Category Archives: Adult Color Books

This is a revised version of the Nathaniel Wake Mermaid Life coloring book. From what I understand, the first version of this coloring book may have included illustrations which, (unknowing to the publishers of Nathaniel Wake) were copyright infringing.

A really fun set of Mermaid and Merman designs. There are definitely a lot of men in these designs. There are also pirates and ships and fish, oh my! I noticed that a good number of the designs went horizontal instead of vertical to give lots of room for free-flowing mermaids to swim through. The designs are very detailed with most having intricate and smaller areas to color. Some designs have heavier black use than others.

A word about companies like Nathaniel Wake. This is a publishing company and not an artist. They contract artists from outside sources but present it under an umbrella name that infers a single artist. As such, the real artist or artists of any book with content and style may differ wildly from any others under the same Nathaniel Wake name.

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This is a revised version of the Nathaniel Wake Dragon Life coloring book. From what I understand, the original version coloring book may have included illustrations which, unknowing to the publishers of Nathaniel Wake) were copyright infringing.

This is a great book of Dragon illustrations. The dragons are shown in their terrible glory. Sometimes by themselves and sometimes with a friend (especially those ladies who seem to love them some dragons!) The designs are definitely detailed and some have intricate and smaller areas to color. Some designs have heavier black use than others.

A word about companies like Nathaniel Wake. This is a publishing company and not an artist. They contract artists from outside sources but present it under an umbrella name that infers a single artist. As such, the real artist of any book with content and style may differ wildly from any others under the same Nathaniel Wake name.

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This is a revised version of the Nathaniel Wake Men’s coloring book. From what I understand, the original version of this coloring book may have included illustrations which, unknowing to the publishers of Nathaniel Wake) were copyright infringing.

This is a fun book that focuses on things enjoyed by men (“but I like it, too!” – which is a terrible reference to an old bar soap commercial.) The great outdoors is a theme in this book as are the wild west and sexy ladies popping up from time to time. The designs are detailed and many contain small and intricate areas to color. It is a book that both men and women can equally enjoy depending on their tastes.

A word about companies like Nathaniel Wake. This is a publishing company and not an artist. They contract artists from outside sources but present it under an umbrella name that infers a single artist. As such, the real artist or artists of any book with content and style may differ wildly from any others under the same Nathaniel Wake name.

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In the last edition of Nice Little Town, the artist (Tanya Bogema (Stolova), included a few samples of adorable mouse abodes. I, for one, wanted to get a full book of these designs. The artist really listened to the feedback and has provided this latest release in the series with a cute little town made up of 27 designs of different tiny homes suitable for mice. If you can imagine a little town, perhaps in a forest, where mice could live in peace in tranquility, this would be it.

I am a big fan of this series and have purchased every one so far. I believe that this book is my favorite of all. Funny, though, I saw that after each book is released. Perhaps I just really like the whole series!

While some of her coloring books have been released in smaller format, this one is the size of a standard coloring book at 8.5 x 11 inches. I like the bigger book so I can play with shading, blending and such.

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This is a very different style of art from the previous coloring book I have by Ikuka. The Japanese Girls book is in grayscale while Mermaid in Dress is line drawings. The mermaids in the book are young girls rather than adults. They are, as the title infers, mostly in a variety of dresses. It is an unusual concept but fun at the same time. The designs are provided as two copies – one with white on the back of the page; one with black on the back of the page.

In addition to the design pages, there are a couple of pages that seem to be placed for testing medium. Rather than provide a blank page with squares, the artist has included a cute mermaid line drawing. Also, this was done for both the white backed and black backed pages.

The only issue I have with this coloring book has to do with the print quality. While hand-drawn design books, such as this one, will have lines that are thick/thin and light/dark, my copy of the book has spotty lines where some of the line was printed and some was not. This is a small issue and one that I can remedy while coloring but it should not have been necessary to do so.

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This is a really beautiful coloring book of the tale of Peter Rabbit. The story is that of Beatrix Potter and the illustrations are by Charles Santore. They are a hybrid grayscale/line drawing version of the illustrations in the storybook by the same artist. Along with the story and the designs, there are thumbnail color pictures from the storybook on the inside front and back covers. That way, you can use similar colors if you so choose.

The book is a larger than standard format. The designs are a bit of a mix of line drawings and grayscale with a heavy use of gray in the details. There is still area for blending and shading if you desire. It is a really nice mix and one that will be fun to color.

It is set up in true storybook style, with the text on the left hand side (back of page) and the illustration to the right. Some mediums will bleed through the page (see below), which will interfere with the text but if that doesn’t bother you, you can treat the book as if the designs were one sided.

My current plan is to use a mix of water-based markers with pencil accents. This is a book that I will enjoy reading to my grandchildren, so each week I hope to have a new design finished so my grandson can see the progress as we read through the book.

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The designs in this coloring book appear to be hand-drawn and include a lot of wavy lines and “doodle” elements. Further, the scenes are inspired by islands and the ocean. All that I expect from an island vacation are included with lots of ocean scenes, shore scenes, etc. There are fish and other ocean creatures, boats and sunsets but only one scene which includes people (tropical dancers.)

This coloring book is very similar in style (though different images) to one published last year by Okami Coloring (“Island Dreams” Adult Coloring Book: Island Dreams: Vacation, Summer and Beach: Dream and Relax with Gorgeous Illustrations). It may be by the same artist as Okami Coloring and Storytroll seem to be either the same company under different names or are somehow associated (see below.) In both instances, the name of the illustrator is not provided.

I really appreciate the quality of their artists though the CreateSpace paper always leaves something to be desired but wish they had included the actual artists name on this specific book as they do on their other coloring books. They seem to be developing a specific name (Julia Rivers) to cover the coloring books they deliver. This is similar to what another publisher has done with the name Jade Summer.

The designs are quite detailed and include intricate elements with lots of tiny spots to color. I would not recommend this coloring book to anyone with fine motor or vision issues. I would also suggest that, for the intricate areas, use of ultra-fine point markers/pens or really sharp pencils would be best.

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I love Hannah Lynn’s designs. I own most of her coloring books and was excited to see this new book with Fairy Tale Princesses and Story Book Heroines. Most of the other books I have by Ms. Lynn focus on the face of the young lady. In this book, the designs are set into full backgrounds which give context to the story/fairy tale the image is derived from.

The book includes a lot of my favorites, from Cinderella to The Wizard of Oz to Alice in Wonderland and even to Hansel and Gretel. The designs are all titled (on the thumbnail pages at the front), so if you are stumped on the subject, you can easily guess based on both the picture and the title.

Trust Ms. Lynn to do something special when providing a duplicate page for coloring. The second copy of each design has shading on the eyes. It gives a very different look to the image overall and will make coloring both designs fun and different.

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This is the third volume of beautiful beautiful hardback book of 25 designs by Tim Jeffs. It adds more animals to the beautiful designs I already own in the prior two volumes in this series. The animals look incredibly life-life. They look even better than photographs but are hand drawn by the artist.

My preferred method of doing grayscale is to use alcohol-based markers as a basecoat and then to add shading and details with colored pencils. However, as I have been ill and cannot use my alcohol-based markers while we try to figure out what caused my severe allergic reaction (pneumonia and continuing need for oxygen supplement 24/7), I am using just pencils. I’m enjoying it so much, I may not go back to my old way of coloring at all.

Included in this book are the following animals (in order): Amazonian Royal Flycatcher, Armadillo, Ball Python, Bighorn Sheep, Blue Heron, Chinese Water Dragon, Clouded Leopard, Cougar, Echidna, Honey Bee, Indian Rhinoceros, Kangaroos, Lady Amherst Pheasant, Leopard Gecko, Lynx, Okapi, Pangolin, Panther Chameleon, Parrot Chameleon, Parrotfish, Peregrine Falcon, Platypus, Resplendent Quetzal, Slow Loris, Snowy Owl, and Whale Shark.

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I enjoy coloring Kawaii designs and this book has emphasis on both Christmas and winter themes. The the designs are detailed with full backgrounds and the young children have lovely big eyes and almost non-existent noses. I really like the the scenes in which the children are placed are ones that I could see in real life. Lots of fun to color.

The designs have detail but are not intricate and difficult to color. They are also good for a wide range of ages – from fairly young children (depending on their coloring level) to older colorists who may have issues with vision or fine motor control.

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