natural stopping point which saves me time and ink. It also gives my finished page a much more polished look.

I received a free sample of this coloring book for test and review purposes.

25 Pretty and Delightful Postcards Coloring Designs printed on one side of heavyweight card stock

Pretty Pattern Postcards

By: Beth Gunnell

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a beautiful set of postcard size designs. Each design is simply more delightful than the last one. I want to carry this book around with me constantly and color in it. It has birds, geometric patterns, sewing, fruit, flowers, and all sorts of other pretty and fun subjects.

I had never seen any of Beth Gunnell’s designs before, so I was taking a chance with this book and I am glad that I did. After testing this one, I immediately ordered her second book of floral postcards so that I can have one book in my purse and one at home. I really hope she continues with this style of book and maybe some larger format ones, too, that are for adults versus what seems to be her coloring books for young girls.

This is probably the best paper I have in any of my coloring books, etc. The only thing that bled through these pages were my Copic and Prismacolor alcohol-based markers and those bleed through everything. My Sharpies, both fine and ultra-fine did NOT bleed through and I checked neon, dark, and bright colors as well. None of my water-based marker did either. My gel pens worked great but needed a little more drying time as the ink apparently sat on the surface of this great paper and did not sink into it. My coloring pencils worked fantastic.

30 Cute Cat Designs on Beautifully Patterned Backgrounds printed on one side of non-perforated paper

Cats Meow Adult Coloring Book: 30 Stress Relieving Fabulous Feline Designs

By: Lisa Strassheim

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book filled with a variety of different cats in various poses. They are realistically drawn cats (though a couple of lovely flowers drawn on their fur to make coloring more fun!) The artist has given us a lot of detail on the fur, so it is easy to get two tones in without too much effort. The backgrounds reflect some wonderful patterns that will make color choices a fun experience. While the cats are drawn realistically, I may have some fun with a few of them and give them wild colors of fur – why can’t I have a pink, purple, or turquoise cat? I would never do it to my real cats but these are the pets of my imagination and the sky is the limit.

All of the design stop well before the binding. The designs are printed on one side of thin white non-perforated paper that is typical for books published by CreateSpace. The binding is glued but there is plenty of room for you to cut a page out if you choose to do so. All of the designs have a framing line around the outside. I really like this as it gives me a natural stopping point, saves ink/pencil, and also gives me a more finished looking project when I color.

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20 Designs x 2 Pictures each Gorgeous Rabbits and Hares Coloring Book printed on one side of non-perforated paper

Doodle Artist – Rabbits & Hares: A colouring book for grown ups

By: Annette Rand

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a beautiful coloring book filled with designs of rabbits and hares. What is great is that the artist has provided two each of every design. That way you can test your colors on one copy, color the image twice, or simply share the second copy with a friend. The designs have plenty of doodles drawn into the images to make coloring these rabbits and hares a fun and colorful experience. I love this style of drawing as it allows my imagination to take over and create fun and colorful animals instead of simply realistic ones.

All of my markers bleed through and my gel pens either bleed through or leave a distinct shadow on the back of the page. My coloring pencils work well with the paper. I will use a piece of chipboard or heavy paper behind the page I am working on so I don’t ruin the following page with leaking ink.

While I could wish for thicker, perforated paper, it appears that this is the quality that comes from CreateSpace (which is an Amazon company.) What I really like about the CreateSpace is it is a way that independent artists can get their work self-published. That way, I get a huge choice of design styles albeit with not the best paper.

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Category Archives: Adult Color Books

Whatever Is Lovely: A Coloring Book for Reflection and Worship

By: WaterBrook Press

Rating: 5 of 5

Pretty Flower Postcards

By: Beth Gunnell

Rating: 5 of 5

Dogs Wanna Have Fun: Art pages to color and enjoy (The Magic of Coloring) (Volume 1)

By: Emilie Bilokur

Rating: 5 of 5

Animals Coloring Book for Adults

By: Happy Coloring

Rating: 5 of 5

Dr. Who: The Colouring Book (Doctor Who)

By: BBC

Rating: 5 of 5

Color with Me

By: Cindy Wilde

Rating: 5 of 5

Beautiful Horses – Coloring Book for Adults

By: Happy Coloring

Rating: 5 of 5

Pretty Pattern Postcards

By: Beth Gunnell

Rating: 5 of 5

Cats Meow Adult Coloring Book: 30 Stress Relieving Fabulous Feline Designs

By: Lisa Strassheim

Rating: 5 of 5

Doodle Artist – Rabbits & Hares: A colouring book for grown ups

By: Annette Rand

Rating: 5 of 5

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