Bible Study and Coloring book in one – designs printed one side of the page (text on opposite side)

Picturing Heaven: 40 Hope-Filled Devotions with Coloring Pages

By: Randy Alcorn, Illustrated by Lizzie Preston

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely Scripture-based coloring book with Devotionals by Randy Alcorn and illustrations by Lizzie Preston. The subject of the book is Heaven. What will Heaven look like and be like according to the Scriptures? The Scriptures and devotionals are on the left side of the open pages and the design for coloring is on the right side. The Bible translations used in the book are listed in the front and are fairly extensive.

I found that most of the designs were representations of the study on the facing page. Perhaps all of them are and a few were too subtle for me to grasp. In any case, I enjoy Ms. Preston’s work and will enjoy coloring this book.

The revelation to me are the devotionals by Mr. Alcorn. I had not read his books but will certainly pick them up. He has a wonderful way of keeping right to the heart of the subject both quickly and eloquently. Each study looks at and discusses a single subject regarding Heaven. Some subjects include: Eternal Freedom from Sorrow, At Last, We’ll Have Time for Everything, Will We Reunite with Our Favorite Pets?, Our Greatest Joy Made Greater, No More Pain, Tears, or Death and much more. I plan to make each devotional a Bible Study lesson for myself. As there are 40 in the book, at the rate of one per week, the book will last close to a year.

The only one nit that I have with the book is the pre-printed flat gold tone on each of the designs. No matter what coloring medium I use, I will not be able to match the color or the texture of the printed color. I will probably use whatever medium I choose for the rest of the design and go over the pre-printed color to make it my own. However, it would have been much better to not have it to deal with.

This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.

40 illustrations by Lizzie Preston based on Picturing Heaven Devotionals by Randy Alcorn.

Designs printed on one side of the page (with Scriptures and Devotionals printed on opposite facing page.)

Paper is heavyweight, white, lightly smooth, and non-perforated. Each design has pre-printed goldtone elements.

Sewn Binding

Designs do run into the binding area.

Book opens fairly flat for coloring if you crease the spine.

Alcohol-based markers bleed rapidly through the page. If you use these, you will mar the wording on the back of the page. I suggest using card stock or several sheets of paper as a blotter to keep ink from seeping through to the next design.

Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens did not bleed through. Some of the larger nib gel pens required additional drying time.

Colored pencils worked well with the paper. I was able to get good pigment from multiple layers of the same color. I was able to layer multiple colors and to blend with a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils.

While you can remove pages by either cutting them out of snipping binding threads, I will not be removing pages from this book as I want to keep the studies and illustrations together.

Here are some sample photos from the coloring book: