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!
I copy the pages onto hammermill 100lb cover copy paper (for my use only, #respectintellectualproperty) and color with my copics. I used to color with pencils in the books but with arthritis I need a sturdier implement with better flow.
Very, very, very informative video. I am glad you decided to post this in the 40+ mins length. for me, it went quickly and I do not see how you could have really left anything out and still had a comprehensive video. I love the idea of taking the least favorite sketch and doing test colors on it!
Thank you for sharing all of these different coloring books, especially what mediums can be used with them. I haven’t joined the craze because I feel like if I’m going to spend time coloring, I should do something with it, like make a card. It might be nice to color just for fun, though!
Wow! Thanks for going over so many adult coloring books. I just bought Creative Haven’s WinterScapes from Michael’s to remember real Winter weather – I’m a WA transplant living in SoCal LOL! I am ready to start coloring now after watching your video 🙂
I have joined the coloring book craze myself. I have been playing with different mediums too. Lots of fun. then incorporating parts of my pages into my art journals. thanks as always for sharing.
Thans so much for doing this video, I have been wondering how different mediums would work on these books. It was great this morningto sit down and wwatch and learn.
Oh what a lovely post Sandy, came her to visit from your Periscope. I only own one coloring book, but it’s super lovely (swedish artist). Thanks for all the inspiration!
Your artistic and teaching abilities are AMAZING! I have always admired your work.
Great video — you answered all my questions and addressed my expectations. I hadn’t considered putting ink on a block. I learned about other mediums I hadn’t considered. Now am going to start my shopping list. Thank you for sharing your insights!
I got my first adult coloring book in the 70’s and have been collecting and coloring ever since. Yours is the most beautiful selection of these books I’ve seen!
Thanks Sandy for all the great information! When I am tired or distracted, I love to pull out a coloring book and color away. For me, it is all about the process rather than the completed project and so it is very relaxing. You have convinced me to try some different mediums!
I’ve always loved coloring for so many reasons, but for the longest time it was so hard to find coloring books for adults. It pleases me so much that there are so many great ones now!
Enjoyed your video. I have been coloring in these types of books for several years now, long before they became trendy. I find it very relaxing. I appreciate the opportunity to add another book to my collection.
I found this very interesting. Adult coloring books seem to be all the rage right now. This was an informative review and I appreciate seeing so many different books and mediums. Thank you! And thank you for the giveaway – would love to try the books. Perfect for me since Prismacolor pencils are my coloring medium.
Thank you for taking so much time to experiment and share what works best for each book. I definitely am putting some of these on my Christmas list this year & will be gifting some too!
The Color Me and Animal kingdom look great. New to coloring, enjoyed the post 🙂
After seeing this I immediately went to cosco and found the color me books. Can’t wait to try watercolor markers on it.
Such a comprehensive video (yes, I watched start to finish)! Really like your tip on having a test page…and your general encouragement to let go and have fun with this– mix those “ugly” colors!! Thanks so much!
Well, I can’t believe I watched the whole thing—and funny thing is, when it was over I was surprised that it had been 43 minutes!!! Tons of great information Sandy!! Thank you for doing this exhaustive research for us. You are a gem. Now, I just have to remember–it’s JUST a coloring book. So far have only used digital coloring pages–that way I can have the paper that I want it on. Thank you again! I always drool over the coloring books at Costco but was waiting for your review!
Thanks for the info
Thank you for this video. I watch the whole thing and was surprised that it didn’t seem very long. I’m looking forward to trying the Pepin books.
I only have one coloring book the Secret Garden and I use my distress markers to color. Need to use my comics have way more colors to choose from. Would love to win a coloring book!
Thanks for all of the time that you put into this video and blog post. You helped confirm that coloring books are not for me…I would be more stressed by the time that they are taking away from card making…and I still have the journaling Bible that is waiting for me. Love the fact that there are options to fit everyone!!!
Came across your video looking for info, about the different coloring books available and greatly appreciate the reviews you gave about the books and the different coloring products. Next time I go to the art/hobby stores I have a better idea of what to purchase, Thank you for sharing and I too will be bookmarking this page.
You are such a wealth of knowledge! I learn something new every time I read your blog or watch your YouTube/Periscope. Next thing on my list is to sign up & watch your Patreon videos. I’ve bookmarked this page because I know I’ll reference it a lot. Thanks for sharing your fantabulous talents and skills! (By the way, I’m also in the Pacific Northwest, just south of you, in Oregon! *waves hi*) LoL, sorry, I’m a dork! 🙂
Thanks for the insight information. Seen some of the colouring books in Singapore. However, they are expensive and so economically for me is to print off colouring pages from Pinterest. I can choose a thicker paper as I use water colour pencils and markers to do my colouring.
I love your work! So inspiring! Would be awesome to win one of those books! Xx
Thanks for this. I found it quite helpful.
Thanks for the review! I have a Secret Garden book that is a 4×6 of only postcards that is great. The postcards are all extremely heavy with a design on one side that can be colored.
I have wanting to dive into the coloring book craze but needed some more information. Thanks for helping me get started.
I just got my first coloring books the other day and haven’t had a chance to do any pages yet but I have absolutely fallen in love with Thaneeya McArdle’s designs. They had some at Jo Ann’s in 2 packs. There were other artists too. They also had a Coloring Techniques and Pattern Sampler booklet included and a page with 4 post cards to color. I don’t have IG because I don’t have a real phone. I have a flip phone still :{ and my cheapo tablet for some reason won’t come up as an appropriate device to register even though it is Android. I want to copy my favorite pages before coloring them and put them on card stock that way if I end up not liking the way it turns out, I can give it another go.
Love looking at the different types pf coloring books available. I enjoy them and find coloring relaxes me. the Modern animals look neat and I really like Harper’s work. TFS
Epic coloring book post! I love it! Thanks for sharing your tips, I plan to try them!! I plan to try the Pepin ones at some point 🙂
I’ve seen these coloring books for a while and have been resisting the urge to buy them. Then I go to my mom’s house and she’s got several of them. Ha, ha! Thanks for the review of the books. It was very helpful.
I’m so glad you did a video on adult coloring books as you answered the questions I had in regards to them. I’ve loved coloring ever since I can remember and I’m thrilled that companies have seen the need for adult coloring books. It’s pretty bad to steal your children and then grandchildren’s coloring books 🙂 Thank you again for the talent you so genuinely share with others.
The books are all gorgeous! Thank you for the information and reminding us “they’re just coloring books!”
Thank you so much for sharing this with us Sandy. I currently started getting some of these books and have been struggling to know what mediums I can use on them. I know they are just coloring books but some images are so pretty that you want to be able to do more with them because it can be fun to use different things. I also just got one of the Secret Gardens book that I am really excited about so that was fun watching you work on those. Thanks so much for all the information and know how on working with these books!
Sandy, this video wa very helpful. I have purchased several of these books but have only tried coloring with Prismacolor pencils. You put so much time and effort into everything that you are a valuable resource for almost any artistic project. Thank you for providing so much information to us and for being such a good teacher.
I use Lyra watercolor crayons and think they might be great fun to use on one of these books. I also used Inktense pencils. I would love to try them also. This is such an informative post. Thank you.
a very comprehensive and informative video. thanks for all your efforts to bring the information to those of us that may not suffer through the trial and error of different mediums. while this is “just coloring”, no one wants to spend the time on a resulting “hot mess”! thank you.
Thanks for your exhaustive review… a lot to think about! I especially liked your suggestion of using the design in the book that you liked the LEAST to do the testing on. Brilliant!
Thank you for doing this Sandy. You included several books that I already have. I have a stack, but was only brave enough to start in them a few days ago. I have found one line that has “Printed Artistic Paintable Paper” in it, has some small images to be cut apart for cards, etc, and claims to be good for every medium including alcohol inks and acrylic paint. The paper is white and thick and feels like watercolor paper. For those interested, they are from ADORNit and I found them at my LSS. Website is http://www.adornit.com.
Thank you for such a comprehensive list of Artist Coloring Books!
Thanks for the great information about coloring books. I also like how you keep reminding us they are just coloring books and to relax and enjoy. I have many coloring books and I see a picture I would love to color but then stress out that I will ruin the picture. I will keep your advice in my head and just go for it!
I think these look like a lot of fun! I use Copic markers and Zig Clean Color Real Brush, and I have some pencils as well! Thanks for all the info you have provided!
Great information… I have several of these but haven’t used them because of paper and time issues. Thanks for your hard work.
Thanks for sharing information on the adult coloring books. I have a one of them and really want to get more. Your video was very helpful.
A very informative post. I have been wanting one of these for awhile but was unsure of which one to get. I guess really it comes down to your interest and the medium in which you like to work. Thanks for the great info!
Thanks for giving us the skinny on the Adult coloring books. : ) My mother who is 70 told me after seeing some adult coloring books at a bookstore that she would like to have one for Christmas, then my daughter who is 20 said she would like one too. So it appeals to all ages. I really like the idea too. The Inspirations of Faith really appeals to me. I love the idea of scripture with beautiful images. Thanks for the chance to win.