Category Archives: Adult Color Books

Living Wonders | Color Art for Everyone – Leisure Arts (6705)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 5 of 5

This is an adult coloring book filled with gorgeous animal designs. Some of the designs are of a single animals (with lots of fun and flowing details for coloring) and a lot of them offer a montage of animals in a beautiful 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 like many of the designs but a couple (the fox in the forest, the single owl and the koi fish) leaped out at me to color first. 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. It is definitely not a problem with printing but rather part of the design. 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.

Kaleidoscope Wonders | Color Art for Everyone – Leisure Arts (6707)

By: Leisure Arts

Rating: 5 of 5

This adult color book lives up to its name, “Kaleidoscope Wonders – Color Art for Everyone.” The images are very reminiscent of that which I would see through a kaleidoscope when I was a child. I remember that magical feeling of shifting and changing the patterns and the colors and now I can have a similar feeling as I color the various designs in this book. 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 designs, which each of them having a kind of repetitious look – some with centered designs and others with the patterns at a slightly off-angle. Most of the designs are either flowing patterns or flowers but there are also designs that incorporate butterflies, tea cups, sea shells, and hearts. 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. I will keep my magnifying lamp handy as some elements of a few of the designs are small and intricate but for the most part, I will not need to use my lamp.

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.

Creative Haven Paisley Mandalas: Designs with a Splash of Color (Adult Coloring)

By: Shala Kerrigan

Rating: 5 of 5

“Paisley Mandalas – Designs With A Splash of Color” is a first for me – I’ve never had an adult coloring book which has pre-printed colors in it. Sometimes, the colors are merely the outlines of the design. Other times, color is filled in as part of the design. It is a new experience for me and one that seems to be okay so far. It certainly reduces the amount of time I spend on some of the designs. Of the two styles, only three are not the outline style.

The designs are by artist Shala Kerrigan and I noted that there is a disclaimer on the back of the book that says that the book was previously published as “Paisley Mandalas Coloring Book.” I don’t know if that issue was done in color or not, but if you have it on your book shelf, you might want to check before ordering this book.

The designs are quite pretty and are large and easy to color. I will not be needing my magnifying lamp for this book. I will need to give a lot more thought to the colors I choose as they will need to work with the pre-printed ones. I must admit that of the two styles, I prefer the outline one. It gives me the opportunity to either compliment or contrast my colors against the outline. The three more extensively colored designs leave a lot less for me to decide on.

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

By: Alexandra Cowell

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a really great set of 28 city style designs which include one or more hidden images within each design. The cities are from all over the globe. The designs are by artist Alexandra Cowell. There is a fun vibe to each and every one of these designs. They should be a blast to color.

The cities represented ( in order) in this book are: Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Chicago, Copenhagen, Delhi, Edinburgh, Firenze, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Lisbon, London, Hollywood, Marrakesch, South Beach (Miami), New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Vancouver, Venezia/Venice. I’ve visited a number of these cities during my lifetime and the ones that I haven’t would be ones that I wish I can visit at some time. Until then, coloring them will be a great first step.

The designs all show a scene depicting something that is generally thought of when considering that specific city. For instance, San Francisco shows Lombard Street with its twisting and turning downhill plunge. Las Vegas shows a bunch of slot machines with a wild sky-scape in the background. London shows the Palace and shopping fun along with umbrellas for the good chance of rain.

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.

Enchanted Forest Postcards: 20 Postcards

By: Johanna Basford

Rating: 5 of 5

I’ve recently started enjoying adult coloring books as a way to relieve stress and some of my favorite books are “Enchanted Forest” and “Secret Garden” by Johanna Basford. When I saw that “Enchanted Forest” was going to be available in postcards, I pre-ordered them immediately.

They just arrived and the images are lovely. They are smaller representations of some of my favorites from the book. There are 20 different images to have fun with. The images are much smaller and are a little more difficult to work with (at my age.) I plan to use my Dazor magnifying lamp to do the detail work and will probably use my Copic or Spectrum Noir Next Generation alcohol-based markers to get the type of detail I think I will want with these postcards.

Creative Haven Beautiful Birds Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Dot Barlowe

Rating: 5 of 5

My husband and I have started using Adult Coloring Books as a way to de-stress. I know that many crafts use the same part of the brain that one uses in meditation, so I wasn’t surprised to read that many other adults were turning to coloring. I have bought several different types of books and I find that I like a lot of the ones by Creative Haven/Dover. I have found that my non-alcohol based markers and my gel pens all leak through this brand of book, so I am sure to place paper between the pages to keep the pages behind fresh and clean. I’ve found that freezer paper works really well for this purpose.

The pages of the book are single-sided and are perforated at the bound edge so you can remove the page to color or to frame afterwards. The pages are a bright white and have a decent pound weight – they are not flimsy. What is really nice about this particular book is that, if you chose to color the pages realistically, the author/illustrator has included a color guide for each of the 31 print included in the book. The birds are shown in natural habitat style outdoor settings but you can decide to mix it up and use any color you wish.

Creative Haven Owls Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marjorie Sarnat

Rating: 5 of 5

My husband and I have started using Adult Coloring Books as a way to de-stress. I know that many crafts use the same part of the brain that one uses in meditation, so I wasn’t surprised to read that many other adults were turning to coloring. I have bought several different types of books and I find that I like a lot of the ones by Creative Haven/Dover. I have found that my non-alcohol based markers and my gel pens all leak through this brand of book, so I am sure to place paper between the pages to keep the pages behind fresh and clean. I’ve found that freezer paper works really well for this purpose.

The pages of the book are single-sided and are perforated at the bound edge so you can remove the page to color or to frame afterwards. The pages are a bright white and have a decent pound weight – they are not flimsy.