Category Archives: Adult Color Books

Portrait of the MERMAID Coloring Book

By: Sara Burrier

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my second coloring book by Sara Burrier. The first was a book dedicated to fairies while this new book is all about mermaid. Portrait of the Mermaid is a smaller format, pocket sized book. I really appreciate having designs that are sized properly to this size of book. Quite often, pocket coloring books are simplistic designs or full format designs which have been sized down to the point that coloring becomes difficult. Not so with this lovely book of 20 hand-drawn designs.

Each of the mermaids have their own personality. For my first three projects, I chose to use lighter almost pastel tones in a variety of alcohol-based Copic markers with Prismacolor pencils providing slight shading. I like that the mermaids range in age from children to adults. Their hair is drawn so beautifully and their bodies have a relaxed and natural look to them. As with Ms. Burrier’s previous book, I’m having lots of fun coloring her imaginative ladies.

This is what I found while coloring and testing this book:

20 Hand-drawn Mermaid designs in a smaller pocket size format
Designs are printed on one side of the page.
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough non-perforated paper typical of all CreateSpace publications
Glue Bound
Designs merge into the binding area
Book easily opens to a flat position for coloring
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper (I cut down a piece of card stock to use as a blotter page below my working project keeps the design below clean of seeping ink and marring dents
Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. The soft lead pencils blend and layer well; however, the hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

Lost in woods

By: Yu Chen Huang

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third coloring book by the talented artists at Dream State Studio. This new book is by artist ChO (Yu Chen Huang.) In addition to this coloring book, she was a contributing artist on another of my favorite coloring books Fantastic Animals. The designs in Lost In Woods have a similar look and feel lots of animals with some being very imaginatively drawn while others are most realistically drawn.

The 28 designs in this book are quite detailed and intricately drawn with lots of doodle elements. There are many tiny spots which require either a very sharp pencil or tiny nibs on pens and/or markers.

For my first project that I will upload, I used an undercoat of alcohol-based markers and then finished the design with a variety of soft and hard lead coloring pencils. While my project had some small areas to color, it was not one that I would consider as intricate as many others in the book.

This is what I found out about this book while testing and coloring in it:

28 Imaginative and Intricately drawn Animal designs
Thumbnails of each design are printed at the front of the book
Designs are printed on one side of the thin white non-perforated paper (typical of CreateSpace coloring books)
Some of the designs merge into the binding area and you will lose some portion of the design if you remove it from the book
Glue Bound
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper
Gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. The soft lead pencils blend and layer well; however, the hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

As with all Create Space published books, I highly recommend using a piece of card stock or other heavyweight paper under the page you are working on. This will keep dents and seeping ink from ruining the pages below.

Adult Coloring Book with COLOR BY NUMBER or NOT

By: C R Gilbert

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book that is also a book which can help teach you how to color as well. The concept of the book is quite different. There are two versions of each of the 20 designs. The first is a regular line drawing and the second has color numbers placed in each of the segments of the design. These two pages are followed by an additional page which provides the key to the color by number page as well as two additional spots where you can use your own colors to replace the colors for each number. On this page, you are provided two segments of the design in which you can test out your color choices.

I generally don’t do color by number because I can see the numbers through (as I don’t press really hard with my coloring pencils.) I really like the way this book is put together, though. I can follow the key for colors but do it on the version of the design that doesn’t have the numbers printed. For those who can cover those numbers or for those who simply don’t mind, you can use the pre-printed, numbered design.

There are 20 designs in the book and they range from mandalas to repeating patterns to animals. For my first two projects, I chose a fish design. I used the same brand of coloring pencils for each. I did my version of the design first so I would not be influenced by the color by number design and used a wide variety of colors. I then colored the same designs using the pre-printed number page and following the color key which essentially used two colors (red/blue) and left the white as blank. I had fun doing both styles and happy with both results.

This is what I found in coloring, testing and looking through this coloring book:

20 Designs printed in two formats along with 20 test pages as well for a total of 40 coloring opportunities
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated paper typical of CreateSpace published books
Book is Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area and either framed with a line or have all elements finished at the edges
Coloring book can open fairly flat for coloring purposes
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper.
Gel pens and India ink can spot through or leave shadows of color depending on how much I put on the page.
Coloring pencils work well: wax and oil based soft lead lay down color (both with a soft and a firm hand), layer, and blend well; hard lead (like Verithins) dent the back of the page but lay down good color

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

Cat-a-Doodles: Adult Coloring Book-Whimsical Cats to Color and Love (Volume 1)

By: Jo Toye

Rating: 5 of 5

Cat-a-Doodles is a very cute coloring book filled with adorable cat designs. The designs are all original by artist Jo Toye. This is her first coloring book but I certainly hope it will be followed by more in the future. I have had cats as pets for many years and now that they have all passed on, I think of them all as I color the cat designs in this book. Certainly, as I went through the book, I could easily relate to a number of the kitties as if they were my own.

What is different and interesting about the way this book is put together is that there are 24 designs and for the first 21, we are given a second copy. That by itself is not that unusual; however, because the artist chose to make the second copy an enlarged and cropped version of the first, it makes it look and feel like a different coloring experience.

The designs are of cute kitties in a variety of situations. They are doing everything from reading books (about training those pesky humans) to cuddling their teddy bears. The designs are detailed and fun but not overly difficult or with tiny spots to color. I didn’t need any form of specialty pens, pencils, or markers to color these designs.

I’ve already completed four of the designs and look forward to finishing the rest of the book. I used a variety of alcohol-based markers with the first four designs I will upload as samples.

This is what I found while coloring and testing my mediums with this book:

24 plus 21 Cute and Original Cat Designs for a total of 45
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is typical CreateSpace paper thin, white, slightly rough, non-perforated paper
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Plenty of room to cut out pages without losing design
Coloring book can open fairly flat for coloring purposes
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper.
Gel pens and India ink can spot through or leave shadows of color depending on how much I put on the page.
Coloring pencils work well: soft lead lay down color (both with a soft and a firm hand), layer, and blend well; hard lead (like Verithins) dent the back of the page but lay down good color

While I received my original copy of this coloring book as a free sample for test and review purposes, I so enjoyed it, I have already purchased additional copies for my use and for family and friends as well.

Kaleidoco Art 5×7 Adult Coloring Inspirational Affirmation Cards

By: Akacorves

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a set of 10 coloring cards with inspirational messages and beautiful abstract designs. In addition to the messages, there is a suggested thought or goal which correlates to the message. For instance, in the first card I colored, the message is: Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go and the thought/goal is I have the courage to follow my adventurous heart.

The cards are a single sided sheet of 7 x 5 inch cardstock and fit beautifully into a standard frame. I finished my first design, framed it and plan to give it to an individual who is on the brink of a new career. I see these cards as a beautiful gift to color, frame and hang or give away. You can also mount them on pre-made folded cards if you wish. I hope the publisher continues with this size and type of coloring card. I enjoy coloring postcards as well but this larger size is better for gifts and framing.

The designs are quite detailed and do have small areas to color. I choose to use regular fine point and ultra-fine point pens and markers to color the entire card, so for those tiny bits, I used a single color over multiple small areas to give the design a larger splash of color.

I was able to use all forms of coloring medium and they all performed well. The only one to leak through (slightly) were free-flowing alcohol-based markers such as Copics and Prismacolor markers. None of my water-based markers, brush pens, or India ink pens bled through at all. Gel pens did not bleed through and did not require additional drying time. My coloring pencils worked well both soft and hard lead. I was able to achieve deep colors with soft pencils which matched the pigment I achieved with markers. Blending was not as successful as most of the pigment stayed in the original spot and did not blend.

The cards are a heavyweight white card stock with a fairly smooth almost slick finish. I was easily able to color with it on my clipboard with no mars to the surface from the clip. In addition to the sample photos, I will show my first card from the front and back so you can see how little bleed through happened. I will also show it framed as I plan to gift it. The frame is something I purchased separately and is not included in the set.

I received a free sample set of coloring cards for test and review purposes.

Sherri Baldy My-Besties Birthday Coloring Book: Sherri Baldy My-Besties Birthday Coloring Book For Adults and all ages: Now Sherri Baldy’s Fan … Besties are available as a coloring book!

By: Sherri Ann Baldy

Rating: 5 of 5

Happy Birthday My Besties is the sixth coloring book released by Sherri Baldy within the last few months. The girls in the coloring book range from sweet little girls to curvaceous women. They all have a birthday theme and big eyes in common. There are girls popping out of cakes as well as holding a cake or even a cupcake in their hand.

I really enjoy Ms. Baldy’s coloring books. The designs are cute, fun, and easy to color. They have such sweet faces and pretty styling as well. I find that the hair on each is an adventure to figure out which color and how to color them. I usually use a combination of alcohol-based markers (Sharpies, Bic Mark-it, and Copic) along with a soft lead pencil.

I like to take just a few colors (along with those for the skin tones, hair, and eyes) and play with those three or four colors to finish my project.

Here is what I found within this book:

25 x 2 (50) Birthday Girls (Women) Designs with big eyes
Printed on one side of the page
Page is white, slightly rough, and is non-perforated
Glue Bound
Designs do not merge into the binding
Room enough to cut pages out if you wish to do so
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave color shadows on back of the page
Coloring pencils work well: soft lead lay down color, layer, and blend well; hard lead dent the back of the page but lay down good color

Cats in Venice: Coloring book for adults

By: Happy Coloring

Rating: 5 of 5

This is another lovely coloring book by Stefania Miro and the group at Happy Coloring. In this book, there are 24 designs (plus the title page) of realistic cats set in the city of Venice. There are gondolas, masquerade, canal scenes and more.

I find the designs to be both elegant and challenging to color. The designs are detailed but do not include tiny spaces. The challenge is the the detail of the background. Quite often with coloring books of animals, the backgrounds are quite skimpy. In this case, it is the opposite. The backgrounds are every bit as detailed as the cats themselves.

For my first project, I choose a scene of a cat with a woman in masquerade attire. She sits in front of an older building with a water fountain. I really enjoyed coloring this picture. I used alcohol-based markers (Copics) and then overlaid them with soft oil-based pencils. I like the translucent quality that this gives to the project. I created the fur on the cat by using harder oil-based Polychromos which hold their point and make decisive lines. I’m new to many of the techniques and while I like the outcome, I know that I have much to learn about them. A lot of the fun in coloring for me is in trying new things whether successful or not!

This is what I discovered in working with this coloring book:

24 Realistic Designs of Cats in Venice
Printed on one side of typical Create Space paper
Paper is white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated
Glue Binding
All Designs stop before the binding.
All Designs have a framing line around the outer edge to give a natural stopping point which saves time and ink
The Coloring book opens to a flat position for coloring with minimal effort.
Alcohol and water-based markers bleed through this paper.
Gel pens and India ink can spot through or leave shadows of color depending on how much I put on the page.
Coloring pencils work well: soft lead lay down color (both with a soft and a firm hand), layer, and blend well; hard lead (like Verithins) dent the back of the page but lay down good color

Designs to Color Book 1: The Original Coloring Books for Adults

By: Betty Schaffner

Rating: 5 of 5

It is hard to believe that this is a coloring book reprinted from the 1960s. The style of the designs and the subject matter is so contemporary that it fits in with many of the more abstract coloring books that are being released today.

The designs are printed in a horizontal format book (wider than it is long) with come of the designs turned on end. There are abstracts as well as designs that have the doodle style that is so popular today.

The designs are printed on one side of the page. The paper is white, medium weight, fairly smooth and is non-perforated. The designs all stop before the binding area. The book is bound by two staples, so if you want to remove the pages from the book, it should take little effort and you will not lose any portion of the designs.

My first project is a still life of fruit with doodles in the apple and pear. I used my Tombows water based markers with the brush end to color the design.

Alcohol-based markers do bleed through the page. However, water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens do not bleed through. Coloring pencils work fairly well with the exception of blending. Soft lead pencils all have good color and layer well; however, when attempting to blend colors, the original color stays heavy in the original spot and only blends slight at the edge. This true of both wax and oil based pencils. Hard lead pencils do not dent the back of the page.

I was provided an initial digital sample of four pages via Netgalley. The publisher then provided me with a free copy of the finalized book for test and review purposes.

Faith in Color: An Adult Coloring Book, Premium Edition

By: Paige Tate Select

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the premium edition of Faith in Color. I don’t have this in the original version but I have another book by this publishing company which utilizes their standard paper. There is a huge difference in the type of paper, how it works, the color and the fact that the pages are perforate. Another great thing about the premium version is the addition of the smaller designs.

This book contains 31 larger designs and 10 smaller ones. The small ones are printed two to a page and you have to cut them on the provided cutting line to separate them from each other. The larger design will fit an 8 x 10 inch frame and the smaller design will fit a 5 x 7 inch frame. The smaller designs are smaller versions of some of the large format designs.

The designs are all Scripture-based with verse citations; however, I cannot provide the specific translation information as it is not included in the book. As with my other books by this publisher, the Bible verse is what is the stand-out from the page thought the hand-drawn illustrations are lovely and are fun and easy to color as well.

It appears that all but one of the designs from the first book are included in the premium edition (though they may be ordered slightly differently.) There seems to have been a verse that was duplicated in the first book (with a different picture) and one of those two is not included in this version.

I have had a lot of fun coloring my first three designs in this book. I used a combination of alcohol-based markers, Tombow water-based brush end markers and Sakura gel pens (for the glittery stars.) I found that I could easily use all of these coloring mediums though the one that I used Tombow on primarily has a tendency to curl but can be flattened out.

As with all of my Christian inspired coloring books, coloring in this book was both enjoyable and a chance to think on the Words and to apply them to my life. I find that whatever I choose to color is an answer to something whether I knew it or not when I choose the design. As with all things in life, I find that I am spiritually led to what I need to know.

This is the overview of what I found in this coloring book:

31 Large Format and 10 Small Format Scripture Based Designs in for a total of 41 coloring opportunities
Printed on one side of perforated, white, slightly rough medium weight paper
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Glue Binding
Book can open to fairly flat position though I removed my pages from the book for coloring
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper
Water-based markers left shadows of color on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens left indistinct shadows on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with the paper with the soft lead going on well both with a light hand and a firm hand. I was able to blend and layer well with a wide variety of brands of coloring pencils. My hard lead pencils provided good color and did not dent the back of the page.

Legendary Landscapes: Coloring Book Journey

By: Witek Radomski

Rating: 5 of 5

Legendary Landscapes is the first coloring book in a series of collaborative coloring books. The format of the books in the series is larger than most standard coloring books. It still fits easily on my bookshelf and the larger size means less tiny spots to color. The designs themselves are quite detailed but, because of the size of the book, I don’t require special tiny nib pens in order to color them.

The designs are from seven different Canadian artists, including: Witek Radomski, Carrie Wong, Kamala Melzack, Al Sayers, Anonymous, Adrienne Drozdowski, and Ratbath. Five of the seven are now familiar to me as I have seen there work in the second book in this series Legendary Worlds but Ms. Drozdowski and Ratbath are new to me in this book. There is a brief bio for each artist, including Anonymous, at the back of the book as well as thumbnails of each design and attribution to which artist created it.

The coloring book is filled with all sorts of landscapes (including seascapes, cityscapes and even views of the planet from space. Some of the designs are very realistic in their concept while others are pure fantasy. I choose, as my first project, to do one of the more realistic designs of birds in amongst a bevy of birdhouses. The garden scene appealed to the gardener in me. There are so many other projects that I find tremendously appealing that I am sure to be coloring in this book for a long time.

This is what I found when I tested and colored in the book:

86 Pages of both Realistic and Fantasy Landscapes
Designs printed on both sides of heavyweight, white, fairly smooth non-perforated paper.
Designs merge into the binding area
A few designs spread across two pages
Sewn Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers did not bleed through but some (Stabilio 88 and Staedler triplus fineliners and the fine point end of Tombows) left the lightest of shadows on the back of the page. Using the brush end of the Tombows worked well for me and did not show through.
Gel pens did not bleed through but required additional drying time.
India ink pens did not bleed through the page.
Coloring pencils were mixed. I had good results with waxed-based soft lead pencils and hard lead pencils in general. Oil-based soft lead pencils laid down good color but did not blend well. Both wax and oil based pencils layered well on this paper.

This coloring book was provided to me as a free sample for test and review purposes.