2020 update: I no longer have time for coloring books, but my overall recommendation: colored pencil works on all, and a few may have paper that can work with light watercolor or markers.
Coloring books have been all the rage lately – everyone’s talking about them! Check out the articles in Huffington Post and Parade, just for a few. It’s as though the rest of the world is finding out what we as artists and crafters have always known – coloring is relaxing!
What is the straight skinny? From Urban Dictionary: the bare, whole, and honest truth about a situation.
As I’ve shared some of the pages colored in my books, I’ve received lots of the same questions – and this post is an attempt to answer them. Please watch the video and then read info below in this ginormous post. (Did I say ginormous? I think it needs to be in all caps like GINORMOUS!)
This is a long video so pull up a chair!
The Questions
- Which books are good for which medium? Every book is on different paper. Some are thinner or thicker, some are printed on one side or two. You need to test for yourself – generally colored pencil on all, and others maybe a few other mediums.
- Which ones bleed through the back of the paper? Pretty much all of them, just some minimal exceptions. I always put a piece of cardstock behind whatever I am coloring or painting in the book. However – consider there are a LOT of pages in each book, and think about how fast you color. How many months worth of coloring joy do you have with just coloring one side? Question answered.
- Can I treat the paper with anything to keep it from warping? Some folks use different art mediums to coat pages first. I find that’s overkill for the way I work; if I want art to be fancier than I can get in a coloring book, I just begin to create a work of art instead and save my mediums for those pieces.
- What do you do with your pages when you’re finished? I leave them in the book. Just like I did when I was a kid! To me these are not finished works of art.
- If I frame it, will it fade in the light? If you use artist quality mediums, you might be okay; I’m not certain if really awful paper and really lovely paints cancel each other out. If you use regular craft markers, it’ll likely fade – so just change the picture out periodically, that’s all.
- Will coloring in these help me become a better artist? Yes and no. No because you’ll likely never be coloring on these papers in your regular art or craft projects. Techniques need to be altered, sometimes drastically, to work in these books. But YES because any time spent with a pen or brush in your hand is a good thing, right? I try out color combos in my coloring books – that’s a great way to learn how colors look together.
- Can I flatten a page that got crinkly with water? Try ironing it carefully between sheets of copy paper. However if you use anything thick, or paints with mica, those may iron off on the copy paper.
The Mediums: Test yours!
We as artists and crafters have a variety of mediums at our disposal. These books, though, were made for a general audience – people who pick up pencils or crayons at the drug store. Keep that in mind as you try things out! Dedicate your least-favorite page in a book to testing and try out all the mediums, keeping good notes on what it was and how you applied it. I’ve listed below a bunch of ideas – but please, try out what you have! Don’t make it hard on yourself, unless Santa needs to tuck an item into your stocking, of course, just put it on your Christmas list!
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- Crayons: Why not! Just get a good sharpener.
- Pencils: I like Prismacolor pencils and Polychromos – but with coloring books – use whatever kind you like. Cheap ones from the drug store are usually just fine. With most coloring books, you’ll use up a lot of the medium, and lots of folks don’t want to use up expensive brand pencils. For a sharpener, I love the Quietsharp.
- Polychromos Pencils EH – BLICK …..Color hex chart
- Prismacolor pencils EH – BLICK ….Color hex chart
- Luminance pencils BLICK AMZ ….Color hex chart
- Quietsharp Pencil Sharpener AMZ – BLICK
- Fineline Pens: Before getting to markers, let’s talk pens. Some of the books, as you’ll see below, have either areas you can zentangle (doodle) in – or they have SUCH tiny sections to color that you really do need a tiny nib!
- Watercolor Pencils: With these, color on the paper, then move the color around with a damp brush. There are some less expensive pencils available but these provide the best color:
- Water-based Markers: There are lots of options here! Try coloring both on the paper, and test coloring on an acrylic block or a piece of plastic and picking up color with a brush. Again, lots of brands out there.
- Tombow: they seem to work most consistently and break down into watercolor best across different books; the brush nibs seem to push the color around best on many of the books I tried out.
- Marvy Le Plume: I love the teeeeny tiny writing nib end! They also have a brush nib – they sometimes pill a little when applied direct-to-paper. But they watercolor pretty nicely.
- Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers: These have an actual brush for a nib. On some papers colors blend without water, but not on all. The brush nib can be too wide for tiny detailed areas.
- Watercolors: These can be as inexpensive as dollar store paints or as high end as you want to go! My favorite two types for coloring books, and again using very little water:
- Gansai Tambi
- Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box
- Daniel Smith Watercolors are my favorites – tube paints. But for coloring books you can get a ton of colors on dot cards (See video here about that)
- Silver Brush Black Velvet Round #8 EH – BLICK – AMZ
- Alcohol-based Markers: I wouldn’t recommend these in general for blending in almost any coloring book. The color blends within the fibers of the paper, and there’s not really enough fiber for the color to get into with these thin pages.
Samples
Links aren’t available for most of these years past when this post was made – but the assessment of the brands likely still stands; companies may have changed papers over time but they usually stick with one thing.
Creative Haven: Least expensive of the ones I tried. I only have two but I assume they’re all on the same paper. Images are very detailed, lots of cute ones, but blending colors in these is more than a little challenging.
- Specs: 64 pages – 8¼” × 11″ (21 cm × 28 cm)
- Printing and paper: 31 designs in each book, printed on one side only; pages are perforated. Thin paper.
- Authors and designers — there’s a wide collection from a variety of people: African Designs, Art Nouveau Animals, Art Nouveau Designs, Creative Cats, Entangled, Flower Fashion Fantasies, In Bloom, Japanese Prints, Lotus Designs, Modern Tattoo, Nature, Mandalas, NatureScapes, Steampunk, and Whimsical Gardens
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, crayon, and any watercolor medium with very light use of water.
Calm and Meditation – On extremely thin paper, but the lines? Nice heavy lines. I’m going to try some crayon with these since my crayons can probably handle it…stay tuned for the photo above to change out when I get time to do that!
Zolocolor: Designs in this book are widely varied – some loose and scribbly, some geometric, but all very graphical. You can do fun zentangling amid all the shapes, both organic and rigid ones. Some have a lot of black ink, some less. Mediums above: Top/back doodled piece is done with Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, the other two use a mix of Tombow and Marvy LePlume pens, no water.
- Specs: 96 pages. 8½” × 11″ (22 cm × 28 cm).
- Printing and paper: 46 designs in the book, printed on one side only. Thin paper.
- Authors and designers —Byron Glaser and Sandra Higashi.
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, crayon, any waterbased pens – the spaces are small so pilling shouldn’t be a bad issue. For Zentangling, the Staedtler or Copic Multiliners are fab.
Charley Harper Coloring Books: Renown illustrator Charley Harper has a unique style that lends well to coloring books – they’re one of the most fun image styles I came across. You can see more of his work HERE….expect a CASE of his style sometime, I think that’d be fun! The paper in this book is thin but has less of a coating than in other books, so I think it’ll have some interesting technique effects – but still limit the amount of water. I want to give this one a go with regular old crayons!
- Specs: 64 pages. 9″ × 12″ (23 cm × 31 cm)
- Printing and paper: 32 designs in each of the two books, printed on one side only. Thin paper.
- Authors and designers —Charley Harper
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, Inktense pencil with light water, crayon, any watercolor medium with very light use of water.
Color Me – There are a few books in this series (Stress Free, Calm, and Happy…pick what YOU need most!), and they’re created by an art therapist as well as an artist – so maybe these have magical powers?! The papers have colored printing on the edges and back sides of most of them. Water or Copic pulls that color through to the front while you’re coloring but seems to dry back fine.
- Specs: 208 pages. 8½” × 9½” (22 cm × 24 cm).
- Printing and paper: 32 designs in the book, printed on 2 sides with color. Thin paper, slightly slick.
- Authors and designers —Lacy Mucklow and Angela Porter.
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, crayon, most watercolor mediums with very light use of water, test which one works best for you.
Just Add Color – Very interesting designs in these books! Lots of unique modern lines. I picked up the Animals but who knows, I may need more. (Botanicals, Carnival, Circus, Day of the Dead, Folk Art, Geometric Patterns, Mid-Century Modern Animals, and Modern Patterns). The art above was colored in Inktense pencils, using just a little water.
- Specs: 64 pages. 8½” × 10″ (22 cm × 25 cm).
- Printing and paper: 30 designs in the book, printed on 1 side. A little heavier paper than most.
- Authors and designers —Jenn Ski (for this book pictured) and various (other books).
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, crayon, most watercolor mediums with very light use of water, test which one works best for you.
Just Add Color – Very interesting designs in these books! Lots of unique modern lines. I picked up the Animals but who knows, I may need more. (Botanicals, Carnival, Circus, Day of the Dead, Folk Art, Geometric Patterns, Mid-Century Modern Animals, and Modern Patterns). The art above was colored in Inktense pencils, using just a little water.
- Specs: 64 pages. 8½” × 10″ (22 cm × 25 cm).
- Printing and paper: 30 designs in the book, printed on 1 side. A little heavier paper than most.
- Authors and designers —Jenn Ski (for this book pictured) and various (other books).
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, crayon, most watercolor mediums with very light use of water, test which one works best for you.
Animal Kingdom – A wide variety of image styles. The paper is a nice bright white, so you can get intense colors. Mediums above: Prismacolor pencil moth, mandala in Clean Color pen (limited blending), Prismacolor fox, Copic butterfly floral – flat, no blending on this paper.
- Specs: 96 pages. 9¾” × 9¾” (25 cm × 25 cm).
- Printing and paper: 90 designs in the book, printed on 2 sides. Thin paper but bright white.
- Authors and designers —Millie Marotta.
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, some watercolor mediums with very light use of water.
Secret Garden – one of the most popular books! Detailed illustrations with hidden images, suggestions for drawing images to complete the picture. Above the fish are done in Copic – very light touch to try to get limited blending. Tree is done with Marvy LePlume pens. I have heard there’s a version of this book with heavier paper, but I did not have that one to test.
- Specs: 96 pages. 10″ x 9.9″
- Printing and paper: 90 designs in the book, printed on 2 sides. Thin paper, an off-white.
- Authors and designers —Johanna Basford
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, crayon, most watercolor mediums with very light use of water, test which one works best for you. Copic does very limited blending.
Art Therapy – The only books with hard covers. Imagery in the one I have varies widely, taken from stained glass art. Some drawn well, others not so much.
- Specs: 128 pages. 8¼” × 11¾” (21 cm × 30 cm).
- Printing and paper: 124 designs in the book, printed on 2 sides. Slightly heavier than some papers.
- Authors and designers —unknown
- Mediums I prefer: Colored Pencil, crayon, most watercolor mediums with very light use of water, test which one works best for you.
Pepin Artist Coloring Books
These are an exception to the rest of the books; I’ve shared about these books before, and I have more information and samples for you now. (See that earlier post HERE – video included).
What makes them different: The paper. It’s lightweight drawing paper. That means it’ll accept mediums in a very different way than the other books listed so far. The illustrations are made with very thin lines and they’re halftone – meaning they’re lighter than black. So your finished piece can look like a no-line painting!
Note that they also have fewer pages, and are the most expensive of the ones included in this review – though spending less than $20 for this much fun is really a deal anyway. (Think about it – if you bought a pad of drawing paper – add on beautiful illustrations – and the cost doesn’t seem nearly so bad, right?) Specs for all these:
- Specs: 16 pages. 10″ x 13.5″. (25 x 34.5 cm)
- Printing and paper: 16 designs in the book, printed on 1 side. Off white lightweight drawing paper
- Authors and designers —Pepin van Roojen
- Mediums I prefer: Light watercolor using some kind of water-based markers is my favorite for these books. They’re large format which makes pencil take a long time, but it’s also gorgeous. Copic doesn’t blend at all, really. But take the bullet/writing nib of a water-based marker, draw along the thin lines of the drawing, then take a just-damp brush and color inside the shape. The color should move with most water-based pens.
Interested in learning more?
Students highly recommend the Colored Pencil Jumpstart class to learn how to select colors, apply them, do some shading and blending, and grasp new techniques! You can use your coloring books for homework rather than buying the stamps, too. Enjoy 10% off with coupon code START!
Thank you Sandy for the in depth look into coloring books…your video and post was very helpful and informative! Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂
I have a couple of these books, but I love the images so much that I can’t get myself to color any of them!
I bought the ArtNouveau coloring book. I was so disappointed that it was so light. I had planned to make copies (for my use) on thicker paper so I could try different mediums and color palettes just for a fun comparison. But I can’t get copies now. I do love some of the patterns but was expecting more floral instead of figures. Oh well. I saw that someone had changed up their book into an art journal and that is a brilliant idea.
I had said it was light weight….tried to warn you.
Thank you Sandy. I have three books, all with different paper. So far I LOVE using my colored pencils. Have used some markers that work okay. I may try my watercolor pencils and see how they do. These books are very relaxing as I don’t worry about what they look like – it is just fun for me.
Sandy, I learned so much from your video on colouring books. Thank you. I feel myself tensing up when I think of colouring (taught as a child not to go outside the lines) but I might just give it a try.
Sandy ~ Thank you for the time you invested researching for this blog post. It was very informative. I appreciate this information. In discussion with some friends, I comment that everyone is finally finding out what we’ve known for years. We’ve been enjoying spending time coloring and know that it reduces stress. I want to purchase a book or two for my sister. She is going through some stressful days and needs something that will help her “forget” for a little while. This info will help me in making my choice.
Having just discovered Copic markers (and spent a considerable amount of money on them! ) I wanted to make the most of them but also try the Enchanted Forest colouring book. I used bleed proof paper to trace the image with a multiliner (thereby saving my book and also working on my line work) and then computed in with Copics. It also meant if there was a page which didn’t particularly grab me I could add bits from other pages to make it more my style.
I never thought of all of the mediums that you could use in a coloring book. I personally got annoyed with crayons and upgraded to PrismaColor Pencils. It’s nice coloring when I get stressed out with my hobbies or life in general. Hopefully you enjoy what I’m currently working on in my coloring book on Instagram. It was exciting to see the different variety of books out there and know what I can move into next when mine is full.
Thanks ever so for doing this vid for us! Great way to keep track of samplings. When I first saw how long the vid was, I was certain I would take a quick peek and save the majority for ‘later’ because I needed to get my day started,HA! Joke was on me, I stayed through the very end and enjoyed it entirely! I truly appreciate how you put your vids together. They are informative, organized and CONCISE. Thank you again for giving me yet another well thought out instructional piece.
Such wonderful information about these books. I have not tried any yet but a friend of mine has and finds it very enjoyable.
Thanks for the info. I found it to be most helpful. I have some of the books and have just started to color them. This review is most timely.
Thanks for the detailed video. I really enjoy coloring and find your videos very helpful. I have a couple of coloring books and have just started coloring in one of them. I find the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners to be great for small areas.
Why are we so addicted to color and coloring? We begin when we are children and may stop for a while during our growing years. Then, when we are older we return to this fascinating world of coloring. I’m thinking that a finished page can be cut into pieces and used for card making…with or without solid eye-resting borders in many shapes and sizes. My world is expanding exponentially.
Sandy your posts are so inspiring and dangerous for my pocketbook! Just went over to Ellen ‘s store and bought a couple of the smaller and one larger Pepin coloring book and I can’t wait to start ! Going to use marvy and distress markers…
Hey Sandy!! I am loving my coloring books! I only have a couple and even found one at Wal-Mart! Crazy! The paper in these is actually decent as well. I love sitting on my couch at night after the kids are in bed and just letting go and relax while I color!! Thanks so much for posting this review on all the books you have tried out! It helps a lot.
Thank you for showing these different coloring books and putting the time and effort into the video! I like the sneak peak inside to see all the different designs. I also am thrilled to see the comparison of the different mediums. I love the Zigs, but usually use them as a wash instead of directly onto the paper. The Prismacolor pencils work beautifully, but like you say in the video – it takes a lot of time and effort to get the desired effect. I personally like using my water color pencils and wink of stella – I love the sparkle!
Thank you so much for this review. I am going to spend my lunch hour watching the video!!! Great insight. Keep calm and Color on!!!!
sandy, thanks for the wonderful and complete video! I have one of the “Just Add Color” books, and I really like the paper so far. Haven’t tried your favorites yet, though. Thanks for showing me another use for my Zigs and I might try pulling out my retired SU markers since they’re just sitting there. Not sure they’d work as well as To bow or Marvy, but why not give them a try, huh??
Sandy, if anyone can turn coloring books into art it is you!! Thanks for your awesome and lengthy video. So informative. I did purchase a Pepin coloring book and I can’t wait to get started and begin my gotta have them all coloring book collection!! God bless you!
I love the secret garden one. It’s already provided me with hours and hours of coloring. The pages on mine are decently thick – like cardstock. I wonder if its popularity prompted cheaper paper.
Sandy, I have been doing some coloring lately in the adult coloring books. I have been using color pencils for most of it, but did try some glaze pens on one page. I can’t say that I liked the results for the glaze pens, but love to color with the pencils. Thanks for all your inspiration and the chance to win.
Wow! There was so much information in this video and post. Thank you, thank you! While some might complain the video was too long, I see huge value in it. Not only did you preview books (the flip through’s) that would be really great for people who can only purchase stuff on line (if they live in more remote places) but you also demonstrated the different mediums. This is really helpful for people who are trying to figure out if their favorite medium will work with one of these books. Wonderfully informative video! 🙂
Thanks Sandy for a great review. I really enjoyed seeing how all of the different meduims worked on the different papers. I have a couple of colouring books, one of which I really loved the images but the paper was quite suspect, so I photocopied the pages, some on watercolour paper on which I used Zig brush markers and some on 200gsm Colortech printing card which really worked perfectly for alcohol markers. I am fairly new to your blog and already, I have enjoyed your videos so much, thank you.
Thanks Sandy for all of your research. You are so thorough. I love the coloring books. Maybe someone will create a book with really good paper.
I’m now looking forward to trying some of these techniques. I love coloring with my copics and plain pencils weren’t doing it for me in the book I bought. Love what I saw of these 2 books and the hot off the press and national parks ones. I’ll have to do some hunting. Thanks for all the good info.
Great video. Lots of good information. I have gotten some of these color books in hopes of learning better techniques. Your videos really help.
I never grew out of coloring, lol. Been doing it as long as I can remember and have quite the collection of mediums and color books. Love that it is now getting the recognition it deserves! I share my creativity daily on Instagram as create.365
Thanks for the great input on what they are and what they aren’t.
Great tutorial Sandy. I do turn some of my colored pages into cards and I am loving it!. http://cajunqueencrafts.blogspot.com for pictures of them
That was a great review! Thank you so much for doing all of that work! I am in love with Joanne Fink’s work. She is amazing and I would be so grateful to win one of her coloring books. Thanks so much for the opportunity to win!
Sandy, I just got my Zig pens and I’m in love. I’m greatful for this review on coloring books and how zig will work with different papers, in the different books. You’re such and inspiration and I’ve learned many things from you. Thank you and God Bless!
Sandy, you did a ton of work on this! I already had some personal learnings from books I had bought. Now that I’m adding the learnings from this exhaustive report from you, I’m know where I want to be (or not) on coloring books. Thanks for all the work you put into this.
Exceptional information. My experience has been with the lesser quality paper books, so colored pencils/markers are about all that works – but truly – that is just fine. I like the idea of transferring a scanned copy onto a different substrate. If there is something you just love in a lesser quality paper, then Problem solved!
I’ve been considering whether coloring would be fun for me for a few months, but I have yet to try it. Since I have no drawing skills of my own, I think it would be a great place to start. Thanks for sharing your talent and knowledge with us!
Thanks for providing us with such an in-depth review, Sandy. So very helpful for a novice like myself. I think I will be investing in a small set of colored pencils to give these coloring books a try. Loved coloring as a child, and these days now, can always use something that relaxes.
You posted this at the perfect time for me! I’ve been considering getting a few adult coloring books to work with mu alcohol markers. So glad you went through and advised what mediums work on different books. Thanks so much for that! You are so very talented and I love your work and tips.
Thank you sandy for all the info as always an amazing video with lots of ideas, time to get out the colouring books!!!
Ah, coloring books. Whenever I was really sick as a kid my mom would get me a new coloring book and crayons…fond memories. These are a huge improvement though. I may have to try. Thanks for your reviews.
What a great, comprehensive review! Thanks so much Sandy! I’ve never tried adult coloring books, but I would love to try it. It seems like it would be very zen and relaxing. 🙂 TFS and a chance to win! Hugs, Kristina
Thank you so much for all the time, info & detail in this post & video. These coloring books are my new favorite thing. I might have squeed a bit when I saw how you “tested” the books & mediums cuz I did the same thing! Cuz I wanna be like you when I grow up. (Even tho I’m pretty sure I’ve got more than a few years on you.) I’ve wanted to try some of the books with the mandalas & Turkish images, but am very intimidated by the tinyness of the designs. Just not sure I have the patience for that.
One medium I’ve tried with great “success” (I use that term very loosely) is Prismacolor Verithin Pencils. The lead is harder than regular Prisma color pencils, but they are fantastic for the tiny areas in some of the books. They hold a sharp point better than any other pencils I use, but blending is tricky.
This was an exhaustive effort on your part I am sure, but the best I have seen anywhere! I haven’t had much luck using anything but colored pencil or gel pens on most of the books I have tried, but seeing what you’ve done, I will try some of the markers or watercolor mediums, just with a light hand. Have you used gel pens on your oages at all? I find they work well, especially in those small, detailed pages. Thanks for the chance to we a copy of this book, it looks lovely.
As I said I did not and don’t plan to do more mediums or books than presented here.
Wow a fabulous informative review of every question I’ve been hearing.I’m so glad you tackled this..
Thanks for this ginormous effort and information.
I do not have a ton of these books, maybe 4, but I do have The Secret Garden book. I have a light box and plan to transfer the hummingbird page onto embroidery fabric so that I can embroider it. I plan to color my page with pencil and then use my needle and dmc threads to “color” on fabric!! Two for the price of one.
Thank you for sharing this. I have just started using the “adult” coloring books and can’t wait to try some of these techniques.
is it international giveaway? i love the little post card ones and still live bouquet .. i only prefer using watercolor n watercolor pencils .. after watching this i think should try some other mediums too
This was a lot of work for you to undertake. Thanks for all your efforts.
Donna
Thank you for your review. This will be helpful for holiday shopping. I get my niece something art related each year.
I have a ton of these books and tend to tear out pages and scan them in then print them onto whatever medium I want to use to color that particular page in. I am lucky enough to have a wide format printer so I can print onto watercolor paper fairly easily. If I color directly into the book I tend to just use pencils. I don’t care for any of the markers in these books at all. Thanks so much for doing this video, it was very enlightening and I also appreciate the opportunity to win one of these books! ☺️
I have been wanting to know more abouthan these adult coloring books. I see them everywhere. I have been thinking about getting some and since I have been coloring stamps just for fun and since I seem to like it a lot I think I will get some. Thank you for the cideo, blog past and the giveaway. Thank you Sandy:)