Beauty in the Bible: An Adult Coloring Book, Premium Edition
By: Paige Tate
Rating: 5 of 5
This is the premium edition of Beauty in the Bible. I have the second volume in this series in the regular paper but had not purchased the first book. I was surprised (in a good way) to see that the publishing company had decided to step up the paper grade, add perforations and provide the designs in two sizes (both suitable for framing.) You get two of each design. The larger design will fit an 8 x 10 inch frame and the smaller design will fit a 5 x 7 inch frame.
The 24 designs are all Scripture-based with verse citations; however, I cannot provide the specific translation information as it is not included in the book. The images in the book are licensed from Shutterstock but for me, the importance of the book is in the words. As with my other book by this publisher, the Bible verse is the focus of the design though they are very nicely integrated with well-chosen licensed artwork. Most of the designs have many flowers which is fun for adding lots of color.
It appears that all of the designs from the first book are included in the premium edition (though they may be ordered slightly differently.) The big addition are the smaller versions of the designs, better paper quality and the perforated pages. I can compare these to the book I do own by this publisher and I am impressed by the changes. It appears that the publisher really listened to their customers and wanted to present the book in an upgraded format.
There were so many wonderful and inspiring designs to choose from and I have already completed four of them. For the first, I decided to use alcohol-based markers to complete the design and Verithin pencils to do the words. For the other three, I used three different types of coloring pencils and had great results from soft lead and hard lead alike. I noted that the paper absorbs markers quite well and you have to use a light hand to avoid feathering outside of the lines.
It was a real joy to color these designs. As I colored, I really thought about the verse and what it meant to me. It was a real comfort to me and exactly what I needed to meditate on.
This is the overview of what I found in this coloring book:
24 Scripture Based Designs in two sizes for 48 coloring opportunities
Printed on one side of perforated, white, slightly rough medium weight paper
Designs do not merge into the binding area
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper
Water-based markers either bled through or 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.
You should note that the smaller format designs are on a perforated page; however, you will need to cut the two apart for separate use (cutting line is included.) I was able to get the book to lay flat for coloring but I chose to remove my page from the book to use on a clipboard.