Category Archives: Adult Color Books

I’ve said this before about coloring books from Jane F. Hankins but it bears repeating: quality comes at a premium and this is one of the nicest quality coloring books that I own. Not only are the pages larger than most at 11 x 14 inches, the paper used is #80 professional grade paper.

While this is only speaking about the way the book is put together what is even more striking is the artwork in the book. I appreciate Ms. Hankins artistic signature style. She has a lovely sense of whimsy that comes through on each and every page in this book.

The book starts with the cover page and then moves on to a fun “map” of the imaginary garden. It serves almost as a table of contents for what will come after but it is a lovely and fun page to color as well.

The designs include flowers and insects and even a spirit of the garden and a fairy or two (or three or more.)

The book is a premium one and, if you enjoy the artwork, it makes all the difference. The pages are set up to be framed easily with the pages being perforated for easy removal.

The designs are detailed and some have some and intricate areas to color. There is a tad more shading using crosshatch on some designs. I think there is less than I found in the Underwater coloring book but I still want to note that it exists.

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This is a coloring book about country farm. There are some scenes (such as camping and forest) which may not fit into that category quite as well but let’s just say the book is a good one for a more simple life with outdoor scenes taking prominence. All four seasons are represented (though the winter scenes are focused on Christmas more than just winter.)

I personally really appreciate the change of seasons with spring and baby animals, summer with picnics and long days, fall with harvest and Christmas with snow!

The designs in this book are detailed with lots of heavy background designs. There are some areas in the designs which might be considered small and perhaps even intricate but overall, the designs are not difficult to color. However, because of the detail, you can spend a good amount of time coloring each page.

You can receive a digital download of the book as part of the purchase of the print copy (instructions in the book). While printing those copies is a great plus, I will be reviewing (and videoing and photo images) from the print copy.

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I own a number of coloring books by Nathaniel Wake. I’ve found that the artist responsible for the designs (whose name is not Nathaniel Wake – that is an imprint name for the publisher), has an interesting design style. His females come across as stronger characters than most represented in coloring books and this is especially true of the women in this coloring book

There is a good range of women and men along with scenes of daily life, Japanese motifs, animals and even children. The designs are detailed with lots of elements which will which allow me to spend more time coloring each page.

You can receive a digital download of the book as part of the purchase of the print copy (instructions in the book). While printing those copies is a great plus, I will be reviewing (and videoing and photo images) from the print copy.

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I own another coloring book by Sara Burrier which is a pocket size book. With “World of Fairies”, the coloring book is larger though still on the smaller size for a standard coloring book at 8 x 10 inches.

The designs in this book are 20 magical fairies. The fairies range in age from a young girl to adults. The adults make up most of the designs. They are shown by themselves or with animals. Each of the designs has a background included though some are more extensive than others.

The designs are detailed and with some intricate and small areas to color. I think that some of the images might have been able to be scaled larger as there is a lot of white space all around and I wish that the artist had considered doing that.

However, that is a bit of a nit as the artwork is quite lovely. Ms. Burrier has a distinctive look to her characters and I am enjoying this book as much as I did the first.

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I own the other two Grumpy Cat coloring books by Creative Haven and I must say that this new one is my favorite thus far. It may be because the artist is different on this book or perhaps the subject allows more creative license.

In this book, there are 31 design pages which feature Grumpy Cat frowning her way through a hobby. Some of the hobbies include coloring (of course!), origami, birding, quilting, beekeeping, knitting and more. You may just find your favorite hobbies lampooned just as I did mine.

Something I really appreciate about the difference in this book from the first is the lack of floating repeat pattern designs. Each one of the designs in this book is unique and is crafted to show the hobby and Grumpy Cat’s distinct lack of interest in it.

I’ve noticed that the paper quality seems to change quite frequently on the Creative Haven line. Because of that, if you buy one of these books, it may be slightly smooth or slightly rough depending on when and where it was printed. I’ve found that coloring medium, including pencils, work similarly with both slightly rough and slightly smooth paper from Creative Haven. In this case, my coloring book pages are slightly smooth.

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This is a fun coloring book with lots of interesting images. It might be more correctly referred to as manga as anime generally means that there is a cartoon animation associated with the book. Manga is a whimsical drawing or comic. As far as I can tell, there are no cartoons with this book but, to a degree, for the coloring world, this is probably pretty much a nit issue.

What is more interesting about this book is that rather than giving us a second copy of each image (something that the publisher Jade Summer does with their books), in this case, the second image actually has some finer details added to the face. Particularly to the nose and mouth of the character studies. It is amazing the difference it can add. My video will show all images but I have only included both photos of one image to show the difference. The rest of the images are of the more simple style.

The designs are really cute with lots of detail. They are not intricate or hard to color. For fans of this style (which I am), it is a really fun book. The boys and girls (younger and older teenagers rather than the children in the Chibi books by this imprint) look like they are having a lot of fun just being kids.

You can receive a digital download of the book as part of the purchase of the print copy (instructions in the book). While printing those copies is a great plus, I will be reviewing (and videoing and photo images) from the print copy.

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This is one of the more recent releases in the series of “Make Your Own Art Masterpiece” coloring books from Flame Tree. The designs in this book are based on the artwork of famed illustrator Arthur Rackham. The artwork is based on a variety of his works, including: “Aesop’s Fables”, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (a favorite of mine), a variety of fairy tales, Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes and more. The illustrations have converted beautifully and, while detailed, will be much fun to color.

There are 45 line drawing designs to color. The designs were chosen by Daisy Seal and were illustrated by David Jones. The detail of the subject matter of each design is on the opposite facing page. There is a thumbnail of a small portion of the design with some color showing.

The inside flaps at the front and back of the book have black and white line drawings which can be colored as well The flaps are quite smooth but will accept various forms of color medium. The inside of the actual cover is left white which is too bad as it could have been used as a coloring opportunity as well.

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This is a coloring book published by Julia Rivers/Storytroll. Unlike many of their other books, this one does not designate the artist who is responsible for the illustrations. It could be that more than one individual was involved; however, the designs have a consistent look and feel and present a cohesive coloring experience.

The designs are cute and have a different level of detail to finish. Some of the designs have more of a background than others. While some of the design that are more “simple” seem just that, for many colorists, it provides an opportunity and a canvas to create their own additions to the design.

In the past, I would have voted “simple” but more recently, I have been learning how to and practicing my drawing on projects that I am working on. I now appreciate having both complex and simple backgrounds in my colorng books.

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The designs of insects in this coloring book are highly stylized. I see influences of both Art Deco and Art Nouveau within the book. As I enjoy both of these art genres, a coloring book of insects (which is not normally my cup of tea) has become a favorite of mine.

There are many types of “bugs” to enjoy, so if you have a favorite, it might just be included. The book hasn’t changed my opinion of the real deal versions of some of them though there are a number I live with because they do so much good in the garden (not grasshoppers who eat all my veggies!)

The designs have a fairly high level of detail with full backgrounds. They are not intricate or hard to color but can take some time to finish. I’ve included an image of one of my first coloring projects from my original copy of this book (several years ago.) I used just Sharpies on the project and had a fun time of it.

I’ve noticed that the paper quality seems to change quite frequently on the Creative Haven line. Because of that, if you buy one of these books, it may be slightly smooth or slightly rough depending on when and where it was printed. I’ve found that coloring medium, including pencils, work similarly with both slightly rough and slightly smooth paper from Creative Haven. In this case, my coloring book pages are slightly smooth. I purchased this book some time ago so a book today may be slightly different

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This is my second coloring book I have purchased by artist Meredith Dillman. In this book, she explored the fashions of fairies. She has them run a wide range of styles, including steampunk to Grecian/Roman goddess style outfits. The fairies are quite lovely and come across very individual due to the various fashion styles she has chosen to provide for them in this book.

The designs are detailed and some contain small and intricate areas to color. Each design has a framing line at the outer edge for a cleaner looking finished project.

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