Category Archives: Adult Color Books

25 x 2 Adorable Garden/Flower Girl Designs My Besties printed on one side of the page

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Iiiireader

Sherri Baldy My-Besties Bloomin Besties Coloring Book: Some of Sherri Baldy’s fan favorites Bloomin Besties are available as a coloring book ! You … Bestie, each page has a blank backside. .

By: Sherri Ann Baldy

Rating: 5 of 5

Bloomin Besties is the second of three coloring books recently released by Sherri Baldiy. Her My Besties illustrations have a world-wide following but I only recently discovered her adorable big eyed girls. As I love to garden, the Bloomin girls are especially cute for me to color. A good number of the designs actually show the little gardeners at work but others are lovely girls with lots and lots of flowers. There are also a couple of cute animal designs as well. I really appreciate getting two copies of each design. That gives me the opportunity to try two colorways or to share a copy with my husband who also colors along with me.

I really like these designs for fun and quick projects I can use my markers for base color and then shade with a variety of pencils and finish it in one sitting. I chose a cute little garden girl who is helping her flowers become just a tad more colorful as my first project and used alcohol-based makers to color the design and then oil-based pencils for shading.

Here is what I found within this book:

25 x 2 (50) My Besties Garden/Flower Girl Designs
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

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31 Striking and Unusual designs in the style of woodcuts printed on one side of the page

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Iiiireader

Creative Haven Woodcut Designs Coloring Book: Diverse Designs on a Dramatic Black Background (Adult Coloring)

By: Tim Foley

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by Tim Foley as well as my first coloring book of designs in a woodcut style. There is a heavy use of deep black in each of the designs. The designs are of a variety of subjects from animals to flowers to so much more.

I chose a baseball design for my first project. This was in some ways similar to coloring with a black background, however, the black became part of the design and not just the backdrop to it. I also loved the look of leaving some of the white uncolored which came through with a great look of brightness in my project. I used a variety of alcohol-based markers as I prefer markers when I am working with black. I’ll include a picture of the finished project along with the two colored samples from the book as well. I’ll add more photos as I finish projects in the future.

This is what I found when going through this coloring book:

31 Designs in Striking Woodcut style with heavy use of deep black
Printed on one side of white page
Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated
Glue Bound
Designs stop before the perforation and have a framing line around the outer edge of the design
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree

While I don’t plan to use these medium with my coloring book, I did test a variety of them to see how they worked with this paper:

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page. Pencils do color over the black if your point strays (which mine does all the time.) That is the primary reason I don’t plan to use them with this or other designs with heavy black.

I suggest either removing the coloring pages from the book or using a blotter under the page you are working on to keep accidents from marring the pages below.

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31 Mehndi Style Designs with a black background printed on one side of the page

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Iiiireader

Creative Haven Magical Mehndi Designs Coloring Book: Striking Patterns on a Dramatic Black Background (Adult Coloring)

By: Lindsey Boylan

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third coloring book by Lindsey Boylan. In all three, she has utilized black backgrounds. I find that this style, along with the use of bright and pastel colors is a way to get a big pop of color. I am looking forward to coloring more designs in this book as I have enjoyed both of Ms. Boylan’s previous books. The designs have a free-flowing and ornate look to them which is consistent with the style I have come to expect from this artist.

I decided to do a seahorse as my first project. I used alcohol-based markers with bright tones on the seahorse and then gray and pink only on the surrounding design. I will include a photo of the finished project along with the two colored samples from the book. I will update with more project photos as I finish them in the future.

This is what I found when going through this coloring book:

31 Designs in Mehndi style with black backgrounds
Printed on one side of page
Page is smooth and perforated. Has a different feel from other Creative Haven paper
Glue Bound
Designs merge past the perforations but nothing essential will be lost if you remove the page from the book
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree

While I don’t plan to use these medium with my coloring book, I did test a variety of them to see how they worked with this paper:

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils were mixed. The soft lead pencils laid down good color but blending did not work well. My wax-based pencils worked better than the oil-based. Hard lead pencils dented the back of the page.

I removed my pages from the book but if you choose to keep your book together, I suggest a blotter page be used behind the working page to keep the rest of the book free from mars and seeping ink.

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55 Abstract Designs in Mosaic style printed on one side of cream page

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Iiiireader

ESCAPES Mosaics Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Jessica Mazurkiewicz

Rating: 5 of 5

Jessica Mazurkiewicz is one of the first two artists to release coloring books on Dover’s new Escapes line. The books are still standard size but are presented horizontally with each of the designs being horizontal as well.

I own a couple of Creative Haven books by this artist in her Scapes series. This is the first mosaic style book that I have from her. I was surprised to see that many of the designs look similar as if they were there were only a handful of original designs but for ensuing pages they cropped and/or enlarged to show details rather than the whole image. I am really enjoying coloring the designs (mainly using Tombows brush water markers at this point) but with so many that are similar my interest may wane before I finish the book as there are 55 designs in it.

The book does not have colored samples in it (unlike Dover’s Creative Haven line.) It does have some line art on the inside of both the front and back cover. The paper is cream color and is similar in feel to that of the Creative Haven line.

I have had some difficulties in removing pages from the new Escapes line. While the pages are perforated, they seem to have a tendency to rip into the design about midway down the page. I think it may have something to do with the horizontal format with the page being wider than it is long. After slightly tearing a couple of pages as I tried to remove them, I put a chipboard under the page and scored over the perforations with a box cutter (though a knife or scissor would have worked as well.) Once I did that, I could easily remove the page from the book without tearing it.

For my first project, I used my Tombows and really saw the design upside down as waves crashing into a rocky shore with the sun shining about. If you see this design in the book, it will be flipped.

Here is an overview of what I found in this coloring book:

55 Abstract Mosaic designs
Printed on one side of cream color paper
Paper is perforated and has a slight roughness to to the touch
Book is presented horizontally
Designs merge past the perforations but nothing of importance is lost when removing a page from the book
Glue Bound
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through the page (though water based spotted more than a complete bleed through)
Gel pens and India ink pens left shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils worked well with this paper. I found that wax-based pencils blended with a deeper color but oil-based pencils provided a deeper coverage with less effort. Hard lead pencils left dents on the back of the page.

I recommend either using a blotter page below your working page or removing the design from the book to color. This will keep the rest of your book safe from seeping ink and dents. I chose to remove pages because I found that this new format book doesn’t work well with my clipboard.

31 Flower Mandala Designs with a black background printed on one side of the page

Creative Haven Flower Mandalas Coloring Book: Stunning Designs on a Dramatic Black Background (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

First, let me note that major parts of this coloring book are reprints in whole or in part from other coloring books. Namely, there all sixteen designs from Floral Mandalas Stained Glass Coloring Book (2011), eight designs from 3-D Mystic Mandalas Coloring Book (2011) as well as seven new designs which have not been published before. As I don’t own either of the other two books and generally don’t purchase the stained glass books at all as I don’t care for the vellum pages, these designs are all new to me.

I enjoy many coloring books by Marty Noble and this is no different in that sense. What is different and something that I like all the more, is that the designs are a little less intricate than my others. They are still detailed and fun coloring challenges but compared to the two recent books I have by this artist (Collage Art and Celestial Mandalas), the designs in this book are something I can finish in much less time.

I really like using my various markers on designs with black backgrounds. I like the translucent feel that marker ink adds. It is really just a personal preference because I don’t care for how the black looks next to the way I use my coloring pencils (with a very light touch) and I generally use gel pens as an accent rather than a whole designs (except for postcards where I use them extensively.) I’m sure that others can and do create beautiful work with their coloring pencils on this style of book. For my first project, I chose a mixture of both alcohol and water-based markers.

This is what I found when going through this coloring book:

31 Mandala Designs with black backgrounds
Printed on one side of page
Page is smooth and perforated. Has a different feel from other Creative Haven paper (may be due to heavy black printing rather than actual paper)
Glue Bound
Designs stop well before the perforations due to the black background. You should be able to easily remove pages without design loss
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree

While I don’t plan to use these medium with my coloring book, I did test a variety of them to see how they worked with this paper:

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils were mixed. The soft lead pencils laid down good color but blending did not work well for me. My wax-based pencils worked better than the oil-based. Hard lead pencils dented the back of the page.

I preferred to remove pages from this book for coloring but if you want to keep it together, I suggest using a blotter page below the page you are working on. That will keep the rest of the book from being damaged by seeping ink or dents coming through.

55 Beautiful Collage Style Designs by Marty Noble printed on one side of cream page

ESCAPES Collage Art Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

Marty Noble is one of the first two artists to release coloring books on Dover’s new Escapes line. The books are still standard size but are presented horizontally with each of the designs being horizontal as well.

Ms. Noble is one of my favorite designers and this book has 55 wonderful designs in it. Some of the designs are reminiscent of those in her older books (steampunk, art nouveau, winter, etc.) but the designs are all original in their presentation. They are quite detailed and are a fun challenge for me to color. The designs run a large range of subjects and have the beautiful artwork I have come to expect from Ms. Noble.

The pages are perforated but I found them a tad more difficult to remove without tearing the pages. I think it may have to do with the width of the book being longer. After slightly tearing a couple of pages as I tried to remove them, I put a chipboard under the page and scored over the perforations with a box cutter (though a knife or scissor would have worked as well.) Once I did that, I could easily remove the page from the book without tearing it.

For my first project which is a wine collage, I used Marco Raffine coloring pencils which I was testing as well. For my second project which features fuchsias, I used my Prismacolor Premier Soft Core pencils along with a skin tone marker. I also tested a number of other coloring pencils, markers, and pens as well.

Here is an overview of what I found in this coloring book:

55 Collage style designs by Marty Noble
Printed on one side of cream color paper
Paper is perforated and has a slight roughness to to the touch
Book is presented horizontally
Designs stop before the perforations
Designs have a framing line around the outer edge for a natural and more finished stopping point
Glue Bound
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through the page (though water based spotted more than a complete bleed through)
Gel pens and India ink pens left shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils worked well with this paper. I found that wax-based pencils blended with a deeper color but oil-based pencils provided a deeper coverage with less effort. Hard lead pencils left dents on the back of the page.

While I removed my pages from the book to color, if you plan on coloring the pages while they are still in the book, you should consider using a blotter page behind your working page. That will help stop ink and dents from marring the page below.

31 Textile Style Designs in a variety of subjects by Marjorie Sarnat printed on one side of the page

Creative Haven Textile Designs Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marjorie Sarnat

Rating: 5 of 5

I own a couple of books by Majorie Sarnat published by a variety of publishing companies. With Textiles the overall feel of the designs are quite different from what I have come to expect from Ms. Sarnat but are certainly lovely, fun to color and show her usual artistic style. True to the theme, the designs are reminiscent of prints on cloth or wallpaper. There is a feeling of repeating elements just as you would expect on a printed textile.

There are a number of designs with lots of flowers but there are also such diverse subjects as Raggedy Anne, Sock Monkeys (which I chose for my first project), cowboys and cowgirls, travel posters, birds, and more. Because of the nature of the small elements, the designs are quite detailed to color. I used Polychromo coloring pencils for my first project as I wanted a pencil that I could sharpen to a good point. I’ll include a picture of the finished project along with the two colored samples from the book as well. I’ll add more photos as I finish projects in the future.

This is what I found in going through this coloring book:

31 Textile Repeating Style Designs by Marjorie Sarnat
Printed on one side of white page
Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated
Glue Bound
Designs stop before the perforation and have a framing line around the outer edge of the design
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

I recommend a blotter page be used under the page you are working on, regardless of coloring medium you use. That way you can keep the pages below free from seeping ink or marring dents.

31 Beautiful and Unusual Mandalas featuring Celestial Designs printed on one side of perforated page

Creative Haven Celestial Mandalas Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

I really enjoy Marty Noble’s coloring books and own a number of them. This coloring book includes 31 designs featuring suns and moons. Some of the designs are simply one or the other or even both. Other designs incorporate various figures for a larger variety of coloring choices.

I generally color mandalas that are patterns rather than recognizable subjects, so this book was a great addition of something new to my coloring choices. I chose a design featuring the sun as my first project. I colored my design with a variety of alcohol and water based markers. I’ll include a photo of it as well as the two colored samples from the book. As I finish more projects, I’ll update my photos to show more of them.

This is what I found in going through this coloring book:

31 Mandalas featuring Celestial Designs by Marty Noble
Printed on one side of white page
Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated
Glue Bound
Designs stop before the perforation
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

I either remove my pages from the book or use a blotter page under my working page. I do this to keep seeping ink and dents from ruining the pages below.

Beautiful Designs of Women and Flowers 31 Designs printed on one side of the perforated page

Creative Haven Belles and Blossoms Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Krisa Bousquet

Rating: 5 of 5

Belles and Blossoms is the first coloring book I have by Krisa Bousquet. The designs are quite lovely with beautiful young women surrounded by lots and lots of flowers. I found that the designs are extremely detailed and have many intricate and small areas to color. While they will be a challenge to color, I found that I enjoyed my first project and have already started my next one.

The designs have a swirling motion to them with layers and layers of detail. I used a variety of coloring pencils and ultra-fine markers to color all the tiny parts. I usually prefer a blank background for my project and I was really pleased with how my first one turned out utilizing the white space.

This is what I found in going through this coloring book:

31 Detailed and Intricate Designs featuring women and flowers
Printed on one side of white page
Page is white, slightly rough, and perforated
Glue Bound
Designs stop before the perforation
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through to some degree
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page
Coloring pencils work well with this standard Creative Haven paper. Soft lead lays down good color, layers and blends well. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

In order to preserve the rest of the book, I will either use a blotter page below the page I am working on or I will remove the page at the perforations before coloring.

Sleepy Time addition to the Color Me series 80 Designs printed on one side of paper

Color Me To Sleep: Nearly 100 Coloring Templates to Promote Relaxation and Restful Sleep (A Zen Coloring Book)

By: Lacy Mucklow

Rating: 5 of 5

Color Me to Sleep is my second full-size coloring book in this series. I so enjoyed the Fearless book that I immediately pre-ordered this book. Of the 80 designs in the book, 23 are what I would categorize as mandalas. There are additionally some designs which utilize a circular form as well as a couple of dream-catchers. The designs in this book are detailed and intricate. Some have small areas to color which may require sharp pencils or pens/markers with ultra-fine points.

The book has six chapters, which include: Peaceful Environments, Cozy Comforts, Quiet Getaways, Relaxing Routines, Sleep Scenes, and Fantasies and Dreams. Each chapter has a lead-in which describes the intent of the designs within. For instance, Peaceful Environments designs has images of the moon, stars, beds and other areas which are conducive to sleep. In Cozy Comforts, designs include scenes and items which make you cozy, such as wool socks, candles, and stuffed animals. The book is followed by an afterward by Alanna McGinn, who is certified sleep educator. She provides tips for getting a good night’s sleep as well as what to do when troubled by insomnia.

I have had sleep issues for a number of years and have found that a combination of coloring and then following it with reading works well for me to be able to relax enough to get to sleep.

I plan to color this book in its entirety (without removing any pages) and using it as a sleepy-time book for my grandchildren to look at when they are over for naptime or overnight. I’ll let my grandson choose which page I color next and have it finished by the time he comes to visit again. The pictures are so cute, I am sure children will love it. I think it will become a family book to be handed down for a long time.

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

80 Sleep Oriented Designs by Angela Porter
Designs are printed on one side of non-perforated paper
Sewn Binding
Designs do not merge into the binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens leave a shadow on the back of the page
Coloring pencils worked well with this paper. My soft lead pencils were easily blended and went on fairly thick without too much pressure. My hard lead pencils did not leave indents on the back of the page.

This is a fairly thick book and while I can get to the book to lay flat enough for my purposes others may find it uncomfortable.

All of the designs have either finished elements at the sides or have a framing line around the entire design. This provides a natural stopping point, saving me time, ink, and frustration. I always appreciate it when an artist adds this to their designs.

I will include some of the colored samples in the photos I post below and will update this review with my finished projects as I go along.

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Category Archives: Adult Color Books

Sherri Baldy My-Besties Bloomin Besties Coloring Book: Some of Sherri Baldy’s fan favorites Bloomin Besties are available as a coloring book ! You … Bestie, each page has a blank backside. .

By: Sherri Ann Baldy

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Woodcut Designs Coloring Book: Diverse Designs on a Dramatic Black Background (Adult Coloring)

By: Tim Foley

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Magical Mehndi Designs Coloring Book: Striking Patterns on a Dramatic Black Background (Adult Coloring)

By: Lindsey Boylan

Rating: 5 of 5

ESCAPES Mosaics Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Jessica Mazurkiewicz

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Flower Mandalas Coloring Book: Stunning Designs on a Dramatic Black Background (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

ESCAPES Collage Art Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Textile Designs Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marjorie Sarnat

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Celestial Mandalas Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

Creative Haven Belles and Blossoms Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Krisa Bousquet

Rating: 5 of 5

Color Me To Sleep: Nearly 100 Coloring Templates to Promote Relaxation and Restful Sleep (A Zen Coloring Book)

By: Lacy Mucklow

Rating: 5 of 5

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