Color Me Happy

More Kaleidoscopic Designs

2009-07-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Kaleidoscopic Designs

2009-07-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

Love this book. Too much. All the line drawings in Kaleidoscopic Designs are done by hand. It's utterly amazing to think about as you're coloring in the pages. Very fun. Highly recommended! I'm going to post all the pictures I've colored from this book, one a day, so keep coming back!

M

Paisley Designs

2009-07-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I love the 'design' sorts of coloring books. Those and the fashion ones are my favs. I love using bold markers for the designs. Paisley Designs is another Marty Noble book, and I love all his work. This one is a must have! If you click on the link, it'll take you to Amazon where I see they have a few colored examples uploaded. Very cool!

Pre-Raphaelite Paintings

2009-07-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

Color Your Own Pre-Raphaelite Paintings by Marty Noble is another keeper. I like when the books have colored pictures of the actual paintings on the back covers so you can chose to either duplicate the original painting, or give it your own idea of color. I did a little of both with this example.

Heart Designs

2009-07-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Hearts seem so innocent, so...kind. Yet this coloring book just may drive you mad. It has the simplest designs, and then very busy ones. As you can tell by the colored pic, I like busy. The pages are a little thin in this one, so if you use markers, it will bled through and you won't be able to use the pic on the other side of the page. But check out Heart Designs by Wil Stegenga for hours of fun.

Floral Bouquets

2009-06-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Very delicate drawings fill the pages of Floral Bouquets by Charlene Tarbox. These are so pretty, you'll want to cut out a page and hang it on your fridge when you're done. Hey, if the kids can do it, why not us?

Dazzling Designs

2009-06-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

This one is a bunch of optical illusion sort of designs. They range from simple to drive you mad when it comes to small details. Fun to work with. Check out Dazzling Designs by Koichi Sato

The Far East

2009-06-03T16:51:00.001-07:00

Ruth Heller's Designs for Coloring books are always awesome. Clean lines and only one design on each page, so the back is blank (great if you use markers to color like I do). These books are worth the little higher price tag as well.

RUTH HELLER'S FAR EAST

Poster Masterpieces

2009-03-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

I've been a little reluctant to check out any of the 'color your own' series, since most of the pictures are adapted from paintings, and depending on which artists does the adapting, they may or may not make for good coloring. This is another Marty Noble book, so it rocks. Color Your Own Poster Masterpieces features a lot of posters from the Art Nouveau time period. There are 30 posters to color.

Art Nouveau Patterns

2009-03-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

I'll buy any coloring book that has designs or repetitive patterns. I think the finished artwork always looks so cool. And there's more planning involved when you have to determine color matches and what is going to repeat most and which colors to chose as highlights or accents. Never thought coloring could be so challenging, eh? That's why I do it. Sometimes it's a mindless relaxation, a means to just not think (beyond selecting colors), other times it really is a focused project. Either way is cool. Art Nouveau Patterns is another Marty Noble book. All the Dover coloring books by Noble are must-haves. There are 30 designs in this book. As with all the Dover books, if you use marker, even though the paper is pretty thick, they will bleed through. So you have to decide if you can do without the design on the back of the page. But if you use colored pencils, you're good to go.

Wondrous Wizards

2009-03-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

I realize I forgot to color her hair on this one. Hmm, probably would have made gold or black. The gray on the overjacket is actually silver gel pen. Had to have a bit of sparkle for a wizard, don't you know. Wondrous Wizards is a fun book if you like fantasy drawings. Mostly male wizards, but there are a few females in it as well.

Empire Fashions

2009-03-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have ALL of the DOver fashion coloring books. All of them. If you haven't noticed yet that coloring is my obsession, then keep coming back to the blog; you'll learn sooner or later. ;-) I'm not too keen on the Empire time period, but I do like coloring the intricate details of the dresses. Tom Tierney's Empire Fashions is another must have. You'll spot Napoleon and Josephine in this one as well.

Intricate Butterflies

2009-03-09T08:42:00.000-07:00

I love all the new Intricate coloring books! They all have 45 designs to color. The pages are a little thin, though the backs are blank, but some marker bleed-through is experienced, so put a sheet of paper behind your design if markers are your thing.

Intricate Butterflies by Chuck Abraham is a must-have. I see he's got an Intricate Valentine book planned as well. You know I'll grab that one when it comes out!

Coloring Mandalas

2009-03-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

So call this one my Goth Mandala. :-) And obviously my scanner is too small for the nice wide square pages in this spiral-bound book. Coloring Mandalas by Susanne F. Fincher is a keeper. There's 72 designs inside. Only one on each page, so the backs are white to allow for bleed-through if you use markers. Essential, if you ask me.

Updates!

2009-02-20T16:41:00.001-08:00

Added a big handful of new coloring books to the Miscellaneous page at the Coloring Addict's site!

Designs for Coloring

2009-02-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

The Ruth Heller's Designs for Coloring series is awesome. All the pictures are absolutely amazing and fun to color. One of my favorites is INSECTS AND SPIDERS. Don't be queasy about it, this is a fun book! I used gold and silver gel pens to highlight areas on the butterfly and moth's wings in this one. Markers do tend to bleed through a bit in this book so keep a sheet of paper handy to place behind the page before coloring.
[Note: The book I have was purchased years ago and 'Spiders' is in the title. I see the book shown at Amazon, but with the same ISBN has removed that word. Maybe it was freakin' the peoples out.]

Tales of Great Dragons

2009-02-16T13:02:00.001-08:00

An excellent book put out by Bellerophon. This publisher always has exquisite detail in its drawings. It appears that some of the designs are taken directly from texts and maybe even paintings. Tales of Great Dragons is a keeper coloring book for me.
This picture was fun. I used silver gel pen on the wings and gold for other highlights.

Designer Doodles

2009-02-13T13:35:00.001-08:00

Designer Doodles by Christine Dymond by Search Press. This is a nice over-sized book with 12 big pictures to color. Lots of small details that will keep you busy on one picture for hours. Days, even. This example was one of the less-busy pictures. The scan is a little crooked and the bottom is cut off, but that's because the picture was too big for my scanner. They also only have one design per page, so if you use markers (like I do) it won't soak through to a design on the back. And there's a 'cut here' dotted line on each page so you can post them on your fridge, if you like. Hey, I do that once in a while. :-) The book is a little more spendy at $9.95, but well worth it to the Coloring Addict.

[Note: I just checked Amazon and this book is sold out, and you can only buy used for a rather more expensive price. Yikes. Wait for this one to come back in stock if you're interested.]

Intricate Ornaments

2009-01-17T07:59:00.000-08:00

Another book in the 'Intricate' series that I just discovered. Heck, Christmas may be past us, but that doesn't mean you can't color Xmas pics. This book rocks. It's filled with intricately detailed Christmas Ornaments, and there are no duplicates. It's a bit more expensive than the Dover books, at $6.95, but well worth the coloring fun!

Intricate Ornaments: 45 Christmas Designs to Color

Intricate Eggs

2008-12-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

Whew! Very long time since I posted. Sorry about that. Is anyone even out there who reads this blog? Post! Let me know if you like to continue to see colored pics from books. I'm going to try and post more often, at least once a week. Heck, my scanner was buried for months under office ephemera. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it.

This coloring book, Intricate Eggs, is cool. Over 40 different designs, all different. Each is an egg with a graphic design in it. You don't need to save it for Easter. :-) The paper is a little thin, but if you use markers to color, just put a piece of paper behind the picture when starting.

Updates

2008-07-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

Whew! Sorry, haven't posted here for a while. Have colored a bit in the two months, and will post a picture this week. But for now, I wanted to let you all know about the updates to the Coloring Addicts Page and Store. I added 50 new titles to the web page. Lots of Stained Glass coloring books. The Chinese Kites one looks awesome. I'm drooling for the Color Your Own Poster Masterpieces to come out in October. And I also added Mermaids and Thai Decorative Designs to my 'wish' list at Amazon.

Check them all out here.

And don't forget I've got the Coloring Addict's store at Amazon where you can view all the books by cover instead of just the list I have at the web site. I've added more titles there. Lots of sets in the stained glass section.

I'm planning to do a contest in August, so keep checking back!
M

As Big as It Gets

2008-05-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Do you really like to color? I mean really really? And you love getting lost on the page? Then you need the REALLY BIG COLORING BOOK. There's an awesome company, Really Big Coloring Books, that sells, well, big coloring books. They're about 18"x 24" in size. Very cool. Very big. Mostly for kids, but I can't imagine adults wouldn't have a fun time with these as well.

I have a copy of the Really Big Butterfly Coloring Book, and it is awesome. (Nope, no scanned pics today because it's just too big to scan.) Great for colored pens and crayons, but the markers tend to bleed through a bit. What a great way to share an afternoon with a child, sprawled over one of these. Check out their website!

Fantastical Fun!

2008-05-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a neat coloring book I discovered from a fellow writer. Laramie Sasseville designed and illustrated this entire book, and it's really quite cool. A Discordian Coloring Book. Click the link and check it out!

2008-04-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it's been a while since I posted, so I scanned a bunch of pictures today. I know I said the Paisley book was my favorite a few weeks back, but if I had to pick an all-time favorite it would be DECORATIVE TILE DESIGNS by Marty Noble. I'm planning to buy this one again. Why? Well, I only use markers, because I like the bright colors, but they bleed through a little. Not a lot, but enough to make coloring on the other side of the page useless. So now that I've colored every page I possibly can, it's time to buy a new one so I can color all the ones I missed. I love this book that much. There's so much detail. Each picture should take you a couple hours, perhaps spread over a few coloring sessions. I've been listening to Oprah and Eckhart's A NEW EARTH on podcast, and coloring these pics as I do. Check out the cool designs...

Imaginative Patterns

2008-04-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

There are five or six books in the ROGER BURROWS IMAGES coloring book series. All feature geometric patterns that can occupy a colorist for hours. That is if your sanity survives that long. :-) I suspect a secret underlaying attempt to drive a person bonkers with these pictures. The spaces are so small, and there are so many, and if you color the wrong space with the red when it should have been yellow, well! Whew! Probably these pictures should be worked on in small doses. The sample is not one of the busier pictures from this book.

M