Category Archives: Adult Color Books

Vive Le Color! India (Adult Coloring Book): Color In; De-stress (72 Tear-out Pages)

By: Abrams Noterie

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a smaller format book of designs inspired by the art and the heritage of India. The book has 72 pages of designs and is in a nice compact form (only 7 x 7 inches.) The binding is at the top of the book, so it will be great for both right-handed and left-handed colorists. The binding is very pliable and it would be very simple to remove pages from the book. At the back of the book is a heavy cardboard which gives a good base to support the book if you are working with it in your hand instead of on a tabletop.

The designs are printed on the front side of each bright white medium weight page with the backside blank. The prints themselves range from some with heavy lines to some with very delicate lines. My children’s after-school care was provided by a gracious family from India. Their home was beautiful with many traditional Indian art designs and their clothing was gorgeous. The colors of the saris that they wore will be a huge inspiration to me as I color in this book. The designs are beautiful and have a variety of styles and some have very intricate parts to them. I will probably resort to my magnifying lamp from time to time with this book.
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Creative Haven Steampunk Fashions Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

Steampunk is a genre of books that I have enjoyed for a number of years. The art that has arisen from the literature has been fun and edgy. I have the previous steampunk coloring book by Marty Noble and was really happy to see another one this time focusing on the fashions (though there are still plenty of elements I look for gears, clocks, etc.) The women in the pictures are gorgeous, as usual for Ms. Noble and the fashions outrageous, which is what I look for in steampunk.

The 31 fashion designs are based on those of the Victorian age but are updated with unusual, slightly racy, and spunky twists. These are all in line with what steampunk is about a what-if scenario that changes the way the world works and society would proceed. The designs are elegantly drawn, which is exactly what I have come to expect from Ms. Noble. I am always pleased with her designs and look forward to new ones as they become available. I am hoping that she will come out with another steampunk book that is more dedicated to the machinery of the genre. I would love to see robots and strange cars and flying machines as the focus instead of the background.

Creative Haven Floral Frenzy Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Miryam Adatto

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Steampunk Designs Coloring Book (Creative Haven Coloring Books)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

Outside the Lines, Too: An Inspired and Inventive Coloring Book by Creative Masterminds

By: Souris Hong

Rating: 5 of 5

The Time Garden: A Magical Journey and Coloring Book

By: Daria Song

Rating: 5 of 5

Tropical World: A Coloring Book Adventure

By: Millie Marotta

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Amazon Animals: A Coloring Book with a Hidden Picture Twist (Adult Coloring)

By: Jan Sovak

Rating: 5 of 5

This is an interesting set of 28 Amazon animal and insect designs which include one or more hidden images within each design. The designs are by artist Jan Sovak. Be aware that a couple of the designs show animals about to pounce on their prey (other animals) and that it might be disturbing to some individuals. There is also one design which includes a human which seems a little out of place but it is well drawn and should be interesting to color.

At the front of the book, there is a listing of which hidden design features are included and how many of them are spread throughout the book. At the back of the book, there is a key which shows which elements are in each design and where they are located. I would list the hidden elements but I think that would take away the fun of looking for them while you are coloring.

Ocean Wonders | Color Art for Everyone – Leisure Arts (6703)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 5 of 5

This is an adult coloring book with a variety of underwater designs as well as collages of ocean related man made items. This makes this book of designs quite different from the other four offerings in the Color Art for Everyone series as those really focus on the natural world. The designs are all supplied by GMC Designs/Shutterstock, Inc. I don’t know if that means there are various designers within those companies or not, but there isn’t a specific artist mentioned.

There are 24 different designs. There are several schools of fish, visions of underwater flora, hermit crabs and other shellfish, shells, a sampler of sailboats, and an interesting collage of nautical items such as lighthouses, schooners, anchors, compass and more. My husband grew up in Camden, Maine on the coast and loves all things nautical. He has claimed first dibs on this book of designs and that will be okay because these are so affordable I can always buy another book if he colors a design I really want to do, too!

The designs are printed on one side of the page (with the back side blank.) The pages are all micro-perforated so removing them from the book will be easy. The print quality of the design is excellent. While there is a lot of detail in the designs, I don’t think I will need my magnifying lamp for most of my coloring.

I have had some bleed through of color with my markers and gel pens. Not as much as with some other brands but certainly enough that I would either remove the page from the book or put some freezer paper or heavy card stock between the pages while I am working.

Natural Wonders | Color Art for Everyone – Leisure Arts (6704)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 5 of 5

This is an adult coloring book filled with gorgeous flower and animal designs. Some of the designs are of flowers or leaves by themselves, some are a mixture and at least one is of an insect in a repetitious pattern. The designs are all supplied by GMC Designs/Shutterstock, Inc. I don’t know if that means there are various designers within those companies or not, but there isn’t a specific artist mentioned.

There are 24 different designs. I really enjoyed the look of the mushroom design as well as several that are of leaf patterns. I noticed butterflies, owls, cactus, mushrooms, and many other lovely details that will be fun to color. The design of the dragonflies is stunning and highly imaginative. I will love adding color to this one and it will be my first project in the book.

The paper weight is nice and heavy – very much a feeling of premium grade paper. The designs are printed on one side of the page (with the back side blank.) The pages are all micro-perforated so removing them from the book will be easy. The print quality of the design is excellent. Interestingly, some of the designs are printed with a heavy ink tone and a lighter, more subtle tone at the same time. I will keep my magnifying lamp handy as some elements of a number of the designs are small and intricate.

I have had some bleed through of color with my markers and gel pens. Not as much as with some other brands but certainly enough that I would either remove the page from the book or put some freezer paper or heavy card stock between the pages while I am working.

At the front of the book there is a section on understanding colors. There is a color wheel that explains primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and how they are made. It also explains Warm and Cool colors and gives examples of how they can be used within their family or with a mix (Warm Colors, Cool Colors, Warm Colors with Cool Accent, Cool Colors with Warm Accents, Tints and Shades of Red, Tings and Shades of Blue, Analogous Colors, Complementary Colors, and Split Complementary Colors.) This is a wonderful addition to a coloring book as it gives a lot of information for beginners and gives examples in actual color.