4.45

5

Apr 13, 2017

We finally just finished this adult coloring book. So far this is one of my favorites because it contains lots of trees, owls, dragons, animals, and castles. My absolute favorite is the fold out page dragons which are double in size. We used very sharp colored pencils and gel pens...

5*****

0

Jan 17, 2016

I've started my journey into adult coloring and so far have discovered that it's a relaxing process. The end result or even just completing small portions of the page makes me truly happy to see that I've participated in bringing a simple image to life.

This image took me about four days to color. I used fine, fine tip Sharpies and Crayola color pencils.


I messed up a little bit on one of the color patterns, but I really like the design the more I look at it.

Finished 1/26/16


Finished 3/27/16
It took I've started my journey into adult coloring and so far have discovered that it's a relaxing process. The end result or even just completing small portions of the page makes me truly happy to see that I've participated in bringing a simple image to life.

This image took me about four days to color. I used fine, fine tip Sharpies and Crayola color pencils.


I messed up a little bit on one of the color patterns, but I really like the design the more I look at it.

Finished 1/26/16


Finished 3/27/16
It took me a while to do this one because I was so busy, but I'm definitely going to take time when I feel stressed to do this while I watch a movie or TV.


Finished 4/8/16
This is probably one of my favorite pieces so far and I love the concept of just using pinks and blue tones as the basis for the piece.


I'm so proud of this because it took me forever to do!


Finished 5/15/16
I just love how my owl looks.


Finished 7/6/16
This was a lot of fun to color after taking a long break.


Finished 7/24/16
This was just so much fun and the color schemes make my eyes happy.:D


Finished 9/29/16
This is my first project I've done since starting college and it was such a nice de-stresser.


Finished 10/20/16
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light." -Albus Dumbledore
I felt like this picture was too plain so I added a Harry Potter quote.


Finished 10/20/16


Finished 12/21/16
I LOVE how this one turned out.


Finished 6/4/2017


Finished: 12/19/2017
I love this one so much. ...more

0

Apr 06, 2016

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Joining in the fun with The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult!

*6/1/16*



*5/6/16*
The Cult's Ice Cream color palette challenge completed.
Poor Mr. Squirrels never saw it coming...


*5/3/16*
The Cult's Black & White Challenge (Grey allowed)


*4/13/16*
Colors of the rainbow palette


*4/12/16*
The Enchanted Deer


*4/10/16*
Shades of Blue Challenge by The CCC Cult.

0

Dec 19, 2015

So I joined the The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult . It's nice having colouring partners. And now I think I'm sounding like a little kid.

Apr, 06
This time, The Cult came up with a challenge: Shades of Blue. I went with this beautiful dragonfly. I wish I could take a better picture, but I'm not sure how. So if any of you has any suggestions, please, please help.



Mar, 05
The second project.



Feb, 20
My first colouring! The bunnies are outlined in silver glitter gel pen, so one of them turned out So I joined the ☣ The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult ☣ . It's nice having colouring partners. And now I think I'm sounding like a little kid.

Apr, 06
This time, The Cult came up with a challenge: Shades of Blue. I went with this beautiful dragonfly. I wish I could take a better picture, but I'm not sure how. So if any of you has any suggestions, please, please help.



Mar, 05
The second project.



Feb, 20
My first colouring! The bunnies are outlined in silver glitter gel pen, so one of them turned out shining in the picture.



Other CCC Cult members' projects:
*Sarah's Rêves
*Sandra's Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest
*Alexa's Nature
*Cathy's Inspiration Happy Mandala
*karen's Cats in Hats
*Michael's Lost Ocean
*Nafeeza's Enchanted Forest

=====================================

17.02.2016: It's here! *excited*


=====================================

06.02.2016: I've just ordered this book. I'm so excited I can't wait to get it! ...more

5

Dec 25, 2015

Strange to rate a colouring book but the art in this is exquisite, a mix of highly detailed to fairly simple with plenty of room for expression while colouring or adding details.

Most of these adult-colouring-books bemuse me, many appear to me to be overpriced doodles that most people could manage. The level of detail here makes these different, the images are pleasing and enchant, several I'd be happy to have on a wall. There's an added hunt through the pages giving the book a sort of story.

Strange to rate a colouring book but the art in this is exquisite, a mix of highly detailed to fairly simple with plenty of room for expression while colouring or adding details.

Most of these adult-colouring-books bemuse me, many appear to me to be overpriced doodles that most people could manage. The level of detail here makes these different, the images are pleasing and enchant, several I'd be happy to have on a wall. There's an added hunt through the pages giving the book a sort of story.

It'll take me forever to complete but that's part of the point, something you can loose yourself to with some music or audio playing. No deadline in sight. It appeals to my love of creativity without being too taxing. When your focus is narrowed to which colour will look prettiest and why there's only so many greens available among your chosen pencils then the things that bother you can sometimes be left outside the printed lines.

Pages are hardy and I'm finding felt-tips work best, bringing vibrant colour while not bleeding into the next page. Coloured pencils add a different layer but perhaps mine are too cheap as it can be hard work getting the colours to take and they don't offer the blending I'd like.

Some pics under spoiler cut to save space:
(view spoiler)[
Even the colour can be coloured!


Then there's mandalas:


Enchanted Beasties:


Simple swirls:


And plenty scenes and critters I'm yet to attempt ;) (hide spoiler)]
I'm no artist, but it leaves me feeling accomplished. ...more

5

Dec 18, 2015

I was lucky enough to snag myself a copy of Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book this summer and enjoyed it so much that I had to buy the first book in the series. If you have not yet jumped on the adult coloring book bandwagon, this is the series to buy. Each page is so beautifully detailed, guaranteed to give you hours and hours of coloring pleasure. As a bonus, I purchased my copy at my local Costco store and they had Ms. Basford's other books as well.

The illustrations are I was lucky enough to snag myself a copy of Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book this summer and enjoyed it so much that I had to buy the first book in the series. If you have not yet jumped on the adult coloring book bandwagon, this is the series to buy. Each page is so beautifully detailed, guaranteed to give you hours and hours of coloring pleasure. As a bonus, I purchased my copy at my local Costco store and they had Ms. Basford's other books as well.

The illustrations are beautiful and a little quirky, so it doesn't really matter if you color something in whatever colors you have on hand. Personally, I'd recommend in a few different sets of pencil crayons as they do not bleed through the pages. You may need to place a piece of parchment paper in between pages as you color so that the color doesn't transfer through (or maybe I just used cheap pencil crayons).

Not only is this a coloring book, but it is also an I-Spy book too. There are a lot of treasures to find on each page. I'd recommend these books to anyone who is artistically inclined - or you could just leave the book out during Christmas vacation for you and your guests to color in. While these books are being marketed to adults, I do know some young girls (ages 12 and 14) who loved the Secret Garden.

Now my only stress is finding that right shade of green. There's never enough. ...more

4

May 08, 2016

\I've been lured by O Nefarious One's colorings and joined The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult

So many amazing books. So many expensive awesome coloring supplies.

This will be a long term "reading" 'cuz it's got 50 pages and I wanna color them properly without rushing, so my review will get bumped now & then with my challenge updates.

For now it's just ogling the pretty drawings and doodling at the beginning (where I'll mess around to see how it'll look on the paper) with my totally normal \I've been lured by O Nefarious One's colorings and joined The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult

So many amazing books. So many expensive awesome coloring supplies.

This will be a long term "reading" 'cuz it's got 50 pages and I wanna color them properly without rushing, so my review will get bumped now & then with my challenge updates.

For now it's just ogling the pretty drawings and doodling at the beginning (where I'll mess around to see how it'll look on the paper) with my totally normal pencils while I research and find just which ones would be best suited for me.


*a few minutes later* scratch that! While I'm getting the better suited pencils I'm gonna do my 1st challenge: Black and white only, with grey allowed.

Pencils are pencils, just a bit different and I'm too impatient ;p

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Update 15.05.2016: Black & White challenge (with grey allowed) done!

The Deer aka Glow in the Dark Bambi
Turned out exactly as I had imagined




The one page I have done & the little experiments I did at the beginning tell me that this edition has quite thin paper so no watercolors or markers and such, it'll bleed through.
The paper itself is not the brightest shade of white...not yet sure if that's good or bad but I'd guess a lighter white would allow to better see the brightness of colors? Something along those lines. My friend google says it's most likely the white known as "cream white".

The drawings themselves are real nice. Woodsy nature feel. It is the Enchanted Forest after all ;p
And so delicate! For some details only the sharpest pencil will do.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Update 08.07.2016: One Single Colour Pencil challenge done! Was wondering which drawing to choose & what color would be best suited & decided on feathers with blue 'cuz they remind me of sky and sky is blue (most of the time) :)




Now the pencil is shorter by half :D
And had to sharpen it sooo much for the feathers had many small details

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Update 07.11.2016: Colour palette challenge #1
This one had cream-pink-brown colour scheme.



While originally I didn't intend to use the waterbrush for fear of paper being too thin, but after I was done colouring with my Faber Castell Art Grip Aquarelle pencils and several trials & checkings I decided to give it a go and it turned out great. It made the fur look so much better.

Thou I had to pay veeery close attention so as not to colour outside the lines (and even then it managed to escape twice or thrice) the end result was satisfying. I figured out just how much water is too much so now I can use water on Enchanted Forest too

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Update 05.12.2016: Colours of the seasons - April 2016 AKA Early Spring
I need to find a better lamp to use while photographing when there's no natural light, this one gave yellowish hue



As for this challenge, at the time it was Spring season, so Early Spring it is!

Turned out pretty good, if I say so myself, got all the parts I wanted :D
Wasn't sure 'cuz for the life of me couldn't figure out how to get the snow/winter remains part,after all, the paper is white & snow is white, but little spider saved me ^^

The last remnants of snow & cold (thus the white spiderweb), some of it melted (the blue undersides), fresh brown earth, the green grass & finally the first flowers which are all in colors of blue, white, yellow & purple :)


I've got only one complaint about the book (now that it's been proven to be usable for watercolors too) - the spread outs. For pieces like this where it's on both pages, the middle ruins it a tad bit, would've been nicer if it had a folded in spread out like for Nordic Wilderness.

This one will be my last colouring of EF for a while. But after I've had a break/inspiration I'll be back


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Update 27.12.2016: Ho Ho Ho aka Christmas challenge 2016

Yes yes, know I said I'd be done with it for a while and that while hasn't passed yet, but it really had nice Christmas pieces for me to choose from, so EF it is for this one.



And here you can better see the shine from gel pens:


It's really pretty if I do say so myself :D

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Update: November 2018

So it's been a while some time like few months since I actually completed this one back in May, but only now got around to actually showing it off to everybody on the net XD

For this challenge in TCCCC title is: "Enchanted Forest Freestyle Thingie"
The idea (my idea) was to see how members of our cult would color the same piece. Use whatever you want, just colour the piece. This is my version :D

Behold, my Mysterious Tree House of Enchanted Forest:



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Update: May 2019
...I had actually done this one back in November of 2018, but forgot to update the review...wups XD

Pick it for Me challenge #1
(Someone else picks the the book & page you gotta colour ;) )

The Circle Pond


This one was done with aquarelle pencils since it's water and all.



And had this one done back in January 2019 for the Colouring Challenge - December 2018 ~
"Xmas and red, greens and brown—there is our colour palette!"

Did start it in December '18, but it took it's time.



Look here for the bigger pic because GR still isn't all that friendly for photo resolutions

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ ...more

5

Jul 10, 2017

This is the first ever adult coloring book I had gotten from coloring book artist Johanna Basford. I found her book Enchanted Forest at World Market and bought it for myself as a Christmas gift last year. The illustrations in this are awesome! For fans of flowers, animals, and more, I reccomend this book. I am still coloring this one and am still enjoying it too. You can use your markers, color pencils, gel pens, and crayons on it. Since it is two-sided, I reccomend placing a piece of cardboard This is the first ever adult coloring book I had gotten from coloring book artist Johanna Basford. I found her book Enchanted Forest at World Market and bought it for myself as a Christmas gift last year. The illustrations in this are awesome! For fans of flowers, animals, and more, I reccomend this book. I am still coloring this one and am still enjoying it too. You can use your markers, color pencils, gel pens, and crayons on it. Since it is two-sided, I reccomend placing a piece of cardboard or cardstock between the pages so if you use sharpies or markers that bleed through, they will not bleed through to the other page. My favorite pages in this one so far is the Owl, and the treehouses with the cat inside of it but there are many other cool ones too. Look for this book at World Market, Wal-mart, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and wherever books are sold. ...more

4

Oct 31, 2015

4.5 breathtakingly beautiful stars!

Since the colouring book phenomenon began to sweep through our bookstores like wildfire, I remained skeptical of this new fad. After all, aren't colouring books for children? There was no denying the fact that many pictures were intricately drawn and very beautiful but I didn't understand why someone would want to spend ours labouring over someone else's drawings.

That was until things started getting a little tricky for me at home. I was under a great deal of 4.5 breathtakingly beautiful stars!

Since the colouring book phenomenon began to sweep through our bookstores like wildfire, I remained skeptical of this new fad. After all, aren't colouring books for children? There was no denying the fact that many pictures were intricately drawn and very beautiful but I didn't understand why someone would want to spend ours labouring over someone else's drawings.

That was until things started getting a little tricky for me at home. I was under a great deal of pressure and had been for months. I felt uneasy and needed something to focus my mind on the present and stop worrying about the future. So I turned to colouring books.



Johanna Basford jumped out at me immediately. I liked her creative style and the pictures tell a story as you progress through the thick, creamy pages. All of her artwork is hand drawn and I am astounded at the level of detail involved. Upon buying it, I realised I needed a decent set of colouring pencils so I ordered some Staedtler Ergosoft pencils online. I have not even reached a quarter of the way through this book. It will take many hours to complete but I understand now when sometimes it's just good to focus on now and blot out the things occuring around you. I highly recommend this artist to anyone else who is considering colouring in. ...more

5

Aug 31, 2015

Enchanted Forest is a wonderful book filled with magical intricate designs to keep any lover of colouring in happy for many hours. As you travel through the forest you can look for hidden objects and discover the magical creatures that await you as you reach your destination in the forest.

I love Johanna's books and recommend them to everyone who loves to colour in.

5

Mar 01, 2016

The first adult colouring book I bought. I love it. (And there are DRAGONS.)

5

Apr 12, 2016

At first I felt like I'm cheating my 2016 Reading Challenge by adding these books, and then I realized, what, are the Goodreads Police going to come after me? It's not my fault that 80% of fanfiction is better than most published stuff nowadays and I hate having to decrease my number of pledged books because I DO READ. I READ ALL THE GODDAMN TIME. I probably read like 100k words a day. It's just 95% fanfiction. And I no longer think of books as in pages, you know what I mean? Like, what the fuck At first I felt like I'm cheating my 2016 Reading Challenge by adding these books, and then I realized, what, are the Goodreads Police going to come after me? It's not my fault that 80% of fanfiction is better than most published stuff nowadays and I hate having to decrease my number of pledged books because I DO READ. I READ ALL THE GODDAMN TIME. I probably read like 100k words a day. It's just 95% fanfiction. And I no longer think of books as in pages, you know what I mean? Like, what the fuck does 500 pages mean? GIVE ME A WORD COUNT.

Anyway this "book" is gorgeous and I love it. ...more

3

Jul 01, 2016

I am hoping this colouring book will be a balm to my highly stressful life.
At least a small part.

5

Dec 07, 2017

The pictures in Johanna's coloring books are fantastic colored or not .I've even framed some of them.

0

Dec 25, 2015

Christmas present from the wonderful Elci. I love the book, it's beautiful!

4

Mar 01, 2016

Johanna Basford did it again and dragged me in with some gorgeous illustrations. If I had fun with Secret Garden Artist's Edition , I had a blast with Enchanted Forest!

The pages of this book are less thick than the ones in Secret Garden Artist's Edition, but the quality is still good and, anyway, I always stick with pencils, so no possible illustration on the back of the one I'm colouring was ever ruined. It takes lots of hours to complete each illustration, but every time you finish one, you Johanna Basford did it again and dragged me in with some gorgeous illustrations. If I had fun with Secret Garden Artist's Edition , I had a blast with Enchanted Forest!

The pages of this book are less thick than the ones in Secret Garden Artist's Edition, but the quality is still good and, anyway, I always stick with pencils, so no possible illustration on the back of the one I'm colouring was ever ruined. It takes lots of hours to complete each illustration, but every time you finish one, you find yourself smiling and already turning the pages to find the next project to start. If you are one of those who usually panics over which green to use for the leafs, don't. The beauty of books such as this one is to let your creativity run wild, hence pick up the colours you feel would work best for you and see how it turns out. Colouring is not just supposed to be relaxing, but fun too, and with this book you will get plenty of both!

To read the whole review, complete with pictures, visit my blog A Thing for Life. ...more

5

Feb 09, 2016

My first colouring book. It takes quite a lot to finish colouring some of the pages but the book is really fantastic and really worth the effort! The illustrations are nice, whimsy and detailed and the paper is of good quality. I would certainly recomment it!

5

Dec 27, 2015

This was my first coloring book in this series. It is absolutely beautiful; it is a treat to have a book that is so well made. I like the author's quirky use of skull images. And the fact that the forest is enchanted allows me to feel good about using non traditional colors and designs.

5

Aug 25, 2016

This is the first coloring book I got...and it spoiled me! I've been gifted a couple others by different authors, but they just aren't the same. Johanna Basford is a talented artist and she knows how to put together outlines that make coloring reasonable and fun with a beautiful result.

5

Jan 08, 2017

I love the intricate drawings in this coloring book! Whenever I am feeling stressed, I dive into my quest to unlock the castle gates... while coloring, you find symbols, track animals, and so much more. Joanna Basford draws beautifully. Thank You!

5

Jul 14, 2016

there's a reason she's one of the most popular. these books are great and enable you to create some amazing pieces

5

Nov 26, 2015

So pretty and relaxing! Slowing making my way through the colourful adventure...

5

Nov 17, 2015

Coloring has never been this relaxing or this much fun! I love the magical qualities of this edition.

5

Dec 16, 2015

So much fun to color these while listening to audiobooks! Very relaxing.

5

Jan 04, 2019

I'm going to try to start rating coloring books, since I know have some friends on here that are into adult coloring:

This book is gorgeous. The pages are highly detailed, and are best suited for well-sharpened pencils, gel pens or very fine-line markers. They don't absorb marker very well, so be careful to let your pages dry.

The pictures are all black line, with no shading. There are many pictures that encompass the entire page for lengthy projects. A large four page foldout is at the very back I'm going to try to start rating coloring books, since I know have some friends on here that are into adult coloring:

This book is gorgeous. The pages are highly detailed, and are best suited for well-sharpened pencils, gel pens or very fine-line markers. They don't absorb marker very well, so be careful to let your pages dry.

The pictures are all black line, with no shading. There are many pictures that encompass the entire page for lengthy projects. A large four page foldout is at the very back of the book and would be beautiful for framing. ...more