24 Fun and Easy to Color Designs for Adults and Children

I have all four books in this series which is being marketed to children by the publisher but as an adult colorist, I like both the pictures and the complexity they provide. The artist in this book is Emily Golden Twomey. This book (as well as her other book in this series) has designs which would traditionally be geared towards boys while the other two books (by another artist) are traditionally for girls. I like both styles.

The book is an interesting concept. The design you color is on one side of the page and a colored copy is on the back side of the proceeding page that way you can look at the finished design for inspiration. What it also means is that for me, as an adult colorist, my designs are printed on one side of the page and I don’t have to worry about ruining another design if my inks leak through. Usually, my books have white back pages, so these colorful ones are just pretty filler for me.

There are 25 designs (including the title page with a dragon, the bookplate page of various peppers, and the end page which is partly colored scooters.) The various designs include: circus designs, cowboy, animals, hot air balloons, and dinosaurs among others. The designs have a nice amount of complexity without having tiny intricate details. These are perfect for an adult who doesn’t want to strain their eyes or for a teenager or even an advanced younger child.

Here is an overview of what I found (details will follow below):

25 pages of designs
Printed on one side of non-perforated page (except for end page)
Sewn Binding
Designs merge into binding
Back of page has full color print of the next design page
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers, India ink and gel pens do not bleed through
Coloring pencils work well with this book

The designs are printed on one side of the page (which the exception of the last two designs which are printed on both sides of a single page. The paper is heavyweight and the coloring surface is a soft white as opposed to a bright white. All of the designs are black lines on white background (unlike the first in the series which had some black backgrounds.) The binding is sewn so you can remove pages by snipping a few threads. I was easily able to get the book to open flat for coloring.

I tested this book with my coloring medium (which I will list in the comments section below.) Here are my test results:

Only alcohol-based markers bleed through the page. My other wet medium (gel pens, India ink pens, and water-based markers) do not bleed through. Coloring pencils work well and blend easily. The hard lead pencils do not dent through the page.

If you want to use alcohol-based markers, you will mar the color image on the page below. I recommend using a blotter page below the page you are working on to keep ink from seeping further into the book.